Plum Pretty Sunflower

Garden Sunflower Block pattern by Julie Cefalu

I recently saw the cutest sunflower block on Wendy's blog, Pieceful Thoughts. She and Eva made the free pattern by The Crafty Quilter, and I enjoyed their versions so much I saved the pattern. Yesterday in the midst of working on another project, I started thinking about it and decided to make a fun version of my own. Thank you to Wendy and Eva - the instigators of this "squirrel-spiration" and to Julie for the free pattern!

I purchased this pretty Tilda Plum Garden fabric from Ace Hardware on Etsy! They have pretty fabrics and fast shipping. Look at it sitting there in the bin, just begging me to use it.

Wendy had mentioned that the pattern had an interesting little twist, and she was right. It is a new-to-me way to make a triangle, and it was so fun. I think it adds a 3-dimensional effect to the triangle.

I had fun choosing some favorite fabrics to use in this block

I had to sew together two pieces of the black and white polka dot to get the correct size for the center, but I don't mind the barely noticeable seam. I added a 2.5 inch border to the block and need to decide whether to make a pillow or a wall hanging! 

In other news . . .

Jack, Rosie, and Toby have been very helpful in the sewing room lately. Katy (she's 11) sleeps a lot under our bed and rarely comes into the sewing room, but she is still Queen of the house.

And my insert came in for the new sewing table! I do love it and it fits beautifully, but I thought it was going to wrap around the machine more. I contacted Arrow and they kindly responded that each machine is different, and mine is the correct size for my Janome model. Between the new sewing table and the insert, sewing is much more comfortable and easy now!