Butterfly Parts

I've been making wings and bodies for butterflies.

I don't do much applique.  I prefer piecing.  But sometimes a quilt just needs some applique.  I kept telling myself throughout the whole process ... "It's only four", "It's only four" ...

The butterflies are to go with the Dresden Plates which are now Dresden Fans.  I didn't want to cut them, but now they lay flat.

I arranged the fans every which way and I liked this configuration the best.  I had four empty squares to fill.  I looked through quilt pattern books and books of 30's quilts to find something suitable.  Nothing pieced looked right.  When I saw a quilt with appliqued butterflies I knew I had the solution.

I created the appliques using the starch and press method and machine sewed them down with a straight stitch.  I'm going to hand buttonhole over the top of that in black.  That's why I bought a whole spool of perle cotton a few weekends ago.

I have a feeling this part of the project will take months.  But, it's going to look so good when it's done.  I hate it when the project tells me what to do.  Especially when it's something I don't really want to do.  But, when it's right, I can't argue.