Golden sunflowers are mother nature’s gift to us as we enter the fall season. They are such a wonderfully cheerful flower always following the bright sunshine. A good life lesson for us all — turn your face to the light.

This design is my ode to Van Gogh’s sunflowers. I wanted to mimic the mottled blue background of one his sunflower paintings, so I pieced some tea dyed aqua and jade Diamond Textile fabric called Thicket. It has a cross hatch texture that is somewhat like brush strokes and the piecing, although minimal, adds a slight variation of color.

The sunflower is 8” x 9” on a 14 1/2” square pieced background. I will be making this into a 14” x 14” pillow.

Let’s begin.

Supplies

Layout and Pattern

Butternut Plaid Stitch Guide

Fabric

Background - These fabrics were brighter than what I wanted for the background, so I tea dyed them.

one fat quarter of Aqua Diamond Textile fabric or quilting cotton
one fat eighth of Jade Diamond Textile fabric or quilting cotton

Felted wool or wool felt - suggested colors

9” x 10” Golden yellow - flower petals
7 1/2”x 6 1/2” dark burnt orange - flower center #1
3” x 3 1/2” dark brown - flower center #2
2” x 2” dark green brown - flower center #3

Thread

The following colors are suggestions. The color choices you make are based on the colors you choose for your flower.

DMC Embroidery floss, color #680 - used to whip stitch flower petals
DMC Embroidery floss, color #577 - used to whip stich flower center #1
DMC embroidery floss, color #838 - used to whip stitch flower centers #2 & #3, and for couching spiral on flower center #3
Valdani perle cotton, size 12, color M81 - petal embellishment
Valdani perle cotton, size 12, color P5 - flower center #1 embellishment
Valdani perle cotton, size 12, color O154 - flower center #2 embellishment
Valdani perle cotton, size 12, color 174 - flower center #3 spiral couched with DMC floss #838
DMC perle cotton, size 5, color #3021 - used for the outline around flower center #2

Miscellaneous

Fusible web - featherweight type like Heat’N’Bond Feather Lite or Vilene Bondaweb
Chenille needles, sizes 24 and 22.
Chalk pencil for dark colors
Air erasable marker for light fabrics
Steam iron
Sewing machine
Sewing thread for background piecing

Instructions

Cutting - post-it notes work well to label each of the pieces as you cut them.
- Aqua fabric
  - one 5” x 6 1/2” - A
  - one 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” - B
  - one 4 1/2” x 10 1/2” - C
  - one 6 1/2” x 10 1/2” - D
- Jade fabric
  - one 4 1/2” x 4 1/2” - E
  - one 2 1/2” x 10 1/2” - F
  - one 2” x 6 1/2” - G
Piecing - all seams are a scant 1/4” unless otherwise noted
- Sew A to G to make a 6 1/2” x 6 1/2” square.
- Sew AG to B to make a 6 1/2” x 10 1/2” rectangle.
- Sew D to F to make a 8 1/2” x 10 1/2” rectangle.
- Sew AGB to DF to make a 10 1/2” x 14 1/2” rectangle.
- Sew C to E to make a 4 1/2” x 14 1/2” rectangle
- Sew AGBDF to CE to make a 14 1/2” x 14 1/2” square.

3. Wool applique

Trace pattern pieces onto fusible web and then cut out leaving a small (1/8”) border.
Fuse to designated wool and then cut out along traced lines.
Center flower petal wool onto background fabric and fuse in place using steam.
Position flower center #1 onto flower petal wool. Fuse in place using steam.
Position flower center #2 onto flower center #1 using the layout as a guide. Fuse in place using steam.
Position flower center #3 onto flower center #2 using the layout as a guide. Fuse in place using steam.
Use one strand of embroidery floss to whip stitch flower center #3 in place.
Use one strand of embroidery floss to whip stitch flower center #2 in place.
Use one strand of embroidery floss to whip stitch flower center #1 in place.
Use one strand of embroidery floss to whip stitch the flower petals in place.

4. Embellishment

Use an air erasable marker to draw the guide lines on each of the flower petals. You may want to draw a few at a time because the marks may disappear before you have time to stitch all of them.
Use one strand of perle 12, color M81 to chain stitch along the drawn line. Make a second row of chain stitches inside the first and then two rows of chains to fill the center ( you may only need one row of chain stitches to fill the chain outline in the smaller petals.

Use one strand of perle 5, color #3021 to make a Portuguese knotted stem stitch outline around flower center #2. A size 22 chenille needle will be helpful here. I used a variegated thread in the sample that really didn’t show off the beauty of the stitch. A solid color would have been a better choice.
Use a chalk pencil to mark the spiral in flower center 3 (small dark brown center). Use the layout as a guide.
Thread one needle with 2 strands of perle cotton, size 12, color #174. Thread another needle with 6 strands of #838 floss.
Begin a couching stitch by bringing your needle with the 2 strands of #174 up in the center of the flower center. Pull the thread all the way through and pin the needle to the side to keep it out of the way. Lay the thread over the drawn spiral and then use the floss to tack it down.

Use the chalk pencil to draw the spiral in flower center 2. Use the layout as your guide.
Use 1 strand of perle cotton, size 12, color #O154 to make a running stitch over the line.

Use a chalk pencil or air erasable marker to draw guide lines for the large flower center embellishment. Use the layout as your guide.
Use 1 strand of perle cotton, size 12, color #P5 to stitch over the guide lines.

Enjoy!