UFO for May

At the beginning of April, my Pentagon Sunflowers looked like this:

I said then that during April I would either:

•  cut it back to a regular shape, 
•  add some more pieces to straighten up the edges, or
•  appliqué it to a background as is.

I chose the second alternative, and added a few pieces around the edges. I posted a progress shot here. Then I began appliquéing it to the background. I'm about a third of the way around (see here). I allowed two months for this piece when I drew up my UFO list, but I'll probably keep working on it on sit-and-sew days, of which I have about 5 in May. It should be ready to baste by the end of this month.

For May, Judy has chosen the number 11. And I've decided yet again to do something different. I have three challenge pieces to make this year, and the year is nearly half over. So I will devote May to working on those challenges.

My first challenge is "Tear Out a Magazine Page". The purpose is to make something from a magazine that we have been hanging onto thinking, "One day I'll make that." Mine is this table runner from Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Fall 2015 edition:

The pattern is Lunch in the Sunshine, designed by Beth Helfter.

My second challenge is "Out of Africa", and for that I will be using the shweshwe fabric I blogged here. I need to print a pattern out on A3 paper for that one, so it will have to wait until I can do that.

My third challenge involves using the colours of your birth-stone and the flower associated with your birth month to create something. That challenge has to remain secret, so I won't be posting any of my progress here.

This afternoon I made a start on the table runner challenge. Here are the petals of the first block waiting to be Vliesofixed in place:

 And here's all three blocks fused. I need to choose a centre circle fabric, and then they will be ready to be sewn:

Not a bad start!

Linking to Patchwork Times here.