By Margaret Brewster Willingham

Strength in beauty...

applique and reverse applique pattern - hand and machine directions

Stand tall and strong cloaked with noble character, and bloom beautifully where you are planted.

The seventh block in the Victorian Flower Garden Quilt series (9 blocks in total) - Collect all 9 - 16" x 16" blocks. Look for the Victorian Flower Garden Quilt IV Expansion pattern coming in June 2016 - with an applique wrought iron gate to sash and border your lovely garden of flowers.

Thistle is a smaller-scale applique project - perfect for beginning - intermediate quilters and appliquers.

Bring a touch of spring & summer inside. Create this block to fit into a quilt or turn it into a pillow.

Pattern includes all three directions for creation.

• Reverse applique by hand
• Reverse applique by machine
• Mix the two for extra 3D effect: reverse applique the stems and leaves, then applique the flowers to make them really pop.

Finished dimensions: 16 in x 16 in

Materials required:

• background fabric: ½ yard (18 in x 18 in)
• top fabric: ½ yard (18 in x 18 in)
• backing (for pillow or wall-hanging versions): ½ yard (18 in x 18 in)
• 3-colour applique and reverse applique version: add fat quarter or scraps for blossoms
• batting: ½ yard (18 in x 18 in) [for blocks, this is not needed until you stitch the whole quilt together]
• for machine reverse applique: you will also need ½ yd (18 in x 18 in) of fusible webbing
• for pillow version: 16 in x 16 in pillow form