Sunburst

"Sunburst" was my thirteenth project, a lap quilt with an irregular shaped border. I once again used the stack-n-whack (Bethany S. Reynolds) / kaleidoscope (Paula Nadelstern) method of rotary cutting and piecing. Each flower is stuffed to give it a 3-D effect of blooming or bursting forth. The entire quilt was machine sewn, though I don't recommend that puff quilts be quilted by machine. It was very difficult to quilt stitches around each puff on the rack, because the bulk and irregularity did not roll up evenly, causing different tensions on the material. Despite readjusting the thread tension repeatedly, the top thread still broke often and the bobbin thread got tangled beneath the sandwich.

I think this quilt was started some time in early 2007 and completed April 17, 2008. Though it is not a large quilt, it was a thorn in my side, which is why it took so long to complete. Even when I was sewing on the thin yellow border to cover the raw edges, I ran out of bobbin thread just inches before completion. I have knack for getting down the the last inch or last few seconds of a project only to have some complication fly out of left field at me. My celebratory mood gets deflated, and the process of reaching completion always take longer than anticipated.

This quilt has a yellow background and flower puffs of pink, purple, orange, yellow, and green. I grouped similar colors together to bring out a gradual blending effect. The irregular border blends from color to color as well. I did not position all the flowers before sewing, so I ended up with one row that looks straight, and as each flower was added, I discovered that I could not fit them in rows due to the irregular border. Therefore, the flowers start in a row and end up random. People have commented that it looks like a mistake. I lie and tell them I did it on purpose.