In my last post I showed you how I made the wreath, the leaves and the circles.  Now I am going to show you how I made the middle section.  I mentioned how I photocopied the pattern onto freezer paper to make most of my templates.  You can do that with this block because the majority of the shapes are symmertical.  Why is that important?  And what is symmetrical anyway?  Good questions!

Symmetrical simply means that if you take the shape, and draw a line down the middle, both halves are the same, but mirror images.  Like these  leaf shapes.

Even though the bird is not symmetrical, the fact that there are two birds (and they are reversed) means that you can still use the photocopied templates.  In fact, the entire block is symmetrical at this point.  If you were to draw a line right down the middle, both sides would be a mirror image of each other.

Freezer paper and starch (or Prepared Edge Applique) is the method I use so I will explain why symmetrical shapes are important.  If I were to use the templates for the middle section (the bouquet of 3 roses) from the freezer paper I photocopied, the bouquet would be reversed on the finished block. So for that not to happen, I need to reverse my templates if they are not symmetrical.   With experience you will be able to look at all the shapes in the block and decide if you can use the shapes as they are, or if you have to reverse your templates.

So, how do I reverse my templates?  There are a few ways…..I can flip my pattern over on to my lightbox and trace the templates onto my freezer paper (paper side up).  Or, I can flip my freezer paper (shiny side up) and trace from the right side of the pattern.  Either way, you have to flip something!

Believe it or not, the only shapes I had to reverse (or flip) in this block are the stems and leaves for the bouquet.  The roses are symmetrical, so I used the photocopied templates.

The buds are not symmetrical, but there are two and they are reversed.

Notice I prepped the rose, and then removed the template and cut out the buds to prep them.  No need to make new templates.  Here is a post that explains things in more detail.

Even though the leaves and stems are all one piece, I decided to separate the pieces.  Some of those curves are pretty deep and there isn’t a lot of seam allowance to fold over.  I use the word “dicey” to describe how I feel about doing this shape.  So I came up with an alternate (and less dicey!) way to handle these pieces.  I also used this technique on a pair of pants, an elephant and a horse.

First, I drew a line that separates the leaves from the stems.  Don’t worry that the stem looks a little thicker in places because we will be using bias for the stems.  

Next, I traced the shapes onto the shiny side of the freezer paper with a fine Sharpie.  Remember, you can flip the pattern, or you can flip the freezer paper.  But you can’t flip both.  These shapes are not dicey at all!

Now I just went merrily on my way gluing the leaves in place.

Next, I added some bias stems.

Next I added the roses.  Yummy!

Then I added the ribbon.

Voila!

Til next time….

Kerry