A dogwood block for the bag lady exchange

I just finished making a block (yes, just one!) for an exchange I'm doing with a few quilting friends. It's called a "bag lady exchange" and we started out making a block which we sent on to the next quilter in the group. Each quilter in the chain makes an additional block (or more than one; some are more ambitious/organized than others) and then sends it on to the next person. There are six of us, so when I get my original block back it will have others to go with it.

This block was depicted on a calendar that my DIL gave me for Christmas, and I made up my own directions to make a 12" block*. It reminded me of a dogwood flower, and since I was contemplating making this block in early May, dogwood seemed appropriate. It's made with mostly batiks (except for the white background/petal fabric) because the other blocks in this particular exchange are also made from batiks. Ever since I discovered batik fabrics (Hoffman and beyond) I've been in love; you can't beat their visual appeal, and their tight weave makes them my choice for applique projects. I love their crispness and how they don't stretch.

I found quick instructions on the internet for making the quarter-square triangle blocks with white, gold, and green. I didn't realize that one starter block would make all four pieced blocks that I needed, so there are extras. :-)  If any of my friends wants my instructions for this block, I'll send them to you.

And here's the inspiration:

 

*The calendar probably came with directions for making the quilts depicted, but they went into hiding; they'll turn up eventually.