Let the Sunflowers shine...

Way back in September 2011, I visited my online quilting friend in small town Kansas - Parsons to be exact.  It was a very special time for me and I so enjoyed meeting Barbara and her daughter Jackie.  Because of Parsons geographical position, it was easy to visit four states within a couple of hours - it sits near the crossroads of Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas.  Such fun!
While I was there, Barbara asked me to give a talk to her local guild, then it became a few of the little outlying guilds until we ended up with 70 plus people.  It was a lovely evening of showing off our fabulous New Zealand with an awesome DVD of Central Hawkes Bay and other lovely stuff.  At the end of the evening, the President was thanking me and out came this positively massive bag of fabric!!  Unbeknownst to me, the entry fee was a fat quarter of fabric.  Oh my, I got all sorts of amazing fabric gifted to me and some pieces were way more generous.  Most of it had to be posted home as we couldn't fit it all in my bag!!

The reason I have told you this big long story is that I had  around 17 different sunflower fabrics in this amazing collection that I had not really touched in the last 8 years.  However, my (step) daughter was going to turn 50 last month, and I had asked her a year or three before if she would like a quilt.  As Shala is a very good sewist and has made a few quilts herself, I hadn't got around to asking.  The answer was an emphatic Yes!  Then it turned out that she loves sunflowers!  Oh yes again!!  Out came my stash and Shala chose basically all the fabric that had sunflowers on it.  Well Shala's 50th birthday was looming up and I decided about July that I would have a go at getting it ready as her birthday gift for when she came down on 29th September to celebrate with us.

Here you go with a couple of photos and I am smiling so much you wouldn't believe it.

This is one of the two large blocks in the quilt.  It's a beautiful piece  of fabric and the sunflowers just glow.
All the fabrics have come out of my stash, so this quilt managed to make a little bit a reduction, Yay,

 

 I was determined not to put any fabric back in  my stash, so used all the large pieces left to make up the back.  It actually came out really well,

Here is Shala with her quilt.  It was very windy so the quilt would not co operate with laying flat.  Never mind.  I actually managed to quilt it myself as well,  My awesome Tuesday girls pin basted it for me and I did an all over meander on it using a lovely So Fine mustard gold that blended beautifully with all the colours of the quilt.  Looked good as it didn't need anything fancy as the sunflowers were the stars, and then my fabulous Tuesday girls helped again with stitch down the back of the binding,

I can't tell you how amazing getting this quilt finished on time made me feel, as I do have a bit of a struggle with my health issues.  But God was so good to me and gave me the strength and tenacity to keep on and achieve something so filled with love for this very precious member of our family.

Now onto the next quilt...

Thank you for sharing my joy of this quilt and I'll look forward to showing you my next achievements.  I hope you are all having a great time with your quilting and your families.

Many hug and blessings to you all,

Clare

linking with Oh! Scrap here

Scrap sorting...

Got a bee in my bonnet about sorting out the two baskets of scraps that were hiding under the tea trolley in the classroom.  Spent about 4 days using my Accu Quilt to cut them up into various squares.  Love this tool.  Makes life so easy for me.

I did start to balk at the 1.5 inch squares as I dont have a die for them.  Might be a Mothers Day request.  Think I'll sew them into strips and then cut a block out.  Sounds so much easier.

Made this beanie for son Richard, who has put in an order for at least a buffer of 10 before I decide to leave this world!!  Nice I thought, to be appreciated.

Love, love love the sunflowers in our back garden.  Seeds came from our daughter Shala.

Made this wee quilt as a donation quilt from a couple of charm packs I had collected.  Managed to find a gorgeous orange FQ in my stash for the border.  Nice blue to bind with.

Off on holiday on Wednesday and staying in Wellington with Richard, Kea and Marcy.  Made this wee zippered bag for Miss Marcy to carry some of her treasures around in.

And to finish, once again we are playing host parents to a zillion caterpillars and subsequent chrysalii and butterflies.  It is so exciting to get them right through.  The population is in decline and not sure why.
Will catch up again when back from our first holiday since 2012.  Wow it's going to be so interesting.

Hugs and thanks for reading.
Clare

I'm linking to Oh Scraps and the link is on  my sidebar.  Do check out what other wonderful scrap quilts are being made.

It's February already...

and I have been working hard on my tasks I set myself for January.  The grandsons quilt is now almost together and I will not show you another picture until is is finished for real.  Also managed to finish all the applique stitching on the wall hanging.  Now to choose the border fabrics....hmm.  Rummaging through my stash is always distracting and actually quite difficult until all the college sewing machines are out of our spare room!! (Don't ask) lol.

This is going to be a quick post with so little to show you. But how about this beauty.
Sunflowers just make you smile and this one is no exception.  There are two other flowers comming on as well.  Today's rain has made them grow instantly.  Such goodness in natural rain.

Catch you later.  Off to pamper the cats who both have wounds - one had to go to the vets because of an abscess (ouch to the wallet) and the other might be developing an abscess of his own.

Thanks for popping in,

Clare