Fluttering

Flutter and Painter's Canvas by Laura Gunn; Fresh Lemons Quilts

Remember that awesome fabric I showed you before I left for Quilt Market? Well I cut into it today. I was really inspired to make something with the butterflies from Flutter first. I cut a couple of rows of them out, and then some 1-1/2" strips of Laura Gunn's Painter's Canvas. My plan was to make a pillow from a bunch of log cabins with the butterflies in the middle.

But something about Laura's fabric always makes me want to appliqué. I say that sort of as a joke, but I think the last time I appliquéd something was also with her fabric! Hmmmm, something magical in those threads I think...

Once I completely changed my plan for this fabric, I recut fabric strips to 2" and sewed those together in a rainbow gradient. I fused Heat n Bond Ultra on the back of the butterflies and cut those out as well.

I spray basted the rainbow stripes, batting and backing. Then I placed the butterflies on the pillow top and ironed them down (final step of the Heat n Bond). I used my Blindstitch Bernina Foot #5 to follow the edge of the butterfly, and moved the needle to the left a bit to stitch the butterfly down.

I didn't worry too much about it being perfect because 1) I love the frayed looked of raw edge appliqué, 2) this is a decorative pillow that won't get hard use, and 3) I used Heat n Bond Ultra for the fusing. After stitching around the butterflies, I started quilting in a loop de loop design.

It's not finished - almost! But I wanted to share my progress. I'm trying to decide if I should add piping around the pillow. What do you think? Hopefully I'll have more time to work on it tomorrow!