Simple.  Easy.  That is how I am going to describe Block 7 of “Bed of Roses”.  Seriously.  Take a good look at the shapes and I think you will agree!

Let’s get started!  First, I traced the block onto the background with a water soluble marker.

Next, I used a 1/4″ bias maker to make all of the stems.

After I finished stitching the bias stems in place, I went along my merry way prepping the many pieces.  Instead of tracing my templates, I simply photocopied the pattern onto freezer paper.  All of the pieces in this block are symmetrical, which means you do now have to worry about making mirror images.

So now its time to start gluing the pieces in place.  I started with the small flowers and leaves.

Next, I added the pretty pink flowers.

I love these dark pink centers!

Looking good!

Now I started on the larger flowers.

The excitement is definitely mounting!

Now I am going to show you how I tackled the center section.  The center consists of 5 separate pieces, which if layered one on top of the other, would be very bulky.  So this is how I eliminated the bulk.

I prepped all of the pieces in the usual way.

Next,  I glued one section on top of the other…

…and stitched it in place.

Once I finished stitching the piece in place, I very (very!) carefully trimmed away the first layer, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Okay, now I repeated those same steps with each new layer.  I glued the yellow piece in place….

….and stitched it in place.

And I trimmed out the second layer.

And here is the second last piece stitched in place.

And trimmed.
And, finally, the last piece!

The rest of the leaves and……Voila!

You can find Block 7 (along with the 6 previous blocks) of Sue Garman’s “Bed of Roses” on my website Simple Bird Studio.

Til next time….

Kerry