Happy first day of summer! We're still waiting for the sunshine here, but in the meantime . . . what better flower block for June than the rose?
Rose are one of the most popular flowering shrubs in the world, ancient symbols of love and beauty, and the inspiration of many an artist and poet throughout the ages. William Shakespeare's famous line in 'Romeo and Juliet' comes to mind, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." And from 'Bread and Roses' by James Oppenheim, "Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses." Yes, we must indeed have roses! (Here's the wonderful anniversary bouquet I received from the Mister a couple weeks ago--celebrating our 29 years together! BEST Friends are we still.)
The word 'rose' means pink or red, but today there are thousands of colors and varieties. I don't think I've ever met a rose I didn't like, but I'm especially fond of old roses in the garden, such as those romantic pale climbers and the rambling types; and varieties of English & French roses, such as damask and gallica, with their many rows of delicate petals like icing on a cake. Yum!
The adoption of the New York state flower began in 1890, on Arbor Day, when it was put to a vote by school children of the state. Three flowers were nominated and were ranked by popularity as the goldenrod, rose, and the daisy. A year later, again on Arbor Day, another poll was taken for the two top-runners and the rose won out, but no action was taken to make it official until April 20, 1955. It then became the official flower of the state, "in any color or combination of colors common to it."
So...this flower block can be stitched in any color that you like. I did mine in the colors that were listed on the original chart. Specifically I chose, DMC COLORS: petals #444/970/945/350; leaves and stems "dark green".
Remember images should be about 4 x 4-inches to fit a 6.5" quilt block.
To get the image:: RIGHT CLICK to save it as a file, or for size options--LEFT CLICK and use the flickr 'all sizes' link.
If you are visiting for the first time, and just starting the project you can download the stitch guide and color chart here as a PDF:
