Welcome to the Sun

Each fall and winter, millions of North Americans head South, seeking the sun.  The snowbirds often land in Arizona, Florida, and other warm climates.  Here are some wonderful wall quilts and sampler quilts that celebrate the warmth of Arizona and the Southwest.

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My Christmas Cactus, made and quilted by Palma Davis

Palma Davis says, "This wall hanging shows our magnificent Saguaro in the morning, midnight, and sunset."  We love the fabric choices for the backgrounds, Saguaros, and even the stony base of the quilt. Pattern source: Sonoran Saguaro by Copper Thimble Makery.

Sun Kachina, made and quilted by Karen Neuendorf

The Sun Kachina is one of the most famous of the Hopi Kachina figures, and is a symbol of life and growth. This wonderful art quilt is appliqued, and the feathers are 36-gauge copper, tooled and stained with alcohol inks. The border batik fabric has southwest patterns as well. (Note: Karen Neuendorf is a member of the NW Tucson Art Quilters group.)

Welcome to Arizona, made and quilted by Wendy Anderson.

Wendy Anderson says, "When I first moved to Tucson, Arizona, I was drawn to all the wonderful, colorful southwest fabrics. This pattern was a perfect opportunity to use and show off those fabrics." We spy cowboy boots, the Arizona symbol, Saguaro cacti, Pueblo, Kokopelli and petroglyphs in this design. Wendy says that this great quilt was based on a 'Happy Trails, Cactus Quilt pattern' (we're still searching for the pattern source.) We enjoyed all the blocks, including the sun over the mountain (or 'moon over mountain') row shown below.

Beautiful Desert by Karen Chrisman, quilted by Brenda Taminga. 

This was a block-of-the-month project started in June 2019.  Karen Chrisman says, "During the shutdown in March 2020, the last 3 blocks were mailed to me.  I added my own designs to set the blocks, creating a beautiful southwest theme." Pattern source: Blockbuster "Desert Beauty" BOM, Quilters' Market. The half-square triangle blocks shown below give the appearance of mountains, while the quarter Dresden plate depicts the sun.

 Arizona Adventure, made and quilted by Barbara Lambrecht. 

Barbara Lambrecht says, "This is my first quilt, a BOM challenge from Saddlebrooke Ranch Piecemakers. I started it 5 months late but finished on time.  We were encouraged to add our own touches to the simple block pattern we were given along with two fat quarters required to use for each block.  I love the way it turned out."  Fussy-cut circles serve as medallions in the corners of some blocks, shown below.

Note: If you enjoyed this post you might be interested in our Free Pattern Day for Southwestern quilts (CLICK HERE):

Image credits: Original quilt photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 and 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show.