Dorothy’s Sunflowers is a 2-color, 2-fabric quilt in a horizontal setting. It measures 80 x 80 inches. This quilt is based on a red and white quilt that was in the Infinite Variety Red and White Quilt Exhibit in New York in March 2011. The Sunflower blocks made me think of Kansas and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
This design uses the Inklingo 12″ Sunflower, 6″ Sunflower, 3″ Drunkards Path and Circles Collection. I colored the blocks in EQ7 with fabrics from Toscana by Northcott.
Dorothy Williamson is my paternal grandmother. She was born Grace Rose Buisch on 24 December 1889 in Batavia, New York. (I have no clue why she started going by Dorothy sometime in her forties.) She was an excellent seamstress and had the patience to teach me, her left-handed granddaughter, how to embroider at an early age. My grandmother insisted I learn to use scissors with my right hand though. She is the reason I iron and cut with my right hand, use a rotary cutter with both hands, and the reason I make quilts both by hand and machine today. This is her quilt. The fleurs de lis on the border represent her French ancestry.
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Purchase and download: | ||||||||
Cheat Sheet (Download from website or print from collection) |
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For more information about Inklingo, click here. |
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Copy the information below to a printed Cheat Sheet. To figure fabric yardage, see the section “Planning a Quilt” in the Inklingo collection. |
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Fabric |
Yardage |
Shape |
# of Shapes |
Cut & Print |
Page # in shape collection |
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Fabric 1 Red |
Combo 6 | 12 sets | 12] 8.25 x 12.75″ | 12″ Sunflower: 18 & 19 | ||||
Background Half | 24 | 24] 7 x 13.25″ | 12″ Sunflower: 20 & 21 | |||||
Diamond | 192 | 3] 8.5 x 11.5″ & 1] 7.25 x 6.25″ |
6″ Sunflower: 30 & 31 | |||||
Circle [center] | 12 | 2] 6.25 x 9.5″ | 6″ Sunflower: 24 & 25 | |||||
AB Combo | 104 sets | 17] 8.5 x 12.75″ & 1] 4.5 8.75″ |
3″ DP: 6 & 7 | |||||
Borders | 4 | 10.5″ wide strips cut length of fabric to avoid piecing |
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Binding strips | 9 strips |
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Fabric 2 |
Diamond | 192 | 12] 7.75 x 9.75″ | 12″ Sunflower: 30 & 31 | ||||
Combo 6 | 12 sets | 6] 8 x 11.5″ Landscape | 6″ Sunflower: 18 & 19 | |||||
AB Combo | 104 sets | 17] 8.5 x 12.75″ & 1] 4.5 8.75″ |
3″ DP: 6 & 7 | |||||
Fleur de lis applique | 20 | Applique Border PDF |
**See note below about applique placement. |
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1.75″ Circle applique | 20 | 1] 7.25 x 9.75″ & 1] 5 x 9.75″ |
Circles: 44 & 45 | |||||
1.25″ Circle applique | 32 | 1] 7.5 x 11.25″ & 1] 7.5 x 4.25″ |
Circles: 36 & 37 | |||||
.75″ Circle applique | 96 | 1] 8 x 12″ & 1] 8 x 9.5″ |
Circles: 28 & 29 | |||||
.5″ Circle applique | 64 | 1] 8 x 8″ | Circles: 22 & 23 | |||||
Want to check my math? The Dorothy’s Sunflowers Math PDF is here. Quilt blocks are pictured on the Math PDF. **IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT APPLIQUE PLACEMENT: I made the applique border printouts only 8″ wide to save on paper. You will need to place the bottom edge of the printout 2″ from the seam where the border is sewn to the quilt center or 2.25″ from the raw edge of the border strip before it’s sewn to the quilt center for correct spacing. Be sure to check my Sunflower Quilts Pinterest board for more quilty Sunflower inspiration! |
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Inklingo Drunkards Path Video
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How to Rotary Cut Curves Inklingo Video
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Sewing Curves Without Pins
This is how I sew curves. (I dislike pinning!) I use a 3M Command Strip pasted along the side of my presser foot to help as a guide also. You need to be sure to use your 1/4″ presser foot if you are going to use a Command Strip as a guide. When I am done sewing curves, the Command Strip removes easily from my machine bed.
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There is so much more to be done. [sigh – sorry – whining] Also trying to work more diligently on all my current projects. I was only working on two at a time but found that I was sometimes going days without working on anything. I was not getting anything done in that mode. I was thinking if I limited myself to two projects at a time, I would power through until I got them done. Obviously that is not how I work. LOL I need to have five or six projects going so I can rotate them. Which is not a problem when you live in one place. When you pick up and move to a new location every week or two, it becomes cumbersome dragging around everything you need for six projects.
That was another reason why I was trying to work on only two projects at a time. Easier to tote two projects around. I have decided to empty my suitcase and use it for my projects and carry a large tote bag for clothes and other necessities as I move from house to house. That way I will have my current projects and HOPEFULLY will be more motivated to keep working! I feel like I have spent the last year doing very little in the way of quilting and it shows in my list of finishes.
At the top of my blog you will see a tab called, Handwork. It has a drop down menu with my projects listed. So while I will be posting pictures here of work-in-progress, you will be able to see the latest picture of each project there. At least that is the plan…
I have been working a little bit on my design that I am calling Pomegranate Jam.
I am doing one that is one quarter of this size. I have all the arcs pieced for both the New York Beauty and Sunflower blocks. I used the 6 inch Sunflower and NY Beauty 02 Inklingo collections and created my own pomegranate applique.
The NYB blocks are going together beautifully but I am not happy with my centers on the Sunflowers. [Am I whining again?] I am going to applique the centers on after I stitch the two halves together rather than trying to piece the centers. I can get a smoother edge that way I think.