Block of the Month 16—Pinecone

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.

My, how time has flown! I (Kara) can't believe that it has been over a year since we started our Flora and Fauna of Germany stitch-along. It seems like just yesterday that I was walking the trails in our little German village for the first time, full of wonder at the natural beauty that I was seeing. Our first block was the Butterfly, back in August of 2017. 

Our first block!

We have stitched 15 blocks since then, and we have come to the end of the series. It's a little sad, as we have enjoyed putting these blocks together for you. But all good things come to an end, and we have our last block ready, with the decidedly winter symbol—the pinecone. 

Cotton Block

I began by appliquéing the pinecone shape onto my background using a piece of fabric that contained different shades of brown. It is a simple shape with just a few, gentle, curves—the details are added with the stitching. Using my white marking pencil, I traced the half-circle shapes onto the appliqué, using the pattern as a guide.

Marked and ready to stitch.

Using a variegated brown pearl cotton, I stem stitched the marked lines, working from the top to the bottom. I love the texture a variegated thread lends to my stitching, so I tend to gravitate towards those types of threads. I used a Valdani #12 in this instance.

Looking more pinecone-like

It started to look more like a pinecone, but I felt that it needed a little something more to make the petals or scales stand out. Using one strand of a dark brown floss, I added a stem stitch directly underneath the previous stitching.

Here I have done just the top row. Can you tell a difference?

All the scales have a little shading. It's just a little detail, but it adds a lot.

Next was the branch, and that was just a simple chain stitch for the branches, and some straight stitches for the needles. Hooping the block. when stitching the branches and needles for both blocks, helped to eliminate puckering.

Hooping helps!

A #5 pearl gives some dimension to the branch.

Close-up

The finished cotton block

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

Pinecone—Valdani #12 pearl,P12, stem stitch 

                   Gentle Arts floss, 1 strand, Espresso Bean, stem stitch (for shading)

Branch—Painters Threads, #5 pearl, Friederich, chain stitch

Needles—Gentle Art, Simply wool, Blue Spruce

Wool Block

For the wool block, I wanted to use the wool in layers to mimic the look of the scales. After I glued the pattern to freezer paper, I cut it into 6 pieces and ironed those pieces to my wool. For all the pieces but the top one, I cut straight across the scales in order to have something to stitch down. (See the picture below to show how I did that.)

There is a piece missing in this picture, but you can get the idea.

Starting at the bottom, I stitched just the top of each set of scales and then layered the next one on top of the previously stitched scale.

The first 4 layers

The finished pinecone

I used the same #5 pearl cotton for the branches, and a slightly thicker wool/silk blend for the needles. 

I tried to vary the needle angle and size as I went along.

The finished wool block

Stitches and Threads Used (Wool Block)

Branch—Painters Threads, #5 pearl, Friederich, chain stitch

Needles—Thread Gatherer, Sheeps Silk (wool/silk blend), Dark Forest

There you have it! The final block in our series and I think this was the fastest block yet. You can download all the blocks by clicking below in case you may have missed any. Have you made any of the blocks? Please email us pictures of your blocks  or post them on our Facebook page.

Stay tuned for our reveal of all the blocks put together and a special chance for those who have participated!!

Block of the Month 11—Bellflower

A field of wildflowers just for the bees!

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.

We are coming up on almost a year of stitching the flora and fauna that I (Kara) see over here in Germany! It has been so interesting to see what new wildflowers pop up along the way; or what insect or bird emerges as the landscape changes through the seasons. I am learning new things every day as I walk through the countryside. Something I recently discovered was that some local farmers wait to cut the hay until the wildflowers have finished blooming in the orchard fields. Why? Because it gives the bees more time to collect what they need from the flowers. In more than one location, I have noticed entire fields of intentionally-planted wildflowers. This careful consideration of the bee population is wonderful—and certainly needed.

As spring and summer have rolled along, the stitching choices have been plentiful. It is hard to pick what to stitch each month! This month I chose the bellflower, as it has been on display in a variety of forms. Some varieties are quite large, while others are delicate but hardy.

Along the forest path

A close-up 

A different variety, found bravely growing on a mountaintop castle

Cotton Block

This month's block is simple in its design and will focus on a couple of new stitches for the stems. It will also give you a chance to work on those pesky inner and outer points. Gathering the supplies for this block was not too difficult, as I only used one piece of fabric—a piece of hand-dyed, marbled fabric was perfect. Some silk ribbon, hand-dyed wool, and perle cotton, and I was ready to get started.

Supplies

The flowers are appliquéd and my embroidery lines are drawn.

For the calyxes of the flowers, I used a 4mm silk ribbon and made 5 ribbon stitches on the flower and two straight stitches, horizontally at the top of each flower. 

To keep my ribbon straight stitches straight, I put my finger or a pencil
in the loop to keep it smooth before pulling it all the way through.

The two straight stitches at the top are on top of each other.

Using a #5 perle cotton, I created the main stem with the Palestrina stitch. (Click here for a great tutorial by Mary Corbet.) I placed my knots close together to get a nice thick line.

The Palestrina stitch

Use a stem stitch to attach the flowers to the main stem.

