I am the absolute worst at working to a deadline, but it’s not 100% my fault this time! So this is Sunshine Blooms (pattern is by My Sew Quilty Life but I don’t see it in her shop anymore). I altered the pattern a little, in that I rotated all the flowers so they were facing out from the center and I mirrored the leaves on the non-diagonal flowers for more symmetry.
The pattern had all the flowers facing upright, but I wanted more of a symmetrical medallion-y sort of feel. I’m really pleased with it.
My mom wound up receiving this fully completed quilt around Mother’s Day. It was technically a Christmas present. 😔 While I’m regularly kind of terrible at sewing to a deadline, this time there were some extenuating factors. After browsing a lot of fabric, I decided I wanted to make this pattern in Corey Yoder’s Cozy Up line. It was originally supposed to start shipping in August, which would give me time to get started on the top before I had foot surgery in early October. Covid delays meant the fabric didn’t start shipping until late September/early October. I received my fabric the day before my surgery.
I had to keep my foot elevated for several weeks after my surgery, so I wasn’t able to actually start on the quilt for over a month. I was back at work by that point, so I set my goal at a flower a night. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fully complete the quilt by Christmas, but I figured I could get the top done and wrap it so my mom had something to open.
After the flowers themselves came the diagonal leaves…
…then the non-diagonal leaves…
…then the sashing, and (not pictured) the borders.
I did get the top done, just in time to wrap it up on Christmas Eve.
Then it all got sandwiched and I started on the quilting. Now that I didn’t have a hard deadline, I’ll admit I kind of…dawdled. I frequently just wasn’t in the mood to quilt, and I didn’t want to make a mess because my heart wasn’t in it.
Most of the quilting is echo lines around the leaves and flowers. A few of the squares had a big open space around them, so I put in a few diamonds in subtle white thread.
I also used white thread on the borders, and I really love how they turned out.
Then it just needed binding. I gave flanged binding a try and I think it’s such a nice effect. I almost always glue baste my quilts for quilting, but this time I also glue basted my binding, to be sure the corners stayed all nicely matched up. It worked really well.
Since triangle tags turned out to be so convenient, I did one here too, with a little embroidered flower as an accent.
Quick Stats:
Prints: Cozy Up by Corey Yoder for Moda
Solids: Bella Solids Pond, Dusty Jade, Melon, Mustard, & Fig Tree
White: Bella Solids Off White
Backing: Woodcut Florals Green 108″ by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda
Quilting: Aurifil 12wt in Natural White, Fern Green, Juniper, & Orange