Peace For Ukraine – free Sunflower quilt pattern

Sew a beautiful sunflower quilt to show your support to Ukraine and share with a refugee family! This throw sized sunflower quilt pattern is free in the blog post below. It features large 12” blocks with sunflowers (the national flower of Ukraine) and doves to represent our wish for peace. The Peace for Ukraine finished quilt size is 60’’ x 60’’.

Sew through your fabric stash with all my free quilt patterns.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The blog post below contains everything you will need to make the Sunflower Quilt Pattern and it is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional.

If you promise to donate your Peace for Ukraine sunflower quilt to a refugee family or charitable organization (local to you or international), you may use the coupon code PEACEFORUKRAINE to purchase the downloadable PDF file at no cost. Of course, if you already own my PDF library of Optimized for Printing files, you can find it there too.

The beautiful yellow and blue Ukrainian flag represents golden lands and fields of grain under a brilliant blue sky.

This quilt features Dresden sunflower blocks in blue and yellow, with four dove blocks surrounding a green square to represent an olive leaf for peace.

If you love sewing applique Dresden blocks like this, check out my free Dresden Baby Quilt pattern.

More and more refugees are coming from Ukraine, so I’m sure a local organization will love to accept this quilt and maybe a few more that I don’t need.

I encourage you to donate your quilt to a local or international organization that is working to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees. One that I found is Lifting Hands International.

You could also contact local organizations such as your local American Red Cross and women’s shelters to see if your quilt may be needed there.

I designed this sunflower quilt pattern using EQ8 quilt design software, and I tested the measurements by sewing several of each block. I have sewn almost half of my blocks and I’ll be sure to update this post with finished photos of my quilt when I am done!

As you choose your fabrics, I recommend picking 2 beautiful yellow or gold fabrics for the petals, a brilliant blue fabric for the center of the sunflowers, and two pale blue or blue-gray fabrics for the doves. The background should be white or a very light colored low volume white so that the flowers and doves stand out. You’ll only need a small scrap of green fabric for the center.

Of course, you could raid your scrap bin instead and use lots of different yellows and blues to make gorgeous scrappy sunflowers.

So let’s get sewing!

Peace for Ukraine Free Sunflower Quilt Pattern Tutorial

Finished size: 60’’ x 60’’.

You will need:

• 5/8 yard bright yellow fabric
• 5/8 yard golden yellow fabric
• 3/4 yard brilliant blue fabric
• 1/4 yard light blue fabric
• 1/4 yard light blue-gray fabric
• a 2 1/2” square of green fabric for the center
• 2 1/2 yards of white background fabric*
• 1/2 yard of fabric for binding
• a piece of batting at least 68’’ x 68’’
• 4 yards of 44’’ wide fabric for the backing (or enough to piece together a backing piece at least 62” x 58”)
• Rotary cutter, cutting mat, and acrylic ruler

*Tip:

By sewing your sunflower quilt blocks first as suggested in these instructions, you won’t need any extra fabric for the dove blocks. This is because you’ll trim away a large piece of white fabric behind each Dresden piece on the sunflower block. These 12 pieces can be used to cut all of the background fabric pieces needed for the dove blocks.

If you would rather sew your dove quilt blocks first or you would prefer not to cut away the extra white fabric behind the Dresden pieces, you will need an extra 1/2 yard of background fabric.

Cutting

From the bright yellow fabric, cut:

• 3 strips 6 1/2” x width of the fabric

From those strips, use the Petal Template to cut 30 pieces as shown in the photo above.

From the golden yellow fabric, cut:

• 3 strips 6 1/2” x width of the fabric

From those strips, use the Petal Template to cut 30 pieces.

From the bright blue fabric, cut:

• 12 pieces using the Sunflower Center Template
• 4 sashing squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”

From the light blue fabric, cut:

• 4 rectangles 3 3/4” x 7 3/8”
• 8 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”

From the light gray-blue fabric, cut:

• 4 rectangles 3 3/4” x 7 3/8”
• 8 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”

From the background fabric, cut:

• 12 squares 13” x 13”
• 12 sashing strips 2 1/2” x 12 1/2”
• 4 sashing squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 2 border strips 3 1/2” x 54 1/2”**
• 2 border strips 3 1/2” x 60 1/2”**

** Border tips:

• The border strips will need to be pieced together.
• I highly recommend that you do not cut your border strips now. Instead, wait until the center of the quilt top is finished so you can measure it and sew accurate borders. See how to measure and cut accurate quilt borders.

General Quilt Piecing Tips:

• I always use a scant 1/4” seam allowance, even though most patterns (mine included) call for a 1/4” seam allowance. This enables me to trim and square up my blocks as I go to ensure a square, neat quilt.
• Sew with thread that matches the pieces you are sewing. This is especially important on this quilt with bright constrasting colors and topstitching on appliqued Dresden flowers.

How to Sew a Sunflower Quilt Block

Each sunflower quilt block requires 1 square 13” x 13”, 5 petal pieces (3 from one print, and 2 from the other), and a center piece.

1. Fold each petal piece (or Dresden blade) in half lengthwise and pin at the top.

2. Sew across the top of each piece with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Use small scissors to clip a small triangle of fabric away at the top corner where the fold is. Do not cut the stitches.

3. Gently press each seam open. Then turn the petal right side out and gently poke the corner with a turning tool or chopstick until a nice point forms.

Press each petal flat. Arrange in an alternating pattern of bright yellow and golden yellow.

