Carolina Lily Block

This one is from the Lynne Edwards Book again.  She suggests American hand piecing and machine piecing mixed for the construction but I prefer to do anything with diamonds or set in patches (both of which appear in this block) English style, over papers.  It may take longer, but I'm reasonably confident I can get it to fit together accurately. 

The stems are sewn into the patch seams then left to flap about until the end when they are sewn down to the finished block and the leaves appliqued on last of all.  The large triangular corners can be done in a contrast or in the same colour as the background fabric, as here  In the book, both are shown but this seemed more in keeping with the style of my quilt.    I am rather pleased with the way the spotted fabric works in the block.  Actually getting the spots to run up the bias tubes used for the stems was rather an exercise in patience (and involved making about twice as many bias strips as were needed and picking the best ones).  however, the end result came out exactly as envisaged.