September Across The Pond - Butterflies!

I've been noticing a new trend

in fabric lines and crafts...

BUTTERFLIES!

Have you seen 'em?

They're featured in so many places

that quilters and sewists love to visit.

One place I love to visit is Susie's Sunroom,

and Susie has chosen a sweet butterfly project

for this month's Across The Pond Sew Along theme...

Origami Butterflies!

{You'll find the free instructions for the one below at Michelle Patterns.}

Look what Susie did...

her butterfly has landed on a pretty quilted basket!

{Stop by her blog to see another one that has metamorphosized into a bookmark!}

Not to be outdone,

Amanda The Patchsmith

has created her own stunning butterflies.

Inspired by these pretty, flighty, fluttery friends...
and by that, of course, I mean the butterflies...
I made my own version.

{So easy and quick...I made mine in 20 minutes, at 11 pm!}

Of course, I chose my favorite colors,
turquoise and lime.

I used some Color Me Retro fabric for the small print,
and paired with lime gingham from Darla by Tanya Whelan.

I stole the idea from was inspired by Amanda
to use some pretty ribbon
for a delicate pair of antennae.
That's my favorite detail on this sweet little project.

I'm not kidding when I say that you and a little child
in your life could make these
as a fun art project.
There is minimal stitching, very easy to do,
and the adult in the room could handle the ironing.
Children love origami!

If you are looking for more butterfly inspiration,

check out my Pinterest board,

as well as the links listed below.

Pictured here is Wingspan, one of the fabrics from

a new Bonnie Christine line

for Art Gallery, called Winged.

Next, from Frivolous Necessity, is a quilt that's been on my 

absolutely-must-make-that-someday list, 

from the moment I first saw it.

When I was a little girl, 

my dad made a real butterfly specimen collection

for a college course,

and it reminds me of that one.

Of course, butterflies have been

starring in quilt shows for years and years.

Here's a vintage quilt block,

pieced into a beautiful example.

Some fabric butterflies can be no-sew,

as shown in this clever tutorial

by Andy of A Bright Corner.

That should get you started thinking

about butterflies.

If you've got the chance to create

butterfly projects of your own this month,

please feel free to share them

in our Across The Pond Flickr group!

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Winter Dresden Plate Quilt

Spring has sprung,

 but I still have some Winter designs in my quilting thoughts.

I joined the fun with the Bunny Hill Scrappy Plates Club, 

starting in January.

This is my first time sewing along with a project like this, 

and I'm having great time!

{If you haven't discovered Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill, you're in for a treat!}

The project makes great use of Darlene Zimmerman's EZ Dresden Ruler, which I found for a great price here.

I knew I had one already, 

but I couldn't find it until AFTER I had ordered a new one. 

 {A glimpse into my "real world"...sigh.}

But that's okay, because I also ordered another new template, 

which will be featured someday in another post.

January began with a burst of activity.  

We gathered up our "scrappy" fabrics and cut dozens of blades for the plates.  I chose to use my layer cake of Winter by Minick and Simpson from Moda.

I sliced and sorted my blades...each plate needs 20 blades, 

and there are 12 plates in the quilt.  

I made some extras, because I want to make a couple of pillows, too!

{I even had a wee bit of extra layer cake fabric left, 

so this is a great choice of precut to use for this project.}

Here are chains of blades, stitched at the ends.

They were all pressed into the pointed wedge shape...

Here they are, stacked on my winter cake pedestal.  

Yummy, huh?

But we weren't finished yet!  The blades were stitched together in groups of 20, and pressed into beautiful "plates."

Now they really looked good enough to eat!

For February, the plates were appliqued onto the background squares.  Hmmm...since Winter is now out of print and hard to find, I chose a red gingham from Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree Quilts from Moda.

I ran short and needed to buy a bit more, just for that last block.

{AFTER that, I found one more yard of the gingham in my stash.  A theme emerges...}

But that's okay...I have so many big plans for that red gingham!

I straight-stitched my plates to the background...

Then I used HeatNBond to fuse my center circles in place.  

I used my machine to blanket-stitch the centers.

  

{My favorite stitch!}

  

Ready for the next step...uh-oh!  Today is March 31st, and I have not done the March step.  And I have to be at work by 2:30 p.m. today.

 Not to worry...

the Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club gals are very sweet, 

and they won't mind if I catch up later!

In fact, why don't you join us now, if you haven't already?

Catch some more inspiration at our Flickr group!

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