Hello, Subscriber First Name,

Thank you for taking a few minutes to spend with me today. I wanted to share a bit of the story behind a long-held project — one that begins not with yarn, but with the landscapes that continue to inspire my work.

I discovered hiking when I was in high school. No matter where I’ve lived since then, I’ve always had a favorite trail — a place I return to across the seasons and throughout the years. Witnessing the way a landscape changes over time, as trees grow taller or fall, creek beds expand or shrink with seasonal runoff, and different plants come in and out of bloom, grounds me and connects me to the world like nothing else can.

Every year, I eagerly anticipate the day the trails open, but the real magic doesn’t begin until the wildflowers start blooming in June. I’ve never been particularly good at remembering plant names, so for a long time I made up my own: wild bergamot was “fireworks,” and mariposa lily was “teacup.” Through this wildflower project, though, I’ve come to know their proper names, if not always their Latin ones.

In 2021, I began designing crochet wildflower appliques with the idea of sewing them onto a blanket to fill in a mountain valley landscape. I designed a Rocky Mountain columbine, fireweed, blanketflower, scarlet globemallow, mariposa lily, primrose, sky pilot, and aspen daisy. After making dozens of appliques, I began sewing them onto a base blanket, and slowly realized that this approach was going to take me forever. As I trudged along, I also had the sobering thought that if I ever wanted to release this as a pattern, it would be a hard sell to ask other makers to sew on that many flowers, too.

So the design evolved. Over time, I began converting the appliques into granny square motifs. The blanket layout has gone through many iterations since then, but I’ve finally landed on a simplified design built around two square motif sizes. The background, worked in granny stitch, will be a soft green, while the wildflowers will be grouped by color to create a color-blocked design that resembles a mountain valley in bloom.

After all the fits and starts, I’m finally ready to bring this project to life. This year will focus on pattern writing, editing, and testing. I’ll be releasing a small series of wildflower applique patterns throughout the year, each accompanied by a video tutorial.

Behind the scenes, I’ll continue designing the remaining motifs that will eventually come together in the full blanket. The completed pattern — an eBook featuring up to 24 wildflower and leaf designs — is planned for release in 2027.

For those who enjoy being part of the behind-the-scenes process, I’ve put together a clear, phased testing plan so people can participate at whatever level suits them. If you’re interested in testing any of the designs, you can join my Ravelry group here and view the Wildflower Blanket Project Testing Roadmap here.

I’ll continue sharing updates on this project in future newsletters, and I’ve also documented the design process with photos and notes on my website. If you’re curious about the backstory and want to follow the journey as it unfolds, you can explore the project journal here.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with a few wildflower resources I’ve been returning to again and again for reference and inspiration:

• https://rockymountaindayhikes.com/wildflowers-of-rmnp-by-color.html

• https://coloradowildflower.com/

• https://home.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/wildflowers.htm

Best wishes and happy stitching,

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