Flight of the Butterflies

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This week I finished a cot quilt for a new baby girl.  I’m resisting the urge to call her a wee Irish lass every time I talk about this quilt, so I promise not to do that again ;)  I’m just a little excited that one of my quilts will be heading to Ireland!

butterfly trail front
Flight of the Butterflies front

In light of the Irish climate I selected 100% wool wadding and a GORGEOUS Anna-Maria Horner flannelette backing.  This quilt is seriously snugly.

butterfly quilt back on fence
I used a gorgeous AMH flannelette for the back from Pink Castle Fabrics

This was my first time using wool batting so I made a test sample with the idea of turning it into a cushion cover.

butterfly quilt test run
You can read about how I make my templates here

For the sample I tried both reverse appliqué and raw edged appliqué and although I love the look of the reverse appliqué I found that it distorted the fabric.  I decided not to risk a quilt top that wasn’t flat and went with raw edged appliqué.  I’m really happy with the result.  I FMQed around each butterfly using my rainbow of Aurifil 50wt threads to secure it in place and prevent excessive fraying.

butterfly quilting detail
quilting detail

I used a grey 50wt Aurifil for the quilting because I wanted the texture of the quilting to not over power the butterflies.  It worked perfectly, although I found that I needed to drop my top tension just a little due to the wool wadding and flannelette backing.  I went with a variation of a quilting design that I used recently and added in some pathways for the butterfly to really give movement and direction to the kaleidoscope of butterflies (yes, I googled that and they can be called a kaleidoscope of butterflies!).

butterfly quilt in flight
I love the motion and movement the quilting gives, these butterflies are ready to fly away

I used Bella Berrylicious for the binding and I love how it makes the quilt a little more girly without going over the top and works so well with the back too.

butterfly back
quilting detail on back with binding

This quilt measures approximately 50″ x 50″ and is a great size for a cot or playmat (seen here on my daughter’s toddler bed which is actually a modified cot).

butterfly quilt on cot sized bed

I’m hoping the new Mummy loves this quilt just as much as I do.  I had fun stitching baby’s name, first freehand by machine and then with some handquilting using the lovely 12wt Aurifil in a verigated pink.

Butterfly quilt name details

I had fun being back in the babyzone making this quilt and plan to make some more baby quilts soon, such a fun size to work with!

butterfly quilt folded

This quilt was made and quilted by me on my Bernina 440QE. I used Aurifil threads, Bella Solids (Steel and Berrylicious), Loulouthi flannelette and a variety of stash prints for the butterflies many from my monthly stash subscription.

I’m liking up to TGIFF over at Quilt Matters


13 Comments on Flight of the Butterflies

  1. Dominique
    July 12, 2013 at 2:19 am (7 months ago)

    Wow! the design of the top itself is beautiful, but the quilting is what really makes this quilt sing! beautiful work!

    Reply
  2. Michèle-Renée Charbonneau
    July 12, 2013 at 2:34 am (7 months ago)

    Wow, Gemma, it’s beautiful! Love everything about this quilt – the colours, the design, the quilting. Fantastic!

    Reply
  3. Laura Lochore
    July 12, 2013 at 5:31 am (7 months ago)

    Love the butterflies! Well done! :)

    Reply
  4. Vera
    July 12, 2013 at 5:54 am (7 months ago)

    Beautiful! Your quilting, butterlies, everyting.

    Reply
  5. Enid
    July 12, 2013 at 12:40 pm (7 months ago)

    I love that quilting so original!

    Reply
  6. MsMidge
    July 12, 2013 at 12:54 pm (7 months ago)

    Just divine! What a lucky little Irish Lass :)

    Reply
  7. Aoife
    July 12, 2013 at 1:35 pm (7 months ago)

    It’s so beautiful, Gemma! And even if you weren’t in my blog reader, I’d have found you through twitter – where Alex Veronelli tweeted out this project!!! Yay! I like that you got a beautiful cushion for yourself out of this too :) I’d love to touch this quilt, it’s so lovely.

    Reply
  8. Michelle
    July 12, 2013 at 3:43 pm (7 months ago)

    That is gorgeous — love the quilting and background color you chose!

    Reply
  9. audrey
    July 12, 2013 at 4:03 pm (7 months ago)

    This is so cute! I love all of the little details you put into it.

    Reply
  10. Catrin Lewis
    July 13, 2013 at 1:09 am (7 months ago)

    Oh come on! This is in a different league to mine! Your quilting is exquisite – those pink butterflies next to her name are the perfect touch. I love the fact that both our quilts have some Cocoon in then though!

    Reply
  11. Maartje Quilt
    July 13, 2013 at 10:16 am (7 months ago)

    The Artis in Amsterdam is great but we were in a smaller, very child friendly zoo 40 km from Amsterdam. http://www.dierenparkamersfoort.nl/
    I love your quilts!

    Reply
  12. Stephanie
    July 14, 2013 at 1:03 am (7 months ago)

    This is so gorgeous and simple – I love it!!

    Reply
  13. Mareenchen
    July 25, 2013 at 4:05 am (7 months ago)

    It’s perfectly adorable! What a wonderful baby quilt. :)

    Reply

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