Tulip Time

It was a rainy and windy day yesterday. It was a good day for sewing. My goal was to sew together the quilt top I'd kitted up before we left home back in December...this one.

All the pieces were cut. It was just a matter of sewing everything together. Smitty was my helper cat for this. When he wasn't overseeing my sewing efforts...

He was keeping an eye out for invading forces.

We were keeping a special eye on this thug hummingbird viciously guarding the feeder. (This was the first day we've had visitors to our hummingbird feeder.)

So, like I said, the pieces were all cut. The first step was to make 16 half square triangles and then trim them to two inches.

Next, I created the bottoms of the tulips.

And then, I laid them out with their points.

The points were sewn together...

And then they were sewn to the bottom of the flowers.

Next, I created the leaves. It was a little tricky trying to understand the directions. I wanted eight total divided half and half into mirror images.

Then, I sewed the top to create the leaf shape...one for each side of the flower.

A small strip was then sewn to the top.

And then they were sewn together with a "stem" down the center.

Then, I sewed the flowers to the stems and leaves.

And then they were sewn into a row.

The next step was to make 16 more half square triangles, and then trim them to 3-1/2 inches.

Then, they were sewn into pinwheels.

And then the pinwheels were sewn into a row.

The next step was to sew the tops and bottoms together.

From there, I just needed to add borders. It ends up at 26 x 28-1/2 inches. The pattern calls it a "wall-hanging," but I like it as a table topper.

When I had it all sewn together, I was sorry the pinwheels didn't match the flowers above. I was confused by the instructions, and I laid the flowers out in the order they were pictured in the pattern.

But when you look at the finished picture, they've been rearranged. 

So...oh well. I'm not changing it. I'm happy with how it looks. This was a free pattern from Inspired by Fabric. 

I have just one more kit along with me, this one:

And then I have two huge zip-lock bags full of bonus triangles, orphan blocks and cut-off ends of things. We have one more week here in Pahrump. If I'm going to do any more sewing on this trip, it will have to happen before we leave Pahrump. We won't have electricity when we move on to Death Valley next week, and so I won't be able to use my sewing machine. And all of that to say that I never intended to finish all the sewing I brought with me, but that doesn't mean I won't try.

Having stayed inside all day because of the rain, we decided to go out for Mexican food last night. It was good to get out of the RV, and the food was tasty. A crew is coming to wash and wax our RV today. Probably, I'll get out for a walk in the neighborhood to the east of us. Mainly, I just want to get out for a walk. With the bad weather, there's been way too much sitting around, and I can feel it in my hip joints. (Does that happen to you?)

If you've enjoyed this post today, you can thank my cat editor-in-chief for her careful proofreading. There's so much I could never accomplish without the help of my cat crew.

Okay then. With sunshine streaming in, how can it be anything other than a good day? I hope you have a good day too.