Here, finally, are the last two sections of the center panel.  They were exciting to stitch – as you can well imagine – since this would be the first time I would see the entire design.  Didn’t I know what it was going to look like?  Not exactly, no.

I designed the center panel as I have designed much of my recent work.  I drew one-quarter of the design to scale, then flipped it and rotated it to complete the entire design.  But I worked in sections, just as I have been describing them to you.  (To see the previous 6 sections, visit the category Flourish on the Vine.)  I traced a section at a time onto the background fabric; fabric selections were made for each section once the previous section was appliquéd.  So, while I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to look like, I hadn’t seen the entire center panel until sections 7 and 8 were stitched. 

Section 7 Left Side

Section 7 Right Side

Sections 7 and 8 are quite similar.  One runs horizontally across the top and bottom edge of the center panel; the other runs vertically down each side.  Once again, each section has a left and right side, meeting in the center and joining up with sections 2 and 3.  Section 8 also joins with section 6.

Section 8 Left Side

Section 8 Right Side

There are quite a number of patches in these last two sections:  26 in section 7 and 28 in section 8.  With these sections repeating four times, a total of 216 patches were added to the appliqué.  This brings the final tally to 182 individual patches and 665 total patches in the entire center panel.  It’s a good thing I didn’t count them before I started!

So, what comes next?  Borders.  The first border will be a frame for the center panel.  I’ve done a small mock-up but I haven’t tried it on full size.  This is because I am waiting until the appliqué on the second border is completed and I can view everything together.  Stay tuned!