I am currently working on a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt. I have memories of having one as a child. I only wish that I knew who the quilter was.
I’ve researched this pattern, which goes by names such as French Rose Garden, honeycomb and mosaic. This is a very old pattern which has been documented as early as the late 1700’s.
Many quilters find this to be a pattern to be rather addictive. The challenge lays in making many, many, many wonderful hexagons. The size of the hexagon can be part of the fun, the smaller the hexagons, the greater the number needed.
Fortunately, this is a portable project. I have a travel kit with my paper piecing hexagons, fabric squares, thread, scissors, needles, and of course, extra needles.
Once I decided that I was going to embark on this endeavor, I researched patterns, tutorials, and images. I wanted to be prepared for the commitment that this project entails. I gathered my fabric, tools, ordered paper piecing hexagons on-line, and got to it.
Well, all my preparations did not make me ready. My goal of making 25 flowers proved to be inadequate. I kept changing my mind on the fabrics that I wanted to use, and the project just kept getting bigger.
I decided to use my supply of charm packs to make a scrappy quilt. I adore scrappy quilts. I decided a color scheme. This is where it got tricky. I diverted from this somewhat, if not greatly. I also decided that I would use a white border around the flowers to represent the picket fence. I decided against the green border, which represents the grass.
This is a work in progress, and with many other interests to occupy my time, it will still be a while before this quilt is complete. It is also my aspiration to quilt this project by hand. Completion date to be determined.