This design is taken from a cross section of a camomile flower. It shows the individual florets which were appliquéd using floral printed scraps from a pack of vintage floral fabrics. I was playing with a new foot called a flower stitcher which cunningly stitches circular patterns. I altered the colours of the original photomicrograph to suit the red theme.

I signed up to another set of Journal quilts with the Contemporary Quilt Group. This year the themes are based on colour - and the first four are to have at least 75% red in them. The size is A4 portrait. I came across a sketch I'd done of one of John's photomicrographs - luxullianite -  rock found in Luxullian, Cornwall. I translated the design into reds with a dark turquoise green accent - reverse applique, machine stitched with bobbin couched thick threads.
The original thin section is colourless but if you illuminate it with polarized light different types of crystal in the rock will show up in different colours according to a property they posses called birefringence. Apparently if you put another crystal in the light path, the colour adds or retracts from the existing colours to produce a new set of colours. The purplish red colour produced is called "the sensitive tint". I love the name and it was a happy accident on my part.