Pattern

Fleur de Lis embroidery pattern

If you ask my husband one motif that I would like for sure, he would answer Fleur de Lis. It’s not like I am an avid Fleur de Lis collector though. Occasionally however, I will pick up a stationary or two if I like the design and the colors. Since my girl scout days, I have been in love with the design. The Florentine Fleur de Lis is my most favorite of them all.

Fleur de Lis Pattern

This project started with a swap. I am part of a lovely swap group on Flickr where we make tiny 3″ quilt blocks. The theme of the month was piecing with embroidery and I made this nine-patch quilt block with Fleur de Lis embroidered on it. It makes me think of colored glass windows.

Fleur de Lis

Here’s a picture of the bunch together. This was my first time ever making nine-patch blocks and I had to cut 1″ squares!!

Fleur de Lis Detail

Then I got to work on a larger version of the design for the Florentine Fleur de Lis with a combination of chain and back stitch.

A few tips on using DMC satin – I used DMC satin embroidery floss for the brightness it offers. I never used it before and I found out very quickly that it is not a very beginner-friendly floss.

It has very little cohesion. For the chain stitch, I had to use the thumb of my left hand to hold the floss down to keep the stitch in place while working with my right hand.
It frays very easily. I had to keep on trimming the loose ends so they wouldn’t knot up as I pulled the floss through the fabric.
This embroidery floss left a lot of lint on the fabric. I used a lint roller to clean up the finished piece.

Fleur de Lis embroidery pattern

The file includes both patterns: the simple one and the Florentine one for personal and non-profit use.

Mine is going to be a present for my husband as a remembrance of our first overseas trip and the wonderful time we had in Florence!

Enjoy!
-Soma

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Couple of months ago when we moved, I packed a box full of sewing projects that I would be able to work on while I was unpacking the rest of the boxes over time. This purple star quilt project was part of that box. The move went very smoothly, except one of my kitties became seriously ill very shortly thereafter. While he spent a whole day at the doctor’s office, I was at home trying to calm my nerves by sewing these sixteen paper pieced blocks. At that point I knew that instead of making another wall hanging, I wanted to make this quilt for him to snuggle on once he got better.

Graphical representation of the quilt

The Morning Star quilt pattern was conceived during a weekend doodle session on the computer. I was so excited to find exact matches for the fabric colors in the quilt store! I used Kona Pansy for the lighter purple and Kona Regal for the darker color. Purple is a pretty bright color for me, so I toned it down with Architextures Grey Crosshatch. I also offset the dull grey and brightened the quilt top back up again with a white print with lines on it that I had in my stash.

I really wanted to finish this little quilt as soon as possible, so I kept on working on it while my dear kitty slept on my other desk. He is really a very good work buddy.

I used my walking foot to quilt this one. First I quilted diagonal lines through the middle of the star blocks. Then I echo quilted following the outlines made by the two adjoining blocks. That made for a beautiful diamond star pattern. I also did stitch in the ditch quilting around the entire outer edge of the stars, so the design on the back would be framed as well. I worked on finishing the quilt as my kitty continued to recuperate.

I made this little toy for him yesterday and he started purring and playing with it instantly. I found the ball in his food bowl later on, a sure sign for me that he is doing a lot better now.

I added a one-inch border using the same white fabric used in the star blocks so the outer star points would not be covered up by the binding. Aside from the stitch in the ditch around the stars to frame the design in the back, I also quilted two squares going around the border to frame the quilt top. Instead of introducing another color, I used the same Kona Regal from the star for the binding. Here’s my finished quilt measuring 22″ x 22″. This one quilt will be always be very special to me. Do you also have those projects where it starts off as just another project and then suddenly becomes something really special?

Make sure to visit the Pantone Quilt Challenge page to feast your eyes on the beauties. I am entering mine as well! My quilt is made from the star quilt pattern called the Pinwheel Star.

Happy Sewing,
Soma

Fleur de Lis Free Pattern

Kitty Love