The Birds and the Butterflies

So, I finaaaallllyyy finished my Birds and Butterflies quilt. It was, as I mentioned previously, inspired by Red Pepper Quilts Butterfly Quilt.

Look, no clips! Thank goodness there was no wind!

First I drafted my own butterfly block and paper pieced them using my freezer paper piecing method. The butterflies are all pieced in Lecien's Flower Sugar 2013 collection. I saw it, fell in love with it, and knew immediately that I was going to use it to make this quilt. The bodies are all text prints.

Love these fabrics.

I decided to border the quilt with some improv birds. I made it so at the head and foot of the quilt the birds face the same way, so it doesn't really matter which way it's oriented. They switch direction half-way down each long side. The birds were made with scraps of Butter Sugar, and some coordinating Kaffe Fasset shot cottons. They were all pieced onto a Michael Miller dot.

Birdies. Each one is different - either because of fabric or leg movement. 

Once I finished the top, I saw what a beast it was. 108" by 90". HUGE. I started quilting it in my small Brooklyn apartment, on my old kenmore machine, and I just wasn't feeling it. The quilt kept bashing into the wall and the stitches were all uneven. So, I put it away.

The beast. 

Over a year later, in another state, and with a new machine, I finally took the quilt out again. I wanted to do more than straight lines, but my current motto is 'get 'er done', so I just kept the quilting simple. Horizontal lines through the butterflies, and straight lines through the border, effectively bordering the whole quilt.

On the edge of insanity. Check out those borders!

The quilt is backed in some of my most favorite fabric ever. I fell in love with Anna Marie Horner's Hand Drawn Garden fabric in Social Climber. I started stockpiling it, but in small bursts. A yard here, a yard there. I loved the teal, but bought the gold too, when I found it on sale. I clearly didn't know at the time, but these fabrics were destined for the back of this quilt. Paired with some Joel Dewberry True Colors woodgrain fabric, and the back is just as nice as the front.

The back! Or as I like to call it, the second front. 

The quilt is bound in some more Joel Dewberry True Colors woodgrain. It took me three nights to hand sew the binding down. Hundreds of inches! I was so pleased with this finish. I immediately took it on a photoshoot so I could put it on my bed! I love it and am so glad I finally finished it and am using it! I love so many of the fabrics, and the modern traditionalism of the layout and fabrics. I also thought it would end my fights with the dogs over the covers, but alas, his perchance for sleeping in the middle of the bed makes it impossible to get an even share!

No alligators were hurt in the taking of these pictures. 

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.