Butterflies - Ta Da!

This is Butterflies. She is all done, washed and was out in the morning sun. This quilt is made from Terrain by Kate Spain and Kona white. The binding is made of scraps of Terrain too. It finished at about 44" x 56".



That is a picture before washing. I have now found this block in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns, page 403. It is #3364, Fan Quadrille - by Mountain Mist. Megan from Canoe Ridge Creations did a tutorial for a version of the block here. I made drunkard path quarter circles and trimmed them and added the other squares to make the block. They look like butterflies to me.



I decided to be brave and do some free motion quilting on the butterflies. You can see that my lines are a bit wobbly and I just free handed it as I went. I was hoping that the washing would sort out the wobbles and it did - any remaining wobbles add texture and interest, at least I am hoping you see it that way. I decided that the only way to get better at this kind of quilting was to just do it, and I could see improvement even in this single piece as I did more and more.



There she is before I threw her in the washer and dryer. After I braved the free motion quilting bits, I got out my walking foot and outlined the motifs with some straightish lines. I used a variegated white/tan Valdani thread for all the quilting.



Here is the quilting detail after washing in the bright sun.



I love these artsy quilting shots.



On the back I used a Timeless Treasures print called Tree. I love this print and it works nicely with the butterfly theme.

The binding is made of scraps of left over Terrain and I machine stitched it on. I used Marianne from the Quilting Edge's tutorial and it works exactly as she said it would. I even carefully followed her extra tutorial for the corners and I got 2 out of 4 corners finished perfectly. The other two I fixed with some hand stitching. Although I do like the hand sewing of bindings, this method is neat and far quicker and I will use it again.



Another detail shot, after washing. This quilt is so cheerful and full of colour.



A folded, parting shot. And, I am reminded to add that I am made my little video about how easy it is to sew curves without pins while making this quilt - it is here.

This finish is also another finish for Rhonda at Quilter in the Gap's Finish-a-Long. There is not much time left - it is nice to have this one done in time for summer.

I will link this post up to {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story as the week progresses. The buttons for both these links are on the right side of the blog. There will be inspiration at each of those links, hopefully you have time to visit.

Best,

Leanne