The Sunflower quilts were a personal challenge to make. I had difficulty settling down to work in the long cold gray winter of 2007-8. The lethargy continued in Spring, even though the weather improved. So I decided to get back into my habit of daily sewing, I would make a 12” square every day, even if that was the only thing I sewed. Although I didn’t make one every day, I did find it was helpful to have the goal to strive toward. Part of the challenge was that I would spend no time planning, and just use whatever fabrics were near at hand. The scraps I had left from other quilts, decorator sample books, bits of my curtains, and silk swatches are all included in the quilts. The only constants were that my subject was a sunflower and the size was 12” square. The pieces were quilted as soon as composed, and hopefully bound also. I stil find it helpful to make them, as it forces me into my studio. And once I’m in there, a lot gets done.