The sunflower can mean something different to everyone. They are a symbol of perseverance, as they can handle drought, heat, and tough conditions and still shine. They represent strength with their upright and strong stem, holding a lot on their shoulders. They are seen as nourishing, as they provide food. Or to some, sunflowers are just a symbol of warmth, positivity, and happiness as they always turn to face the sun. This sounds like a lot of women in our lives - our mothers. When designing a gift for my mom for Mother's Day, I wanted to give her something that represented those qualities; here is an everlasting sunflower wreath.

To my momma bear: thank you for being everything I need and always more. Happy Mother's & Father's Day.

Step 1: Materials

2 yellow fabrics (yellow batik)
Brown fabric
Green fabric (leaf batik)
Iron-on stabilizer, medium weight (I used Pellon 809)
Yellow & black thread
Petal, leaf, & center template, printed
Scissors
Rotary cutter, ruler, mat
Friction pen
Small black beads
Poly-fil
Sewing machine
Iron

Sunflower Template.pdf
Download

Step 2: Make Petals

Cut the following:

Yellow #1 (12): 6.5" x 6.5"
Yellow #2 (12) 6.5" x 6.5"
Brown (12): 2.5" x 2.5"
Stabilizer (12): 6" x 6"

Side #1: this processing is also called "snowballing"
1. Grab stack of brown squares
2. Press squares in half, creating a triangle
3. Place square on the corner of a yellow square
4. Open the brown square and sew a straight line along the crease
5. Trim off 1/4" to the right of the stitch line
6. Open and press
Side #2:
1. Place stabilizer, shiny side down, onto wrong side center of 2nd yellow - there should be equal space on each side of the yellow block
2. Press - according to directions - until stabilizer is attached, and let cool
Finish petals:
1. Place side #1 & side #2, right sides together, and sew 1/4" seam around the block; backstitch at the beginning and end and leave a few inches open to turn block inside out
2. Cut off the four corners without cutting the seam (easier to turn), turn inside out, use a turning tool (or chopstick) to push out corners, put raw open edges to the inside, and press the petal square
3. Top stitch an 1/8th" seam around the block
4. Using the Sunflower Petal template provided, place the cutout, skinny side toward the brown, and mark with friction pen (or chalk). Keep the "up" side facing upwards on all blocks, as the pattern is not perfectly symmetrical. Even if the template is too big or small for your 6" square, it doesn't matter as long as you keep the small point lined up with the brown corner point

Step 3: Finish Petals

Attach petals:
1. Place two blocks "side #2" together, making sure brown points are in the same corner
2. Sew the two blocks together using one of the template lines
3. Open up the two blocks and repeat with a new block, now using the other template line. Keep adding blocks all the way around the wreath until you finally sew the last two together
Decide which sunflower look you like better: The points of the petals need to be secured; you can either sew the petal points to the other point on the same petal, or the one right next to it. They give very different looks. I went with option two!
1. Hand sew or use machine to sew corners of SAME petal together
2. Hand sew or use machine to sew adjacent petal corners together; use iron to create creases. You may even need to use fabric glue to keep petals from falling

*You could be done after this step and not add the brown center or leaves if you wanted to use this as a table centerpiece.

Step 4: Sunflower Center and Leaves

Center:
1. Use Center template provided to cut out (2) brown circles and one batting circle
2. Lay browns right sides together with the batting on top, and sew circles together leaving a 2-inch gap opening
3. Turn inside out and press
4. Hand sew on black beads through only the top fabric; the flower opening is small, so keep the beads close to the center
5. Place brown circle underneath the center of the petals and mark with a clip or pin where your brown center opening is; you will stuff this with poly-fil later
6. Sew inch (or so) sections around the circle as pictured
7. Add poly-fil to your desired lift; this is added for depth
8. Finish sewing brown circle
9. Decide if you want to leave the petal's brown points laying flat (#1) or flipped up (#2) (I did this!); they both provide different looks
Leaves:
1. Use Leaf template to cut out (4) green leaves
2. Sew two leaves, right side together, flip inside out, and press
3. Fold leaf in half, use your friction pen to mark a two inch line up from the base, and sew a 1/4" seam from the folded edge; this gives the leaf some movement and depth
4. Top stitch an 1/8" seam around the edge of the leaf
5. Position leaves in desired placement and sew onto petals