Yesterday I showed you how to prepare some flower, leaf and stem shapes made from Banyan Batik Visual Sound and Ketan scraps and fusible web. The small scale of the Ketan fabrics was especially suitable for the little circle flowers.

Now it’s time to start arranging the applique pieces on the background fabric which is really the leftover block from our QUILTsocial project on July 2nd and 3rd this week. The flower shapes can be combined in many different ways. Be creative!

I chose a vertical setting for my little quilt, but you could also arrange your flowers horizontally on the background. This is your own original creation, so the choice is yours!

Let’s start designing!

• I like to work on a design wall and use straight pins to pin the shapes in place as I’m designing.
• Start by placing the stems on the background first. You can see that I started with 5 stems at first, but I soon realized the design was going to be too crowded, so I ended up using just 3 stems.

• Now add the leaves and flowers to make a pleasing arrangement. You can stack 2 or 3 flower circles together for more interest.
• When you’re satisfied with the arrangement, carefully remove the background paper from the fusible web, 1 piece at a time, and then pin the shape back in place.
• When all the shapes are ready, fuse the pieces to the background, following the manufacturer’s instructions for the fusible web product you are using.
• Another alternative is to “audition” border pieces before fusing the shapes in place. That way you can have some of the flower or leaf shapes extending into the border.

After the outside edges are squared, you’re ready for the border!

Again I like to work on a design wall, pinning border pieces in place to audition the effect.

Here are a few borders I’ve tried using Northcott’s Banyan Batiks.

The narrow blue border is a Ketan fabric and the lime green one is from the Visual Sound  collection.

The wide lime green border is also from Visual Sound.

My other option is to leave the piece just as it is, and not have any borders at all. Decisions, decisions! I would love to see what your design looks like when it’s finished. I hope you’ll share some pictures on QUILTsocial.

Be sure to come back tomorrow and I’ll show you some other fusible applique options using this wonderful Banyan Batik fabric by Northcott.