Block of the Month 5: Scabiosa Columbaria

Thank you for your interest in our Flora and Fauna blocks! They are no longer free but will be part of a future quilt pattern.

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that we are well into 2018, but I hear it came in with a bang for all of you in the states. I (Kara) kept hearing things like cyclone bomb, arctic temperatures, and the like. Here in Germany, it has been unseasonably warm; my daughter and I were even able to go on a hike to a local castle ruin and waterfall.

Castle ruins at Bad Urach on an unseasonably, sunny day!

The wasserfall.

The view through a castle arrowslit.

But alas, it still is winter here, and the gloomy weather has returned once again. Those brief respites in the weather give us hope for spring, the warmer weather, and the return of flowers. That is why this month's block is a flower; the Scabiosia Columbaria to be exact.

This flower is scattered throughout the meadows almost all summer long, and is still showing it's lovely face well into autumn. The pattern is based on the above picture and can be stitched with or without the bee. As always, I put together two blocks; one in wool and one in cotton. The cotton block came together quite easily, but the wool one...let's just say we will learn from that one.

Cotton Block


I was happy that I had two sizes and colors of River Silk ribbon that would work for this block, along with a beautiful pearl cotton from Weeks Dyeworks, called Peoria Peony. A floss from The Gentle Art and a few other threads, rounded out my embroidery supplies.


















My stash came through for the base of this flower when I found this purple fabric, reminiscent of paper marbling. I had never found a use for it until now, but I liked the way it would add some visual texture to this flower.













I promise that the next block will not have so many French knots, but for this flower, that stitch was obvious. In hindsight, I would have padded the center, but I was pleased with the outcome, regardless. The first French knots were stitched in a circular fashion around the center. Then I used the 7mm ribbon to make ribbon stitches, leaving space to come back around with the 4mm ribbon (I eyeballed the length). After the ribbon stitches, I added a few more French knots, putting them on the ribbon as well. Using one strand of the light colored floss, I randomly added a few, small, straight, stitches in the center. A number 5 pearl cotton for the stems and leaves, using a chain stitch and two rows in the thicker parts of the leaves, almost completed the block. All that was left to do was the bee, and I will explain that a little further in the post.

The finished cotton block.

The little straight stitches add another texture.

Two layers of chain stitches worked for the
thicker part of the leaf.

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

River Silk, light violet ribbon, 4mm 1951 and 7mm 109
Weeks #8 Pearl, Peoria Peony
The Gentle Art, 6-stranded floss, Jasmine using 1 strand
Painter's Threads, #5 pearl cotton for chain stitched stems
Chameleon Threads, #12 silk pearl for satin stitched bee body
Sock weight, black alpaca yarn for satin stitched bee tail
White 4mm, silk ribbon for ribbon stitched, bee wings

Wool Block

As alluded to, this block gave me a few teaching moments—as we like to call them. It started out the same as I gathered my supplies; some of the threads I used again, including a gold, silk pearl I purchased in England.

I love the Mokuba ombre, picot-edge ribbon on the left.

Since I didn't pad the first flower, I decided I would for the wool one. First, I added my French knots to the wool circle before I stitched it to the background. By doing this, I hoped to keep a little more puff than if I added the knots after it was stitched down. I stitched three quarters of the way around the circle, added a little poly-fill stuffing, and then stitched it closed.

French knots added before stuffing.

The purple, Mokuba, ribbon was what I decided to use for the petals. This ribbon makes wonderful little flowers when gathered in a circle, but I had never tried to stitch with it. My first mistake (I should know better), was to use a needle that was too small for the ribbon and the layers I had to go through. My second mistake was not paying attention to the length of my petals. The needle was easy enough to fix—I switched to a 22 chenille needle and the ribbon went through much easier. However, I didn't notice the length of my petals until I had done about 7 and those were the ones that I had struggled to make with the smaller needle. I guess my eyeballing skills were lacking for this flower. This is where I had to ask myself the question, "Can I live with it the way it is?" or as someone once said, "Can you notice it from the back of an Amish buggy?" I have no idea if that is a real saying, but the sentiment is the same.

In the grand scheme of things, once the quilt is finished, no one will know
if the petals are too long, too short, or just right!

I decided I could live with the too long petals, primarily because my fingers hurt, but also because it was likely I wouldn't be able to salvage the beautiful ribbon once I ripped it out. I still liked the effect of the petals with the ribbon, even if they were longer than the pattern and the real flower.

Capturing the bee in the picture was a thrill, and I knew I wanted to include that little guy into the block. I started with a little bee shape cut out of very thin batting, to give me a guide for stitching. Holding the batting piece up to the pattern helped me to match the size.

Bee batting base (You've got to love alliteration.)

A couple of stitches to anchor the base.

I started stitching with the black, alpaca thread in the middle to anchor the base down. and then continued with satin stitches, decreasing gradually in size towards the tail.

The finished bee!

Using the gold, silk, pearl, I added a few stitches for the upper body, and then came back with the black for the head and one straight stitch of black in the middle of the gold.

Even though the petals were a bit larger than the pattern, I was still happy with the way the wool block turned out. It didn't stitch according to plan, but I do think it shows off the ribbon well. Sometimes we just need to turn our mistakes into opportunities.

Again, I used a chain stitch for the stem.

The finished wool block

Stitches and Threads Used (Wool Block)

Mokuba picot-edge ombré ribbon in purple for petals (source: Quilter's Fancy)
Variegated silk floss in purple for French knots
The Gentle Art, 6-stranded floss, Jasmine, using 1 strand
Painter's Threads, #8 pearl cotton for chain stitched stems
Chameleon Threads, #12 silk pearl for satin stitched bee body
Sock weight, black alpaca yarn for satin stitched bee tail
White 4mm silk ribbon for ribbon stitched, bee wings


Sometimes, things don't go as planned, but we make them work—a philosophy on life and needlework! To rip or not rip? is sometimes the question, and more often than not, I rip—but not this time. The patterns for these blocks are meant to be a foundation for our own interpretation, based on the threads and fabrics used. Every block that each of us finish, will most likely be different from the rest, and that is a good thing! I hope you enjoy this month's block and its challenges. And we would love, love, LOVE to see pictures of your work on these blocks! Our collection is growing, and it would be fun to see how everyone interprets these blocks in their own style.