Cheating on the No New Project Diet

I've been on a (No) New Project Diet for several weeks now.  My goal has been to finish up some long-standing projects before I start anything new.  

The diet has been working pretty well, but sometimes it's hard to resist the urge to have some creative fabric play.  Inspiration struck this week when I decided it was OK to indulge in fabric play - for a project that was already under way.

I started making Burgoyne Surrounded blocks last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I hadn't made any for several months, but the need for some fabric therapy got me going again.  The RSC color(s) for this month are dark green and sage.  The starting fabric for this block was the small green floral.  The scraps didn't lead in exactly the dark green direction I intended, but I like the result. 

This block started with the dark green batik.  I haven't sewn all the parts together yet, but you can see how I handle all the little pieces.  First, sew the different block units (9 patches, 4 patches, etc.) together, then assemble all the parts into rows.

We are having glorious Autumn weather here in our neck of the Gu'f Coast.  Dear Hubby and I both took Friday off from work (gotta use those vacation days, they disappear at the end of the year!) and have been chillin' at our camp.  Of course being at the camp means I get to sew on my Singer 15K treadle.  I enjoyed many happy hours of stitching this weekend!

And what was I stitching?  Some 9-patches from a swap organized by Barb at Fun With Barb.  This project has been on my Finish It list for over a year.  I'm so happy to finally be assembling these into a quilt top!  This picture is a tease, because the final block arrangement will be very different.

And since we're enjoying the camp, I decided it was time to hang my New Orleans Sunflowers quilt.  This was my first hand appliqué quilt.  My inspiration was a pattern by Anita Shackleford.  Dear Hubby made the quilt hanger for me.

I haven't given up on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so I'm linking up with them this week.  It's always great to see all the colorful inspiration on display!  

New Orleans Sunflowers: Quilted and Finished!

I shared some pictures of my New Orleans Sunflowers quilt last fall - before I sent it off to be quilted.  Local long-arm quilter Cindy Braiwick always does an amazing job of quilting, so I was looking forward to her artistry on this quilt.  She did a wonderful job fulfilling my requests and still managed to insert her usual playful touches as well!

It's way too windy to hang quilts for photography today, so I improvised by draping the quilt on my porch furniture.  The porch worked pretty well, except for the pesky lovebugs that kept getting in the way.

I wanted to have flowers quilted in the baskets, to mimic the original quilting idea suggested by Anita Shackelford in her pattern.  Cindy quilted sunflowers in the triangles and cross-hatching in the basket base.

The sunflowers were quilted to mimic the sunflower petals and the flower centers were cross-hatched to mimic sunflower seeds.

Sunflowers and leaves in the borders.

Cindy scattered lots of whimsical touches throughout the quilt.  Here are two bees buzzin'.

A caterpillar

A hummingbird.  It's almost like playing a hidden objects game!

I need to stitch down the hanging sleeve and the quilt will be ready for display.  My hubby built me a new quilt hanging rack especially for this quilt.  Hope to have pictures soon!

New Orleans Sunflowers

I have always had a fondness for sunflowers.  Their cheerful yellow blooms seem to be sunshine, personified.  After the devastating floods following Hurricane Katrina, sunflowers bloomed in the most unlikely places all over New Orleans, symbolizing the rebirth and resilience of my city.  I started envisioning sunflower quilts.

I discovered Anita Shackelford's Arizona Sunflowers quilt a year or so after the flood.  Somehow a forlorn copy of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting got left behind on the magazine rack at my local grocery, even though the magazine was months out of date!  The Arizona Sunflower quilt graced the cover of the magazine, and I snatched up that lone copy just for the sunflower pattern.

Arizona Sunflowers from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting, Sept/Oct 2006

As usual, it took me several years to get started on the quilt.  I decided to change the colors just a bit, aiming for muted blues in place of the brown baskets and border.  I also wanted to challenge myself to doing needle-turn applique for the sunflowers, leaves and stems (the pattern is written for machine applique).  I had never done much hand applique, so I turned to my favorite tutor - Google - and experimented with applique methods until I found the technique I liked best.  I began appliqueing the sunflowers late last fall and finished piecing and assembling the quilt last month.

New Orleans Sunflowers!

I'll be the first to say I made several mistakes with the applique process.  For example, the instructions led me to applique all the sunflowers, but there was no mention of leaving some un-stitched areas in which to insert the ends of the stems.  When it came time to applique the vines, I had no desire to snip any of my hand applique stitches, so I just tucked the cut ends of the stems inside themselves and appliqued everything down as best I could.  The baskets were also kind of a bear to piece.  I wound up hand-piecing the base of each basket and even then some of my corners got cut off!

My original thought was that I would also hand-quilt my sunflowers.  Now I'm feeling less inclined to do so.  I'm rather reluctant to quilt through all those triangles in the basket blocks - I really dislike stab-stitching through all those layers.  I think I will be asking one of my favorite machine quilters to collaborate with me on the quilting!

I'm sorry I couldn't get the blue baskets and border to show up better!  Here's one of the sunflowers next to the backing fabric.  I just need to finish trimming the fabric layers under the applique and get the backing pieced.  I'm so ready to have this hanging on the wall and making me smile every day!