PATTERN SHOWCASE: BLACK EYED SUSAN

Gosh I know I say this all the time, but it is quite possible that this will go down as one of my top 3 favorite flower quilts I have ever designed. There is just something about it that is fun to construct, not hard to be successful at [not a lot of points to match or anything that will make it arduous] and it looks good in SO MANY different color combinations.

We have done it in three variations so far [see below for more info on that] and honestly I don’t think we are done with it. I am itching to do a reverse one with a darker background and maybe one in a totally unexpected color scheme next year. We will see what develops.

But for now, grab a cup of tea and join me on a little adventure through all 3 quilts. If you want to see a bit of a video of these take a look at Instagram too!

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ORIGINAL: BLACK EYED SUSAN [VERSION #1]

For me, there are certain flowers that just “speak” summer garden and the BLACK EYED SUSAN, otherwise know as the RUDBECKIA, is definitely one of those flowers. The moment I started designing my PORTOFINO collection, I knew that this flower garden would be amongst the accompanying patterns.

But of course I could not let go of the idea of the traditional Black Eyed Susan flower and thus decided to include them both. The traditional “Black Eyed Susan” came first with its black cone top and orange or yellow leaves, this flower is the epitome of late summer for me. I used a few favorite EYELET prints for the flowers and then mixed it up on the leaves as well as scrappy low volume cream backgrounds. It is so good!

This sample was pieced and quilted by Susan Vaughan.

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ORIGINAL: RUDBECKIA [VERSION #2]

This second version created with my Portofino fabrics, is a bit more of a fantasy garden since no Black Eyed Susan’s actually grow in most of these colors. But I don’t think anyone is complaining about the perfect match of this pattern with the Portofino fabrics, don’t you think? It is soft and summer and fall in the garden all at the same time!

Start with just a few flower colors or go super scrappy like in the multi color version here to build your own summer flower garden. We used a Layer Cake for the flowers and as many leaves as we could to give this version a truly soft scrappy feel!

This sample was pieced by Lacey Poirier and quilted by Susan Vaughan.

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Here you can see both of them together. As you might notice there are actually two different settings, one a bit more simple and one with a bit more space and a little corner post flair!

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NEW: AGATHA ROAD VERSION

And we could not resist adding another version. The moment it came time to choose which patterns would be used to showcase AGATHA ROAD, this was at the top of everyone’s list.

I alternated (2) black prints for the heads, a few orange prints for the petals and a whole variety of soft greys for the leaves. As always the block backgrounds are a scrappy variety of low volume creams, this time from AGATHA ROAD.

This version was pieced and quilted by Diana Johnson. Can you see that amazing quilting?! You can definitely see it better on the Instagram video, too!

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The BLACK EYED SUSAN Quilt Pattern is available via PAPER or PDF. Hope this round up inspires you to pick your favorite and start working on a Black Eyed Susan garden of your own!

Two Size Quilts
Black Eyed Susan Version – 57 1/2″ x 77 1/2″
Rudbeckia Version – 62 1/2′ x 82 1/2″

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Happy Sewing!

-Joanna