Fall Sunflowers Wall Hanging

In this blog post, I’m sharing a fall wall hanging that I recently created on the Janome MC9450. I call it “Fall Sunflowers” and used this photo of the sunflowers in our backyard as my inspiration.

I used the decorative stitches on the Janome MC9450 and the (optional) Circular Sewing Attachment to make this project. (Find out more about this optional accessory on my YouTube channel).

To create the sunflower heads, I cut out a 5” circle and a 3” circle, making sure I chose contrasting fabrics. I used a decorative scallop blade on my rotary cutter to trim around the outside edges of all of the circles to create a “sunflower” look.

I then decided on what decorative stitches I wanted to use on each of these circles. There are so many choices on the Janome MC9450 that I think I spent more time playing with these than I did actually stitching the chosen ones out on the circles! You should always do a practice piece with the decorative stitches you want to use on your actual project – and don’t forget the fabric stabilizer.

The light blue mark in the centre indicates the centre of the circle so I know where to attach the Circular Sewing Attachment

I collect buttons, trims, and basically any ribbon that comes wrapped around a parcel and used some of this for the stems and leaves of the sunflowers. I cut out the background from muslin and arranged the 3 sunflowers on it. I used burlap trim for the flower stems and jumbo rick rack pieces for the leaves. I placed the “leaves” behind the burlap “stems” and the “stems” themselves behind the 5” circle. I used a straight stitch on the Janome MC9450 to attach the “stems” and the “leaves” and then used the decorative stitches that I’d chosen and the Circular Sewing Attachment to stitch down all of the circles.

While I could’ve chosen to use different coloured threads to do this, I kept it super simple and used a bright green trilobal polyester thread from Hilos Iris (available at Janome Canada dealers) for all of my stitching, which I think worked very well. This was my first time using this thread and it stitched out beautifully.

“Sunflower heads” before trimming, the Hilos Iris thread, and some possible button choices

I also used the Janome pre-wound plastic bobbins and it was so quick to just drop one in and stitch with it. My favourite part of these pre-wound bobbins is that you can reuse the bobbins after they are empty – yes, no more buying extra bobbins! You can find these bobbins, this thread, and more at your local Janome dealer.

Janome pre-wound (reusable) plastic bobbins and the Circular Sewing Attachment for the Janome MC9450

Remember I said that I collect buttons? I sorted through my (too large) button stash and chose some to add to the sunflower heads. The Janome MC9450 did an amazing job of stitching these down using the Button Sewing Foot T – and it was so much quicker and easier than stitching them down by hand! I actually layered the wall hanging top and the batting together and then stitched on the buttons so that you wouldn’t see this stitching on the back of the wall hanging.

Buttons perfectly stitched on with the Janome MC9450

I added some thin flanges around all four sides of the wall hanging and 3 hanging tabs. To save myself having to bind the project (something I don’t love to do!), I used the pillowcase method to finish the edges.

The last part of the project was the quilting and I used the QO Free Motion Quilting Open Toe Foot on the Janome MC9450 to add some loops to the background fabric.

Fall Sunflowers

It took no time at all to make this fall wall hanging and I think that the decorative stitches on the Janome MC9450 added an extra dimension to this project.

Have you ever used the Circular Sewing Attachment in any of your projects? Let me know what you’ve created – or would like to create – with it in the comments below.

Happy creating from Kim Jamieson-Hirst, a Janome Canada Artisan in Calgary, Alberta.