Live in the Sunshine

 

August is a serious time for ice cream.

It's time to start school no matter 

what form it takes.

Even my daughter who teaches first grade 
 has made quite a few adjustments. 

For me, it's time to share an August mini!!

The fields behind my house looked like the colors

of my quilt, golds and greens.

Wish it had been a field of sunflowers!

"Live in the Sunshine"

47" x 47"

(despite the skies still being smokey and hazy)

You might remember from earlier this summer
that I started appliqueing these sunflower blocks. 

 Susie Wright of 

Fixer of Old Quilts on Instagram had

drafted a pattern of an antique sunflower block

inspired by a 1862 quilt from the collection

of Cathy Erickson of quiltingcat2.

I decided to place the blocks all facing

the same directions, just like sunflowers

moving and following the sun during the day.

The border is designed with sets of golden flying geese

circling the field.

Again I tried to figure it out mathematically,

but luckily it worked out better in real life

than on paper!

All four corners actually, came out the same!

I kept the machine quilting simple

with echo quilting around the sunflowers,

straight lines in the skinny borders,

and leaves in the outer border.

I added the flange binding with the

dark gold and green to frame the whole design.

 

I found two older pieces in my stash for the backing,
 ancient yardage from South Seas designed by Theresa Kogut 

and a very old piece by Sandy Gervais.

Summer isn't really over yet.
There's still plenty of time to play

and even enjoy a little ice cream.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Sunshine Makes You Happy

I feel lucky to live in

a place that has on average

300 sunny days a year.

John Denver said it beautifully

in his lyrics 

"Sunshine on my Shoulders 

Makes Me Happy".

I thought of that song 

while I worked on my August mini.

"Sunshine Makes Me Happy"

34" X 34"

I found all of the hst's hiding out

in a zip lock baggie and rescued 

them from an unused fate.

I think I had made extras

when I was working on something else.

No sense saving them any longer.

Yellow is one of those colors

that doesn't seem to get used very often.

I tried lots of different fabrics for 

the border, but this older yellow

print was the perfect choice.

I machine quilted it with

# 2110 Aurifil thread, a soft pale yellow.

A simple design in the alternating 

plain blocks.

A gentle wavy curve in the borders

was all that was needed.

When I was deciding about the 

binding every color seemed so dark. 

 Not like the sunshine on my shoulders. 

The best choice:

just a tiny flange of the blue

I had used in the narrow border

and then the same yellow as the border.

It even made me smile

when I was sewing the binding.

Every once in a while 

the tiny design in the blue flange

would be perfectly centered.

Sometimes when you're

outside you suddenly realize

how happy the sunshine has made you feel.

The only other thing that could make

you feel happier

would be wearing yellow shoes!

Until Next Time-

Kyle

It's That Time Again

It's that time again to share

my August small quilt

along with Wendy and the rest of the quilter's

participating in her monthly mini.

Earlier in August I was sitting outside

and noticed how pretty the prairie sage looked in the garden.

The dusty purple and green colors looked so soft

and luscious on that hot August day.

I decided I would use this as my color palette.

(Running Man's bees are crazy in love with the flowers.)

A while ago I was the lucky winner of 

Janet O's blog,  rogue quilter anniversary giveaway.

Besides sending some of her awesome soap,

a mini Dresden plate pincushion, fabric,

the prize included Jo Morton's newest book!

I turned to the first quilt in the book, sorted through fabrics

and started sewing.

I love sewing hourglass blocks, especially

when they are over sized and easy to trim.

Using the easy sewing method Jo

describes in her book,

the blocks came out perfect every time.

Before I knew it the quilt was finished.

Prairie Sage
20" x 22"

The colors and the simplicity of this quilt

harmonized with the Prairie Sage.

It's a lovely way to remember August.

Thanks again, Wendy, for your monthly encouragement.

Until Next Time-

Kyle