Friday, March 25, 2011

Butterfly Quilt

Years ago I saw this quilt and I was smitten. I hoped so very much that my mother-in-law would gift it to me.....     


The pattern she used was from a quilting book, but she had copied it onto a brown paper grocery bag.  


There were 2 different butterfly patterns, but both were hand-pieced together and then machine appliqued to the blocks using a zig-zag stitch. She embroidered the antennae and legs then used fabric paint for the flowers. She added an interesting border around each, hand quilted the quilt sandwich and then sewed the blocks all together.


What was there not to love about this quilt, it was colorful and when she gave it to me, it was mine! I loved it then and I still do.  










I do believe the hand quilting was done on each block before she joined all the blocks together. She had these special frames she had ordered that allowed her to do that.


 This quilt would be pretty for a little girl's room, done up with bright and cheerful colors.  




 I believe there was a smaller version that could be used as a baby quilt. What fun to do a nursery in butterflies and have a quilt to match. I can see a butterfly mobile hanging over the crib now.  


Bright yellows, oranges, pinks or lovely pastels, polka dots, maybe dotted Swiss or gingham and calico. 



Her hand quilting was flawless, each tiny stitch was so perfect.  



 My quilt is a bit faded now from many washings. It is still lovely on the bed or out on the clothesline. My mother-in-law told me once that sometimes quilts were stolen right off of the line. I discovered a few years back there is a site devoted to stolen quilts. If I remember right some quilts were actually stolen from county fairs. (I surely need to research all this again because I don't want to post anything which is false). The site had quilt descriptions and information. It just goes to show you that nothing is safe if someone wants to steal it. When you think of all the money, time, work and love that went into a quilt, you realize that it can often be priceless. So friends, just remember if you hang that lovely quilt of yours out on the clothes line, guard it, you wouldn't want to come out to find it gone. I hope you have enjoyed this posting as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you. XOXOXOX

5 comments:

  1. Cute quilt and how special that your MIL gifted it to you-enjoy:@)

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  2. I, like you, am in love with this quilt. I love the whimsical feel of it, and butterflies have always held a special place in my heart. Thank you so much for sharing this treasure with all of us. What a beautiful piece!

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  3. What a beautiful quilt. I love the idea of using butterflies in a nursery room. Thanks for the heads-up about being careful with our quilts when hanging them out to dry after laundering.

    Have a lovely weekend!
    Julia

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  4. You can find Lost Quilt Come Home on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LostQuilt or online http://lostquilt.com/ I have a quilt on there that was lost in 2006.

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  5. You can find Lost Quilt Come Home online at http://lostquilt.com/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LostQuilt. I have a baby quilt on there that was lost in 2006.

    ReplyDelete

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