Susan Bates - Designing the “Spring Fling” Patterns for StitchableCards

Photo credits for moodboard: Daffodils by Yoksel Zok, Tulips by Timo C. Dinger, Chick, and Chicks by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash.

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With the emergence of Spring we welcome the slightly longer, warmer days and lighter evenings. Suddenly plants start to stir and we see the first buds of Spring on the ground and on the trees – colour begins to return after a seemingly long Winter! We notice the birds singing louder and earlier and animals start to emerge, busy with nesting, hatching, and growing. To me, Spring feels like a season of optimism and hope and it is with these ideas in mind that I came up with my designs for this set. My focus is on new life and the flora and fauna of this season. I’ve kept to a palette of bright yellows, offset by sweet pastel colours, which I hope reflect the feel of Springtime.

Chicks are one of the strongest symbols of Spring because they represent new life just beginning. Their emergence lines up perfectly with the season’s themes of birth, growth, and renewal. Chicks also symbolise innocence and vulnerability. Their tiny fluffy yellow bodies with their clumsy movements are so sweet – you can’t help but find them cute! Chicks are very much associated with the Easter period and have come to represent rebirth and resurrection. However, at heart, chicks belong to Spring because they capture its essence: something small and new, stepping into a warmer, brighter world. In my design a little chick sits in a miniature basket, surrounded by daffodils and tiny flowers. The yellow of the chick and the daffodils is bright and cheerful and the small flowers that surround the chick add a dainty feel to the design.

Daffodils are bright and sunny and unmistakably make me think of Spring. The daffodil has a graceful, upright stalk topped with a single, nodding bloom. The flower is made of petal-like segments arranged in a star around its centre. At the heart sits a trumpet-shaped cup, giving the daffodil its signature look. Whilst I have created designs of daffodils before, this time I wanted to create one which focuses on a close up of one flower. So here we can see a pretty daffodil which is displayed against a contrasting lilac background. Spears of green leaves surround the flower and the whole design fits nicely into the heart- shaped template.

Bunny rabbits are closely tied to Springtime because they embody everything the season represents: new life, energy, and abundance. As Winter fades, rabbits become more visible, hopping through fresh grass and gardens, just as the world starts to grow again. In my design a cheeky bunny peeks out from behind a garland of Spring flowers. The pastel pink background helps add to the playful feel of the design and the whole thing makes a pretty design within the circular shape.

For me, tulips are another flower which I strongly associate with Springtime. They produce blooms of many different colours and so to capture some of this variety I’ve created a bouquet of 3 different coloured tulips tied up with a purple ribbon. Whilst we generally associate tulips with birth and renewal, (due to their early Spring flowering), the various colours of flowers can have individual meanings too. According to my research, purple tulips represent admiration, pink tulips represent affection and good wishes, and yellow tulips represent happiness and warmth. But, overall, tulips symbolise love, and one that is hopeful, fresh, and full of promise—like an emotional equivalent of Spring itself! For my design I’ve used a colour palette of fresh hues and tones, to give a light Spring-like feel, which I hope you’ll love. The gentle-coloured background really helps to make the flowers sing and stand out, to make a beautiful picture.

This set of designs was a really pretty one to design and I hope that you enjoy them and have fun with them. I particularly like the colours in this set of designs; the combination of the bright yellows with the pastel colours creates a fun, fresh feel which I hope you’ll love - and enjoy stitching!