Friday, July 26, 2013

Sunflowers in Quilts and in Nature

The sunflower is the Kansas state flower. 
Can you find it in my State Flower Quilt that hangs in my classroom? 
It's the third star block from the left in the next to last row of my quilt. 
 You can also find the Kansas sunflower fabric in the piano key border. 
 
Dresden Plate Quilt Block in my Eleanor Burns' Egg Money Sampler Quilt 
 
State Fair Sunflower Quilt Block in my Farmer's Daughter Sampler Quilt
 
Sunflower Quilt Block in my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt
 
Common Sunflowers standing tall, next to the Rock House, our local ice cream shop

Prairie Sunflowers discovered on a walk in my neighborhood

I love sunflowers in quilts and in nature. They are so cheerful!  The scientific name, Helianthus annuus, means "flower of the sun." 

The sunflower was one of the few plants that was cultivated by Native American tribes on the plains.  The sunflower shells were roasted and used to make a coffee-like beverage.  The kernels were eaten whole or ground into meal to make cakes.  The crushed seeds were boiled in water, and then the sunflower oil was skimmed off the top and used like olive oil.  (Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies by Linda Kershaw)
 
The chickadees and other birds at my feeder don't worry about any of that.  They just love the seeds! 

Which sunflower is your favorite? 

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.


7 comments:

  1. Love that top quilt, so pretty with all the floral prints.

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  2. I want to make the top quilt! My favorite sunflower block is the one you made for your Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler quilt. I love all the varieties of sunflowers & would like to grow some one day.

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  3. My favorite one is. . . . . ummmmm. . . . It's whichever one I happen to be looking at, at the moment! No, I changed my mind. It's the chickadee!

    :-D

    I enjoyed this post, Susan.

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  4. I love all sunflowers! Your plants remind me of my grand daughter's sunflower plant. Her mom doesn't know where it came from but there is one giant sunflower blooming in the middle of her carefully laid out purple and white flower bed in front of their house. LOL There is also one pumpkin vine growing out of the nice soil around some new bushes they planted in front of their large kitchen windows also on the front of the house. They think that came from the pumpkins the kids smashed on the front sidewalk after last Halloween. Tee hee! I love it; my daughter is a bid OCD about having perfectly laid out flower beds but the best laid plans...you know the rest.
    Pat H, KS

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  5. Just the other day I passed a sunflower growing along the road that must have been over 8 feet tall ... actually, there were several) Today in the church arrangement there were miniature ones. I grew up eating those seeds but these days I have to share them with the tits (related to the American Chickadee).

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  6. Gee, I have 11 of the 12 blocks done for my Egg Money sampler quilt. I never did the last block so that I could finish the quilt.

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  7. The state flower quilt is beautiful! I also like the Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt sunflower block. It has pleasing colors to me.

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