Sunshiney Day

This time last year, my son and daughter-in-law were living in Minnesota and experienced the worst winter there in over 50 years. This year though, they are happily and warmly settled in California. So when son asked if I'd be willing to make a quilt for his youth group's auction, all I could really think of was blue skies and ocean, green trees, and the warmth of the sun. Thus, the wonky cross quilt we had agreed on became "Sunshiney Day".

The wonky cross block is one of the easiest and most satisfying I know. I raided my stash solids and pulled a variety of colors that reminded me of a beautiful, warm California day. And for a touch of sunniness, I added a lone salmon-colored block. I wanted to let that salmon block shine a bit more than it already did, so I crazy-pieced its cross using bits from the other blocks.

For the back, I made one big ole cross with the winning combo of Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill Frames and boho by Urban Chicks.

When it came time for quilting, I extended the arms of the crazy-pieced block all the way out to the edges. In each quadrant, I echo-stitched at 1/2" intervals, using my walking foot and a fun Aurifil 50wt #2805 (light blue). Remember, blue sky is a key ingredient here! Then within the arms of the cross I matchstick-quilted to make a large cross the width and length of the quilt.

Finally it came down to binding and I decided to use scrappy solids, and I think it suits the quilt well. Measuring 46x58", Sunshiney Day is a nice-sized lap quilt that will hopefully warm someone inside, if not out.

This project is my first finish from my 2014 FAL Q1 list. Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.