"The green grass and the happy skies court the fluttering butterflies." ~ T. Guillemets
Well, no green grass around here at the moment, but there are butterflies, Fresh off the Frame!
The butterfly filler was such fun to stitch!
My client had requested the design shown in the Buggy Barn pattern book, which made things pretty easy for me. I just had to analyze the pictures and figure out a stitch path.
I started each one by outlining its feelers and filling the body.
At first I tried traveling in the ditch around the body as I worked the wings.
I absolutely hated the thread build up. Sometimes a shortcut is not worth it, so each butterfly has five starts and stops (one for the feelers/body + one for each wing). Much better!
Before quilting anything, I had basted the entire quilt to keep things from shifting as I rolled it back and forth.
I left the basting in place until the last possible moment. You can see it in the picture, below. I'd pulled it from the borders as they were filled, but it was still holding the row of blocks nice and square.
As I filled the blocks I pulled out the basting stitches.
I must say...the last stitch was such a relief - I was swirling in my sleep by the time I'd filled all thirty blocks!!!
Ah, but it was worth it. I love how it turned out, and so does my client!
Don't you love seeing the texture on the back of a quilt? I sure do!
Bye, bye, butterflies!
Linking up with:
Free Motion Mavericks, at Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing
Whoop Whoop Friday, at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Fabric Frenzy Friday, at Fort Worth Fabric Studio
Show off Saturday, at Sew Can She
Finish it up Friday, at Crazy Mom Quilts
Try, Learn, Grow!
Carole
Comments are welcome and will be answered by email where possible. Thanks so much for looking around!
Well, no green grass around here at the moment, but there are butterflies, Fresh off the Frame!
 |
| freshofftheframe.com |
The butterfly filler was such fun to stitch!
My client had requested the design shown in the Buggy Barn pattern book, which made things pretty easy for me. I just had to analyze the pictures and figure out a stitch path.
I started each one by outlining its feelers and filling the body.
 |
| Outlining the feelers and filling the body. |
At first I tried traveling in the ditch around the body as I worked the wings.
I absolutely hated the thread build up. Sometimes a shortcut is not worth it, so each butterfly has five starts and stops (one for the feelers/body + one for each wing). Much better!
 |
| Pretty butterfly filler design. |
I left the basting in place until the last possible moment. You can see it in the picture, below. I'd pulled it from the borders as they were filled, but it was still holding the row of blocks nice and square.
 |
| BEFORE filling the background. |
 |
| AFTER filling the background. |
Ah, but it was worth it. I love how it turned out, and so does my client!
Don't you love seeing the texture on the back of a quilt? I sure do!
Bye, bye, butterflies!
Linking up with:
Free Motion Mavericks, at Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing
Whoop Whoop Friday, at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Fabric Frenzy Friday, at Fort Worth Fabric Studio
Show off Saturday, at Sew Can She
Finish it up Friday, at Crazy Mom Quilts
Try, Learn, Grow!
Carole
Comments are welcome and will be answered by email where possible. Thanks so much for looking around!
Oh wow, I love the back almost as much as the front...and that's saying a lot! Beautiful job. No wonder your client loves it!
ReplyDeleteLovely! The butterflies really pop out of the quilt. And I love how you can still see them from the backing.
ReplyDeleteWow, your quilting is fabulous Carole! I really like the back too, nice work. I can understand why your client was really happy with it, it's great.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! I want to make a butterfly quilt sometime. I appreciate all the close-ups. Your quilting is as amazing as always.
ReplyDeleteIt's so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWow, Carole! Your quilting is amazing, as usual!! :) Love the design in the butterflies and your spirals are awesome! Thanks for sharing about the basting. I have been toying with the idea of doing thread basting instead of pinning. Do you do yours by hand or do you use the machine? I've seen it done both ways. . . the short cut lover in me loves the idea of doing it by machine. I wonder though about how much of a shortcut it would be when thinking about having to take those stitches out! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's simple so sweet and cute, nice work Carole! I know what you mean about swirling in your sleep, I really have to be careful not to work too late into the day/night with a constant design like that or I see it all night long and wake up exhausted!
ReplyDeleteLois and her granddaughter will be thrilled! I know how much she agonized over the piecing!
ReplyDeleteWhat fantastic quilting! I love how you did the butterflies, the quilting really enhances the piecing. You are so creative! It looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's beautiful, those butterflies look amazing now.
ReplyDeleteHello Carole,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing bold quilt - I've never seen such huge butterflies! Your quilting is wonderful. The spirals work so well, they really give the feeling of the air whirring as the butterflies flap their wings - well worth all that swirling in your sleep.
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv
Wonderful quilt and wonderful quilting. I love the purple "shimmer" fabric. I bought a fat quarter bundle of the "Blue Lagoon".
ReplyDeleteI love the way you quilt. You add another dimension to quilts!
ReplyDelete