4. Place two petals right sides together and pin along one of the straight edges.

5. Sew the straight edge with a 1/4” seam allowance. Press the seam open.

6. Continue sewing the petals together in the same way until all 5 are sewn together in an alternating pattern.

7. Adjust your sewing machine to sew a long basting stitch. Sew along the curved edge, 1/4” away from the edge.

Pull on the bobbin thread very slightly as needed to help the curved edge turn smoothly to the wrong side. Gently press the curved edge over by 1/4”.

8. Pin the center piece on top of the petals at their bottom edges, as seen above. The center piece should overlap the petals by at least 1/4”.

9. Topstitch the center piece to the petals.

10. Lay the sunflower motif on top of a 13” square with the blue center lined up with a corner of the square. Use lots of pins to hold it in place.

Tip: Don’t worry if the sunflower motif doesn’t fit squarely on the block. Line it up as nicely as you can. You will be able to trim and square the block before it is finished.

11. Topstitch along the top edges of the petals, pivoting at each point.

12. Turn the block over and carefully trim away the extra white and yellow fabric, leaving a 1/4” seam allowance.

Trim and square up the block so that it measures 12 1/2” x 12 1/2”.

Sew 12 Sunflower Blocks. 6 Sunflower Blocks will have 3 bright yellow petals and 2 golden yellow petals. The other 6 will have 2 bright yellow petals and 3 golden yellow petals.

How to Sew a Dove Quilt Block

1. From the 12 pieces of background fabric cut away from the backs of the Sunflower Blocks in Step 12 above, cut:

• 8 squares 6 7/8” x 6 7/8”
• 4 squares 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”

2. Fold one of the 6 7/8” x 6 7/8” squares in half. Use your rotary cutter and ruler to make a diagonal cut from one lower corner to one upper corner.

This will create one larger 6 7/8” tall triangle and two smaller triangle pieces. Discard the smaller triangle pieces.

Cut all the 6 7/8” x 6 7/8” squares in into triangles the same way.

3. Place two matching 3 3/4” x 7 3/8” rectangles right sides together. Use your rotary cutter and ruler to make a diagonal cut from one lower corner to one upper corner.

This will create two triangles that are oriented in one direction and two triangles oriented in the opposite direction (look and see!).

Place the rest of the 3 3/4” x 7 3/8” rectangles right sides together in pairs and cut them diagonally also.

4. Arrange on your workspace one background triangle, one light blue triangle, and one gray-blue triangle as seen above.

Place a smaller triangle right sides together on top of the center triangle with the straight edges lined up and the top points lined up.

It is very important that the top points of the triangles are lined up.

Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance.

5. Open and press. Pin the remaining triangle on top, right sides together. Again, make sure that the top points are lined up.

Tip: Place the heads of your pins sticking out from the fabric.

Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance.

If the heads of your pins are sticking out from the fabric, you can turn the piece over and stitch from the back, as I did above. This lets you start sewing at the top of the triangle where the points are lined up.

This is a ‘wing piece.’ Trim and square it to 6 1/2” square. Make one more wing piece that has light blue and light blue-gray triangles at the opposite corners.

6. Arrange 2 light blue squares and 2 light blue-gray squares in a checkerboard pattern.

Sew the squares together to make 2 rows. Then sew the rows together to make a 6 1/2” piece.

7. Arrange the two wing pieces together with the checkerboard piece and a 6 1/2” background fabric square.

Sew the squares together to make 2 rows. Then sew the rows together to make a Dove Block. Trim and square up the block to 12 1/2”.

Sew two different arrangements of Dove Blocks. Notice that one dove block above has light blue wings and a gray-blue tail. The other block has gray-blue wings and a blue tails. The two different blocks are made with the exact same pieces, just arranged differently.

Sew two blocks in each arrangement, 4 Dove Blocks in all.

Assemble the Peace For Ukraine Sunflower Quilt Top

1. Arrange the 16 quilt blocks on a large surface or quilt design wall with the 4 Dove Blocks pointed toward the center and the Sunflower Blocks surrounding them.

2. Sew the blocks into 4 rows with 2 1/2” x 12 1/2” sashing strips in between each block.

3. Make 2 sashing rows that each have 4 sashing strips, 2 bright blue squares, and 1 background fabric square as seen above.

4. Make 1 sashing row that has 4 sashing strips, background fabric squares, and 1 green fabric square in the center as seen above.

5. Sew the rows of quilt blocks and sashing together.

6. Attach the borders. Sew the 3 1/2” x 54 1/2” border strips to the sides of the quilt. Sew the 3 1/2” x 60 1/2” border strips to the top and bottom edges of the quilt.

Tip: Instead of using the specified lengths for the border strips, I recommend measuring your quilt and using the actual measurements as I show in this blog post. This helps to prevent wavy quilt borders or puckering where the borders are attached.

Finishing the Peace For Ukraine Sunflower Quilt Pattern

1. Cut the backing fabric in half and sew it together to make a piece big enough for the back of the quilt (at least 68” x 68”).

2. Sandwich the quilt top, batting, and backing together and baste (I like spray basting, using fusible quilt batting, or pin basting with quilter’s safety pins).

3. Quilt the quilt top as desired.

4. Cut 8-9 strips of binding 2 1/2’’ x width-of-fabric (or as desired) and sew them together using diagonal seams. Bind the quilt using your preferred method. See how I bind my quilts by machine here.

If you make this quilt I would love to see it! Please upload a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe or #sewcanshe.

Let’s pray for peace in Ukraine together.