October 05, 2013

(Big) City Girl - representing Ålesund, Norway


Welcome to my corner of the world! The city I am representing today is small, just like my country. You may not have heard of it, but when you see these photos of my city (Ålesund, Norway) you will see it is well worth a visit!

The city is located on the west coast of Norway and has beautiful architecture! The city burned down in 1904 and was rebuilt all in the Art Nouveau style - so cool! I don't live there anymore, but my mother does so some times I get to visit.
Ålesund Architecture Mosaic

Just look at these amazing details!
Ålesund Details Mosaic

And as you can see, the details are quite organic and not easy to translate to quilting patterns:) But I have tried and made a loose interpretation of one of the sunflower designs - looking something like this:
Art Nouveau Sunflower V2


TUTORIAL - Art Nouveau Sunflower

Materials needed:
Printout of Template Page 1 and Template Page 2
Background fabric 9.5"x12.5"
Scraps of fabric for large petals (A), small petals (B), center (C), stem (D) and leaves (E)
Double sided fusible interfacing

Step 1: Trace pattern pieces on fusible web, fuse to chosen fabric pieces, cut out shapes and peel off backing paper.

ArtNouSunflowerStep1

Step 2: Make a crease down the center of the background piece (fold long sides together).
ArtNouSunflowerStep2

Step 3: Place stem (D) onto crease, bottom of stem should be about 1.5" from bottom. Fuse in place.
ArtNouSunflowerStep3

Step 4: Place large petals (A) in a circle, centered at top of the stem. Fuse in place.
ArtNouSunflowerStep4

Step 5: Place small petals (B) on top of large petals (middle of small petal will cover space between large petals). Fuse in place.
ArtNouSunflowerStep5

Step 6: Place center (C) and fuse in place.
ArtNouSunflowerStep6

Step 7: Place leaves (E) as desired and fuse in place.
ArtNouSunflowerStep7

Step 8: Stitch as you prefer around applique pieces and enjoy!
Art Nouveau Sunflower V1


A big thank you to Aylin and Amy for hosting this Quilt Along. If you want to join this QAL you can read all about it here. It's very low key, so if you want to make one of our blocks or design one of your own showing off a place you love, please do join!


Thanks for visiting!
-Marit