Sunny Rays Quilt

The Julia collection is perfect to use in quilt patterns that were influenced by our past. I had envisioned using these fabrics in a "Grandma's Fan" quilt, also known as Dresden Plate, since I had seen some vintage ones in similar color palates. 

The Dresden Plate design, which resembles a round sunflower with pointed petals, became popular during the Victorian era. The pattern is said to have been inspired by a collection of porcelain plates from the German city of Dresden, hence the name "Dresden Plate."

I came across the Sew Kind of Wonderful "Sunny Rays" pattern and decided it would be the perfect fit to achieve that vintage "Grandma Fan" look. Their rulers make sewing and cutting curves easy peasy! If you haven't attempted sewing curves, don't worry! This is a fun new skill to learn that isn't difficult. 

The Sunny Rays pattern requires the Quick Curve Ruler™ and the Wonder Curve Ruler™. A 10" square ruler is also handy to have to square up your blocks after they are sewn. 

You can make a scrappy Sunny Rays quilt with a Julia Fat Quarter bundle (27 prints), however, you will need to refer to the fat quarter cutting diagram below. The pattern was written for half yard cuts so referring to this diagram will ensure that you have enough wedges and center circles. 

Here are a couple cutting tips! You can stack two fat quarters on top of each other to make it go faster. I cut two 6" strips the length of the fat quarter and placed the paper templates on top to cut the wedges. There was enough room to get 22 wedges that way.

Click here to see a video tutorial of the Sunny Ray block.

It's a good idea to always sew a sample block to see if you need to adjust your seam allowance. This pattern was designed to trim your blocks down, so you don't have to sew them perfectly in order for them to work!

For the backing I used the "Recipes" print (11923-11).

Quilt by the lovely Tia Curtis Quilts

E2E Design: Margos Garden