Bring Me Sunshine Week 1

Hello & welcome to the first week of the Bring Me Sunshine sew-along! I am excited for everyone to join me for the next 15 weeks as we add some sunshine into our lives with this bright and happy quilt.

Now a little back story on how the Bring Me Sunshine quilt came to be. Many of you have met my daughter Shannon however for those of you who don’t know she too is a creative and loves to sew but she can turn her hand to almost anything. Shannon aka Shaztadaisy has been a lover of Sunflowers since she was a small girl and was inspired to create her very own sunflower quilt when she saw a version of my Playing with Paper Pack 43 sewn to look like flowers and straight away she imagined it made in yellow fabrics and wallah Bring Me Sunshine was born.

I think you’ll all agree that sunflowers automatically change your mood and make you smile. I love visiting our local farmers market in summer and getting fresh cut sunflowers among all the fresh produce. When my kids were little we had sunflowers growing in the front yard and we would dress them up with sunglasses and hats, the kids thought it was the best thing.

Alright enough reminiscing and onto some sewing.

This week we will begin by creating two blocks. For those following along with our Fabric Kit you can mix and match the fabrics how you choose however if you prefer to follow along with me that is okay too. Keep in mind that we all cut fabric differently so our quilts may look a little different but that is okay, because its yours.

Follow the EPP instructions to create a pieced sunflowers as shown in the diagram below. A little advice now that will save time later, when your cutting into your yellow fabrics, cut a few extra double kites of each colour, this will help you down the track when your making the following blocks. I like to have some prepared so I can just pick it up and take it with me to sew when I’m on the go.

Repeat the previous step for the second block.

Next to create the background block take 4 background fabrics and sew together in a four patch as shown in the diagram below.

Repeat this for the second background block.

Take the pieced sunflower and line it up with the centre of the background block. Repeat this for the second pieced sunflower.

Using your preferred applique method, applique the pieced sunflowers to their background blocks. Code Word: Shaztadaisy. My preference is needle turn applique which is made easier when appliqueing EPP shapes as your edges are already turned under so half the work is already done. You may prefer raw edge or blanket stitch applique, whichever you choose it will look great.

Press each block and put aside.

Sew-Along Prizes

Each week Patchwork with Busyfingers will be giving away a $20 Gift Voucher to spend on anything online, all you need to do to be in the running is simply post a styled shot of the past weeks 2 blocks and include the code word from that weeks blog post in your caption, the code word will be hidden someone in my blog post so you’ll have to find it. Be sure to use the following hashtags so we can find your post #bringmesunshineSAL and tag @patchworkwithbusyfingers 

NOTE: The Bring Me Sunshine giveaway hosted by Patchwork with Busyfingers is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram or Facebook. Open Worldwide. Winners will be chosen and announced in the following weeks blog post. The weekly prize will be delivered via email and the recipient is responsible for shipping costs and any extra charges for additional products purchased.

And there we are with the first two blocks! I hope you find this as enjoyable as I have. I cannot wait to see your progress in the Bring Me Sunshine quilt. Make sure to tag me at @suedaleydesigns if you post on social media. See you next week for another two blocks.