My Dandelion Quilt - Flower Appliqués

I decide I want to finish this quilt top by the end of the month, so I can get it to the long-armer ASAP.  Winter is coming, and I want to have a sunshiney summer bedspread to cheer me through the drear.  I have two more appliqués to do: the dandelion bloom and the side-view with sepals. 

But first, my Dandelion Quilt posts so far:
Design
Sky and Wishies
Pieced Dandelions
Delectable Mountains Block (1)
Bear Paw
Barrister's Block
Delectable Mountains Block (2)
Appliqué Leaves

BLOOM

Originally, I intended to make my dandelions with Dresden Plate appliqués, but now I think they would look too much like daisies if I did.  Plus Dresden Plates require math in the drafting, and I'm... *deep sigh* all math'd out.  Instead, I continue with the Hawai'ian appliqué motif.  The design is pretty fun.  I start with small squares of paper and experiment, and soon have my patterns ready to be made in larger, 24" squares.  Here's how I do the full bloom. 

First, I fold the paper in half, and half again, and then in half again to make a pizza-slice shape.  I draw wavy lines from the folded edges in toward the center, but not all the way though to the other folded edges.  I alternate the side I start the lines from.  I make squared-off petal ends.  When I open it, it's a bewildering mess of ruffles! 

Time to do the same with my 24" square of fabric. First I fold up in half, then over in half, to get a smaller square:

Then I fold it in half again, folded edges to folded edges, to make my pizza slice.  Since this is a lot of fabric, I machine-baste the edges so they don't slide around as I cut. 

Notice the effect of my alternating cuts?  When I stretch it out, it's all one, wiggly piece.  When I open it up (taking the basting stitches out as I go), the petal-slices are staggered like scales around the center.  I use red thread to hand-baste the bloom fabric to another yellow fabric backing. 

Needle-turning the cut edges under, I will appliqué all the inner cuts to the yellow fabric, then applique the whole yellow bloom to my light green square on the quilt top.  Then, to reduce bulk, I'll probably cut away the green backing. 

SIDE VIEW WITH SEPALS

The other dandelion will be shown from a side view, including its sepals.  What's a sepal?  Here's a diagram of a flower that has a single blossom:

Parts of a Flower, by Anjubaba, CC BY-SA 4.0

Look at the base of the plant, under the petals: the wee green leaves at the bottom are sepals.  The swelling at the base is the receptacle.  And the stem/stalk is the peduncle*.  Some flowers have multiple blossoms clustered together, each one with its own tiny stem called a pedicel, and the pedicels come together in one peduncle.  However, dandelions (at least the common dandelions I am used to) have only one blossom per stalk, so there's no pedicels, only peduncle. 

* Incidentally, "peduncle" is a terrible-sounding word... it makes me want to make off-color jokes.  Is it just me?  "Pedicel" is pretty bad, too... incels have been using -cel as a suffix in gross constructions like "fatcel", "heightcel" and so on, and pedi can mean-- anyway.  Don't click that link... I put it there because I'm obsessed with sourcing, not because you need to see the source.  

For my side view dandelion, I want to show the sepals and receptacle, and maybe the peduncle (if I can get past how creepy that word sounds).  I fold my paper in half with the fold running vertically, and sketch an outline. 

paper pattern

cut from two fabrics

Once opened, its shape feels old-fashioned to me, reminiscent of flower-basket appliqués on old quilts:

I make three slashes within the receptacle, baste a different green to the back, and appliqué the raw edges under to expose it.  Here are the back and front of the receptacle once done:

BACK

FRONT

TIME...

Appliqué is not difficult, but it is hand-sewing, and so time-consuming.  Alas, right now my work schedule has gone completely bonkers, what with COVID scares, people calling out, and a staffing shortage so severe that some days have no-one scheduled, in a medical setting which requires at least three people at a time during the day, ideally five.  The scheduling managers are at their wits' end.  I have been working on my usual days off, or pulling doubles or nocturnal shifts, which ruin my days off by ruining my sleep schedule.  When not working, I am zombie-like. 

I don't think I'll finish my quilt-top this month, but I can try.  If it takes longer, that's okay, too.