Happy Fabric Flower Garden



I was caught up in a flurry of half-square triangle piecing this weekend...it was a lovely way to spend the time, and I am almost sad to be finishing this quilt top.

It all started with a charm pack of floral fabrics.  I played around with a few different block ideas and decided on the half square triangles.  I cut fabric squares at 5 1/2", paired them up right sides together, sewing 1/4" on either side of a diagonal line.


I love the bright colors.  I dabbled with different color combinations for a bit, then I eventually took over the entire kitchen table.  My husband is a patient man =).


Squaring up those half-square triangles is a laborious process, but there is also something soothing about it.  

I love watching the flannel "quilt wall" fill up.  The fabric combinations begin to take on a unique personality.  I was in a happy mood working on this one!


Speaking of Happy, she was my furry friend through the entire process.  Silly dog.




I worked enough pieces to fill the flannel, but I might add another row on the sides yet, or I might add a border--I will decide on that later.  Once I reached this point, I had a brief lull in my motivation as I considered sewing all of the parts together, wondering how in the world I would keep everything in the right order.  Then I realized I had just the thing to keep it all organized.

So, a bit of a flashback.  Last summer I decided I needed a smaller quilt board.  My husband cut a piece of plywood for me, and I stapled some quilt batting to it and put a fabric border around it.




It was perfect for sewing 4X4 rows at a time.  I also took a picture of the squares each time to avoid any pieces getting turned around.  I had minimal seam ripper use doing it this way!

Along the way, I was feeling a bit frustrated with my old pin cushion, so I threw together a new one with some of the left over fabric.  I filled it with crushed walnut shells, so my pins will hopefully experience a bit of sharpening along the way.  
(Side note, I was looking around for crushed walnut shells and was surprised at the cost of a small bag on a couple of craft websites.  But then I found some at Chewy.com, a pet supply website:  https://www.chewy.com/zilla-ground-english-walnut-shell/dp/125328
I picked up the 5 quart bag.  I figure it will motivate me to make some more pin cushions to donate to my church's Christmas bazaar later this year.)



Anyhow, one 4X4 board at a time, I started stitching all the parts together.



And, voila, the Happy quilt top is (almost) complete.  If I could just convince my little pooch to pose more formally for these photos!



Update!  Found the perfect border to finish up this quilt top.  With the sun setting in the back, it looks just like a stained glass window.  


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