Today was too beautiful a day to miss a photo opp in the garden with my newly completed Retro Butterflies quilt. Woohoo!
This quilt was a class project with original design by She Can Quilt's Leanne and taught in Belfast by Judith. I have been so enjoying the new skills of curved piecing to achieve these butterfly quilts, and I even did it the hard way with templates. Not a die cutter in sight for this dinosaur!!
This quilt really started with the backing fabric which is a lightweight curtain which my gorgeous friend Di charmed from some charity shop. Being rather taken by the vintage feel of it but the freshness and softness of the colours, I knew immediately that one day it would be the perfect backing for an aqua and grey quilt top. So I raided my stash back then and set aside any fabrics that might work with it and over time I added a sale fq here or half metre there until the stack was big enough to stretch to a reasonable sized quilt.
When Judith advertised this class for her summer term programme, I wasn't the only one to rush to enrol. And, I am so glad I did! I love the calmness of the colours in this quilt, the soft dove greys and the splashes of clear water aquas. It's definitely a summer quilt, so I used some very low loft cotton wadding from Quilter's Dream and added a few echo quilting lines inside and outside each butterfly.
This gloriously over-exposed shot shows off the quilting beautifully. It reminds me of simple celtic knots almost when you see it from a distance or from the back.
I'm calling this quilt "Flutters of Friendship" because it will always remind me of the other friends who've had a little share in its bringing into being - Judith for her class tuition, Leanne for her original design and brilliant curves piecing video tutorial and Di for her generosity and thoughtfulness in gifting the inspirational backing fabric. Thank you, lovely ladies!
In my attempts to ensure that this quilt did not add to the WIPs list that I have so diligently been trying to diminish since the beginning of the year, I actually managed to finish up a few weeks before the end of the class session. But never fear! Trusty WIP/UFO list to the rescue -
these 49 churn dash blocks have been laid out and are being packed for a piece-a-thon at tomorrow night's class!
Sarah the echo quilting is great. Love the colours you used
ReplyDeleteIt's such a beautiful quilt Sarah! Love all the churn dates too :)
ReplyDeleteFabulous! It's a stunner :)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant photos! Flutters of friendship is beautiful and aptly named. Can't wait to see your churns tomorrow! Jxo
ReplyDeletethe butterfly quilt is lovely, popped over to Leanne`s blog hoping to find the instructions but no luck so will email her.and your churn dash looks pretty special too, the way you have reversed the white on the blocks works so very well
ReplyDeleteYou already know I love this quilt but thought I would just tell you again. It really does remind me of a quilt that has been loved for a long time already. It looks soft, and cuddly, and perfect.
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt and I love it was inspired by the back. The churn dash one looks superb too.
ReplyDeleteOooh, lovely :o)
ReplyDeleteWow you make such pretty quilts! I love the aqua grey curves quilts. I haven't tried curves yet. Too scared! The B&C churn dashes look so pretty too.
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