Evolution Of A Sunflower

 

I want to make a food cover with tatted sunflowers. I started with my own pattern, Sunflower In Maltese Tatting; there's a link to the pattern on the right of this blog page. I couldn't find Martha Ess's instructions for Maltese tatting, but my pattern is clear enough that I didn't need an update. It took me a few goes to get it right, but I did. I think my thread isn't ideal though. I don't like the way the picots tend to twist. Can anyone tell me how to avoid that? Letting the shuttle dangle didn't solve the problem.

I decided that I want a more substantial sunflower. I used the method for the centre of the Maltese flower, more or less, with the petals from the daisy I've been using for food covers.  I had to make a few changes, but it works, I think.