Dianne asked me to quilt this incredible Butterfly Quilt. The pattern is by Tula Pink and it is called The Butterfly Quilt. The piecing and the fussy cutting is exquisite and I knew I had to step up and really emphasize her work....
The first thing I did was go on the internet and do a ton of image searches of butterflies. In nature, in art, and in tattoos. Yes Tattoos. I wanted to find the right idea for the white background of this quilt - something that will incorporate swirls and movements and motion. I found many images and just took elements from different ones that I thought I could use on the quilt- tendrils, swirls and over the top antennae. The antennae that I have seen on other quilts were small. We wanted something larger and showy....
After many sketches and ideas, I simplified and settled on this design - I drew it out on my plexiglass, and then transferred it to the fabric with fabric marker.
I then marked out a few swirls and tendrils at the wings and base of the butterfly - all freehand. And then loaded up the quilt on the frame.
I started with basic wavy lines....
and then started work on the antennae. I used a pink/purple variegated thread on the antennae to pop a little more.
Follow with fill....and waves lines to gently transition to the outline of the butterfly....
Here is a front view of the antennae. I love the dots I chose to quilt over those tendrils!
Next came the beautiful piecing - Dianne's fussy cut piecing was something I have never seen before. The precision was very deliberate and therefore I knew I had to make my choice in quilting very deliberate. I will let you scroll through the next photos, but be sure to click on them to enlarge and take a close look at the fussy cutting :-) (details of thread, size, etc at bottom of post)
This is my favourite block....
Each block was stitched in the ditch, and then quilted to have a positive/negative pop with the piecing.
Blocks with similar piecing were quilted similarly...
These few blocks give you a good indication to the fussy cut piecing...
The body chevron pattern of the butterfly was quilted to show texture and dimension, again, stitch in the ditch first and then accent quilting.
Even the lighter teal colour in the body was fussy cut...tiny dots that were perfectly placed in the triangles.
The outside edge of the entire butterfly was outline quilted with a 1/4'' border.
The tendrils hanging from the base of the body...hard to see in the photo, but I tried to mimic ribbons flowing from the body...
Details - Tula Pink The Butterfly Quilt
89'' x 94''
Hobbs 100% Heirloom Wool Batting
Magnifico thread top assorted colours
Aurifil Aurilux purple variegated thread top (antennae and purples)
Wonderfil Decobob bobbin thread
Machine guided quilting on my APQS machine
Piecer: Dianne A. of Calgary, Alberta
You two make a great team. You both pay close attention to detail and have a real eye for design. I love everything about this quilt. Congrats to you both on such a spectacular work of art.
ReplyDeleteMagic quilt, love the colours. Your quilting just brings the quilt to another level, fabulous textures, I bet you had fun in the background 'doodling'!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful. The piecing is amazing, and the quilting is fantastic. What an amazing job!
ReplyDeletenice post
ReplyDelete