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Writer's pictureSharon Prigan

Patchwork Collage Roses

A few weeks ago my students asked me to teach them collage art.


I don't buy any special tools or materials such as solvy so I decided to create a simple piece using white school glue, which they all have on hand, or, if you have a glue stick you could use that as well, some fabric scraps and a sewing machine.


As usual, I only used what I have on hand. A piece of sheeting for the base



a piece of white sheeting fabric


and some neutral fabric strips to create a patchwork layer on the base fabric



cream and white fabric strips


I laid them down on the base sheeting piece, alternating cream and white strips



patchwork fabric strips cream and white alternated on a base fabric sheeting piece


I sewed lines using the sewing machine foot as a guage for the distance between the lines. It is going to be a simple base fabric patchwork piece in neutral colors.



sewing grid lines with a sewing machine on the base patchwork fabric


I sewed grid lines, horizontally and vertically so that the base piece is a bit stiff and has some weight to it.



base patchwork fabric with grid lines sewn onto it


I had a selection of pink cotton remnants so I cut these shapes at a width of approximately 1 cm with a length of 4 cm for the rose petals



measuring pink fabric petals


I cut enough so that I had a selection of different shaded pink petals



bowl of pink fabric petals


Bottle of plastic school glue



bottle of plastic school glue


Diluted 50 -50 with water



bowl of diluted plastic glue


Some ear buds



ear buds


Spread a very thin layer of glue over the back of the petals using the ear bud



putting glue on the back of the fabric petal with a near bud


Start about 5 cm from the top and side edges of the base fabric and press the petals down on the base patchwork fabric in the shape of a rose. This is my rose shape.


It doesn't matter that you see the glue as it dries transparently.



first set of petals glued down


I left a distance of about 4 cm and began glueing the petals of the second rose down



glueing down the second rose piece on the base fabric


The first row of roses glued down



the first row of pink rose petals is glued down on the base fabric


All of my petals are glued down, let them dry, it can take a day or 2 and then sew over them to keep them in place



all the pink rose petals are glued down


I began sewing a straight stitch directly on the petal



beginning to sew the petals starting at the top of the patchwork piece


Moving from petal to petal sewing one reverse stitch at the edge of each petal before lifting the needle and moving on to sew the next petal. I don't cut the thread at this stage.



sewing down the glued petals with a sewing machine


Lots of threads to cut once the petals are sewn down



sewn down pink petals with thread running between them


Now I cut the threads



cutting threads between the pink petals


A simple, beautiful collaged rose patchwork piece.


I kept the technique simple as it was for a basic collage class. One could change thread colors, sew all around and in the center of the petals, sew quilting lines in between the petals, add a layer of batting.


The sky is the limit!



patchwork collage of pink rose petals


To find more art quilt tutorials see here on Etsy



and here on the site



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