Simple and Fast Sunflower Mini Quilt

I have a foot stool/storage box in my living room. I love to decorate it with mini quilts for the seasons. For this time of year, I love the idea of decorating with sunflowers! They are so bright and sunshiny, and I love how they follow the sun.

 I whipped this mini quilt up in a few hours. The hardest thing about it is that I had to use my old Kenmore machine while my Brother machine is at the repair shop. So I didn't have my cute stitches, but I still love how it turned out. 

To make this you will need to cut circles of fabric. I made these by tracing the bottom of a large spool of thread. They ended up to be about 2 1/2" in diameter.  Really, anything in this range will work, as long as they are all consistent.

You will need:

6 circles of yellow

1 circle of brown

1 circle of green 

3/4" x 7" green

13" x 13" blue background

13" x 13" backing 

13" x 13" batting

54" x 2" binding strip

Heat 'n Bond Lite

Start by tracing the circles on the fabric. 

Adhere the Heat 'n Bond to the circles and the stem, then cut them out.

Cut the yellow and the green circles in half.  If you don't cut them in half, it will look like this.

(This is also cute, but I prefer the half circle look.)

Remove the paper backing from the Heat 'n Bond and lay out the pieces how you would like them on the background fabric. Press them so they stay in place. 

Using a zig zag stitch, or applique stitch, stitch each piece in place. I used a zigzag stitch with the width set at 2 1/2 and the length set at 1/2. Experiment on a scrap piece of fabric till you get the right kind of stitch that you want. 

I stitched the petals in place first, then went around the brown center. This will help cover up the ends of the stitching on the yellow petals.

After all the pieces are stitched in place, layer the top, batting and back. Pin them together with safety pins. 

Quilt them together, removing the safety pins as you go. I free motion quilted some curvy lines for clouds and wavy lines for ground. 

Trim it down so that it is square. I do this because some times the quilting stretches the fabric. 

Stitch on the binding and you are done!

Here is the back. I love this polka dot fabric. 

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Also, please send me pictures of your finished mini quilt. I want to see what you come up with!

Have fun quilting!