I have always admired Arctotis flowers with their silver grey leaves. They typically have daisy-like flowers with prominent central discs surrounded by colorful petals. The petals can be various shades of white, yellow, orange, pink, or purple and a common name for it is African Daisy.
Apparently there are over 40 different species and the photo I took was of a pink Arctotis. I've personally seen them in many shades of red, pink, orange, and gold but my block is based on the photo so the petals will be pink.
Arctotis flower
Here is another view of Arctotis. I always find it best to take several angles when creating a quilt.
More Arctotis flowers
I certainly had fun making this block, right from drawing the templates on the computer to cutting out each shape and stitching. The biggest problem I had to say was trying to select the threads for the bluey-green leaves. There seems to be a gap in my thread colors! My blues were too blue and my greens were too green. The greys were just not good at all.
Trying to select good leaf threads
Tip on selecting threads: Unravel the thread a little way it is much easier to see if a thread is suitable by laying one strand across the applique fabric.
I finally settled on a light pale greenish grey that was almost identical to my lightest leaf fabric just a little lighter. (I normally try for a slightly darker thread but I was very limited and this seemed to work perfectly). I also selected a dark blue and dark green - both worked well. The pinks and yellows were not a problem in selecting.
My thread selection
I did additional stitching on this flower to make it look more realistic with darker pink stitches in the center and a fuzzy yellow middle.
Stitching
I made two flowers for this block and here is how it finished up.
Arctotis flower block
I had so much fun with this flower block that I decided to make a second one - check back next week to see how I made it different and how I simplified the pattern.
This design is available for download, you'll find more details here: Arctotis Block download
