Butterfly Garden - A Finish!

Butterfly Garden

78 x 87

Hand quilted

It's a Finish!

Based on the pattern Follow the Sun from Adding Layers by Kathy Doughty

I have a lot of butterfly themed fabrics and I thought this would be a fun way to use them. 

I used regular hand quilting thread in different colors to stitch around most of the butterflies in the circles. 

I used perle #8 in navy to stitch 1/4 inch outside all of the star points - both the smaller ones directly around the circle (here in aqua floral) and...

...around the outside larger star points (here in yellow floral). 

I used Lizbeth 20 wt threads in different colors and leaf and flower templates for hand stitching in the sashings.  I'm not sure what the green thread was that I used for the leaves but I think it's some sort of old crochet cotton I picked up at the thrift store in a bag of different threads 

The actual stitching doesn't show up much but I know it's there and it has some incredible texture. 

I started out making blocks with that darker floral fabric but ran out so substituted some dark background butterfly fabric.  (I usually never make sure I have enough fabric before I just start in making blocks so my quilts often have "substitute fabrics" here and there). I used the darker fabric in the blocks to represent the shady parts of a garden and the lighter overall floral are the sunny spots. 

I used a different dark (shady) overall large floral for the binding.  

I used this fabric for the backing. I don't remember when I bought or the designer/maker but I'm sure it was on sale or I wouldn't have bought enough for a backing. Anyway, it sure has a silky feel to it.  I like how there are little bits of color here and there from the hand quilting. 

I like the backside almost as much as the front. 

This is the end result of many months of Slow Sunday (and Saturday and Friday...) Stitching so I'm hanging out with other Slow Stitchers today at Kathy's Quilts. 

This was my goal #12

for

The 2016 Finish-A-Long

In the Hoop: Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden is in the hoop. It is based on a Kathy Doughty (of Material Obsession) design called "Follow the Sun" found in her book "Adding Layers". 

Right now I'm using navy perle #8 to quilt around the "sun rays".  I'm not sure what I'm going to do after that. In the centers I'm contemplating using regular hand stitching thread to quilt around some of the butterfly shapes. And then there's the sashing...

Slow Sunday Stitching with lots of others at Kathy's Quilts

Also, because there's butterflies involved here...linking up to Kaleidoscope of Butterflies. 

Follow That Butterfly

Four more 18 inch Follow That Butterfly blocks for a total of 7 out of 20.

This pattern is found in the book Adding Layers by Kathy Doughty. She calls it Follow the Sun. 

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

That's all I'll probably be sewing this week. I'm expecting relatives on Thursday for a short stay. One of my many nephews is getting married this weekend. 

It Wasn't Supposed To Be Like This

I made blocks 2 and 3 for my Follow That Butterfly quilt. 

These are large 18 inch blocks and the pattern is actually called Follow the Sun and is from Kathy Doughty's book Adding Layers. You can see a couple of versions of the finished quilt on her blog. 

Maybe I shouldn't make two blocks at the same time. 

After I added the rick rack to the circles and appliqued them to the backgrounds I noticed I mixed up backgrounds between blocks.   The block I showed in the first photo was supposed to go on this background. 

And this circle was supposed to go with...

...this background.  

I'm not going to redo the blocks.  In the end it will all work out. 

 I have to admit that I don't even usually pull fabrics for a whole quilt before I start making it.  With this quilt I was looking for something to use a pile of butterfly fabrics I have collected over the years.  I found a large piece of big flowered multicolored fabric left over from my Rainbow of Favorite Things quilt (August 2013) backing so thought I would try it as the block background in this quilt. I know I won't have enough for all of the blocks but I'll cross that bridge of what to do when I actually do run out.   And, as I make each block I just go pick out three flowered fabrics (2 for circle and 1 for star points) from the flower stash box that I think will go together with the butterfly fabric.  One block at a time and little by little a quilt gets made.  

In the end it will all work out. 

And speaking of rick rack...I was going to try to use some of the old stuff I've picked up from thrift stores over the years but they are not very colorful.  Notice the prices? 13 cents, 15 cents, 39 cents...

I wanted to try to use these so my kids won't have to cart them all back to the thrift store someday.  This is only part of the old trim collection. 

It's Wednesday so I'm going to go see some WIPs on Esther's blog where WOW=WIPs on Wednesday. 

On Friday I'm at:

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict