An African flower journey in crochet 😁

African flower motif in crochet has fascinated me for a very long time, almost since my foray into the world of Pinterest. I had seen, admired and pinned a lot of wonderful projects featured there… I guess, hoping to give it a try some day!!!#yarngoal2019 gave #saiasmidreamzinyarn that oppertunity.. to try them on a cushion cover. The custom request was for girly and pastel shades. So white was an automatic choice for the background.

But once started, we decided to change two color schemes to make the background pale pink and light yellow on two of the pieces. So here came a challenge as the background color being non-white meant, I couldn’t use some combinations on the flowers!!!! Hence, a deliberation ensued.. to perfect the combinations in a way to suit the background and not be repetitive, while keeping it girly 😉.. Phew!!!!

After a long process of determination, the squares for the front panel (20 hexagons and 5 half-hexagons on each) of the cushions were completed… Atleast in layouts and therein began the sewing part.Each motif was joined in with the next.. Including the half hexagons.

Two of the edges end up with a zigzag shape and after a lot of research on the net, I finally decided to go with the flow and filled them up with an approximating pattern of1: starting at a peak – ch1, sc2tog, sc, sc, hdc, hdc, hdc, dc, dc, dc2tog (at the dip) and mirror that upward.2: sc in the prev ch1 space at peak, (sc2tog, sc, sc, hdc, hdc, hdc, dc) and dc at the dip and mirror it upwards. I used a ch1 where i felt the tension of stitches was puffing the piece out.

Back panels: granny stripeAs discussed with the order, it was decided to keep the sequence and pattern of color striping same on all four cushions for the Granny Stripe back panels. But as with the front, using a color back ground would limit the usage of other colors on the stripes. Hence the solution was to alternate them with white stripe and keep white as the base on all four..

This kept them true to their matching panels in essence and gave me the freedom of colors too!And Voila!!! Here are the completed covers.. Yet to finish them with the lining and zippers, but there goes…

Do leave your comments and opinions on the journey and tips and suggestions for any future repeats of the same.. Will be mighty helpful for me as a crafter and for others who wish to do the same. You can follow me and my work @ http://www.facebook.com/saiasmi @rashmibinu_saiasmi on Instagram.. or follow #saiasmidreamzinyarn anywhere.Here are links that inspired and helped me in the shaping of this project.

Inspiration: Pinterest pin Pattern: for African flower hexagon

Pattern: for half hexagons (YouTube)

Tutorial : for joining (YouTube)

Happy Crafting!!!

..Rashmi