The finished block

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

Stems—Palestrina stitch and stem stitch; Oliver Twist Fibres, blue/green, hand-dyed, #5 perle cotton

Calyxes—Ribbon stitch and straight stitch; Thread Art, 4mm silk ribbon #629

Petal Lines—Stem stitch; Painters Threads wool, Kirchener

Wool Block

For the wool version of this block, I used a light purple scrap piece that I had laying around. The ribbon for the calyxes was a beautiful hand-dye from Thread Gatherers. Since I was going to use an interlaced chain stitch for the stem (tutorial here), I needed two different thread colors—a light green, #12 perle and two strands of dark green floss.

I began by stitching down the wool flowers, and then I marked my stem lines. The interlaced chain is done by making the stem with a chain stitch in one color and then interlacing the chain stitches with a second color—first going down one side and then the other.

Interlacing the right side

The effect here is subtle but it adds a nice dimension.

Once the stems were finished, I added the petal lines with two strands of floss in a stem stitch. After that, I made the calyxes in the same way as the cotton block, and just like that, the block was finished.

The finished wool block

Close-up

Stitches and Threads Used (Wool Block)

Stems—Interlaced chain stitch, chain stitch, stem stitch; Weeks Dyeworks, Juniper, 2 strands, Painters Threads #12 perle, Turner

Calyxes—Ribbon stitch and straight stitch; Thread Gatherer, 4mm silk ribbon, SR4 O25

Petal Lines—Stem stitch; The Gentle Art, Blueberry, 2 strands

As you can see from the previous photos, this flower comes in all shapes and sizes and is a lovely pop of blue/purple in the landscape. Hopefully, you will enjoy stitching this simple little block, and you will give the new stitches for stems a try!

Block of the Month: Goldenrod

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.

It's hard to believe that we are already up to block 4 of our Flora and Fauna of Germany, Stitch Along. While most of the flowers around here are gone, I still have fond memories of seeing the large bushes of goldenrod along our walking paths. They were almost as tall as me and loaded with golden spikes of flowers.

As I was planning this block, my initial instinct was to use French knots for the flowers because that is what goldenrod looks like from afar. The goldenrod was a common flower to stitch in Victorian crazy quilts and most of the ones I have seen were made with French knots. I fell in love with and bought this antique, embroidered, goldenrod piece a couple of years ago—talk about lots of French knots!

I love the texture the stitcher created with the silk thread and all those knots.

So many knots!

However, when you look at the flowers up close, they are made up of a fluffy center with some petals around it. This changed my thinking as to how to do the embroidery on this block.

A collection of flower clusters.

A couple of months ago, I was in my friend Birgit's quilt shop and I noticed a basket of embroidery threads in all different shapes and sizes. A couple of them caught my eye, but one in particular screamed "goldenrod". It was more of a tape than a thread, but I knew it would provide just the right texture. Now I had the thread but I needed to scour my stash for just the right golden, appliqué fabric and I found it in the Van Gogh inspired piece. A little scrap of green and I was set to start the cotton block.

Cotton Block

I began this block by transferring the design onto the back of the fabric, and then proceeded to back-baste all my goldenrod pieces. The fabric I used was perfect in color but tended to fray, so I had to pull out my trusty glue stick. A swipe with my needle over the top of the glue allowed me to tame the pesky threads as I turned them under.

Leaves basted and ready to stitch.

I was happy with the way the appliqué looked without embroidery but I knew it would be even better with the goldenrod thread/tape I bought. I stitched a French knot and then 4-5 straight stitches around it, starting at the top and working my way down the appliqué.

The stitches added another layer of texture.

I loved this tape!

The finished block  with a stem-stitched stem out of #5 pearl cotton from Oliver Twist Fibres.

I was happy with the finished result and Teri said it made her sneeze just looking at it!

Stitches and Threads Used (cotton block)

Gold hand-dyed tape for French knots and straight stitches on flower (I got mine from an unknown source but you can purchase something similar from Threadnuts in the Klimt palette.
Variegated blue/green #5 pearl cotton from Oliver Twist Fibres for stem stitch.


Wool Block



I gathered my two colors of wool and matching threads; the green wool came from a source here in Germany, DK Wright Construction.. Kelly, the owner has been fantastic to work with and I was thrilled to be able to find a source here.










I stitched down my flower pieces with matching thread using an appliqué stitch and for the leaves I used a blanket stitch with a silk and wool blend from Thread Gatherers.

For the wool block, I wanted to pay homage to the antique goldenrod piece above, so I decided to do French knots for the flowers. The knots don't have to be orderly and perfect, so I varied the size with 2 and 3 wraps and I also varied the tension of my wraps to give some a looser look. The hand-dyed #12 pearl was perfect for creating variation in the color of the knots.

Varying the size of the knots helps to add texture.

A stem stitch with #12 pearl cotton for the leaf vein.

The finished wool block.

Stitches and Threads Used (wool block)
Gold #12 pearl cotton, Painters Threads from Threadnuts in Klimt, for French knots
Green wool/silk blend in Dark Forest by Thread Gatherer for stem stitched stem and blanket stitch around leaves
Light green variegated #12 pearl cotton Valdani #O575 for stem stitched vein on leaf


And then there were four!

All the cotton blocks, August-November.

All the wool blocks, August through November.

Have you joined in the fun yet? If so, we'd love to see your blocks! These blocks go together very quickly, even with the embroidery and there are more to come, so if you haven't joined us yet, jump right in.