Hunt for Roses

 This quarter's theme - Emotions/Feelings has been in the mix for a long time and for all of that time I have had no idea how I might interpret it! Indeed for most of this quarter I have had no idea how to interpret the theme in a quilt :)

It was very fortunate for me then that reading an article on the filming of the second series of Bridgerton I was reminded of the whole language of flowers, widely popular in the UK in the Regency and later Victorian eras. I knew that I could use this language to interpret an emotion into a quilt. 

Pink roses symbolise Joy and Gratitude in the language of flowers. Even despite the events of the last couple of years I have lots to be joyful and grateful about in my life, so this piece which I have entitled "Hunt for Roses" is my recognition of that. In fact as I was completing this our youngest son announced his engagement to his lovely girlfriend, which was definitely another reason to be joyful! 

 

Whilst I was contemplating the creation of my pink rose, my local Textiles group announced the theme for work in January would be "Renewal". My original intention had been to use fabric paints to create the rose but the announcement of the month's theme gave me the idea to use up some of my OH's shirts that are no longer required. You can see that he was partial to a pink dress shirt in his working life :)

 

At a workshop in October last year, a friend gave me a piece of rust-dyed linen that she had going spare. I wanted my piece to resemble an vintage botanical illustration so when I came across the fabric in my stash I decided that it would make the perfect backdrop for my pink rose

Early in the first lockdown here in the UK, the Creative Craft Show usually held in Glasgow in March was moved online and one of the workshops given illustrated a method of reverse applique that I was keen to try for the rose. 

I found the ideal rose template here and traced it on to tearaway stabiliser then pinned that to the back of my rust-dyed fabric. The shirt fabrics were stitched to the front of the fabric and then cut away around the stitched line to build up the rose.

The stem and leaves of the rose were traced and fastened to the front of the fabric before the outline was free-machine embroidered and then filled in with Inktense blocks and pencils and some added fme for the veining on the leaves.

 

I was tempted to leave the rose at this stage but then decided to quilt around the rose petals, stem and leaves. The photograph above is the quilting as seen from the back of the piece. I was glad that I added the quilting as it adds definition to the rose petals, which in hindsight I think it needed.

As I was intending to replicate a vintage botanical print, my original intention had been to embroider the botanical name for pink roses below the applique, but I hadn't replicated a specific rose or type of rose so didn't think that was the right choice. 

Instead, I found this quote from an unknown author which fitted my theme of Gratitude and Joy.

When life throws thorns hunt for roses.

As you can see I embroidered roses with a light pink thread but it just didn't show up against the rust-dyed fabric, so I ripped it out and redid it with the sepia-toned thread used for the rest of the quote.

 

My DH has been busy painting chairs for our dining room, so I prevailed upon him to paint a picture frame too. The finished and framed quilt now hangs in our bedroom to remind me every day to be grateful for all that I have :)

One of the many things that I am grateful for, and that has brought me much joy over the past few years, has been membership of this wonderful group of inspiring quilters. 

 

I send you all a virtual bouquet of pink roses.

https://unsplash.com/photos/l63iUpfe-ME?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

Looking forward, as always, to seeing how my fellow Endeavourers have interpreted this quarter's theme.