Thursday, September 1, 2016

A Finish & Kaleidoscope of Butterflies Link Up 09/2016


Masses of butterflies are called kaleidoscopes. Cathy and I recognized in this word a wonderful conjunction of quilting and butterfly habitat preservation. Many species live in limited areas while others, like monarch butterflies, feed on limited diets. Monarch larvae feed solely on milkweed. Eradication of this weed/native plant severely impacts their reproduction which is seen in the decline of their population. On this linkup we share kaleidoscope and butter quilts and fabrics, information of butterfly releases as well as habitat restoration projects. What have you seen lately?

I just bound my latest kaleidoscope. After sharing at my guild meeting, it's off to a new home.

Searching past posts, June was the last time I wrote about the quilt. In fact, I quit working on any quilting in May. But with the quilting started, it called to finally be finished.

Multicolored fabrics create this scrap kaleidoscope variation.
Kaleidoscope quilt

Here's where the quilting left off. I was organically stitching {semi}straight lines with the walking foot. Every third or fourth, I deliberately made a curvy line. It's actually easy to straight line quilt on this design. Just aim for the next point of the grid and the lines will be straight{ish}.

My first {and second and third} ideas were to emphasize the template pieces. Why didn't I do that? The printed fabrics are already full of design, I didn't want to over-quilt it, and gifts for young men should hold up to heavy use.

Changing the corner triangles on this kaleidoscope block creates a tulip effect.
Detail of grid quilting on Kaleidoscope quilt

I feared the quilting design would overpower or detract from the quilt pattern but that didn't happen. Perhaps because I used peach thread. Lately I've been finding that quilting with a medium-color thread (halfway between the lightest and darkest fabrics) works well for scrap quilts.

Back of Kaleidoscope quilt showing
leftover strips inserted into center

The back started with three fabrics: two one-yard cuts and and a quarter yard. After sewing them I cut them lengthwise about a third of the way across. Then I sewed strips of the leftover pieces from the front to widen the back sufficiently.

Quilt Details
Size: 84" x 84"
Pattern: Kaleidoscope
Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton
Thread: Gutermann peach cotton 
Quilting: Organic grid with walking foot

Previous posts:
  1. Starting the top.
  2. Top finished.
  3. Designing the back.
  4. Quilting kaleidoscope.
Recent butterfly quilts on the web:
  1. Caryl Fallert's Lepidopteran #3
  2. Jessica who blogs at My Inner Need to Create explains how she appliqued a darling butterfly on her daughter's skirt.
I found this collection of butterflies while touring Yosemite last month.

Yosemite Region Butterflies

And this daring beauty flitted ahead of me last week.


Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

29 comments:

Kaja said...

This worked out beautifully! Like much of your other work, I could spend ages looking at it, taking in all the different fabrics and colour combinations. We have seen hardly any butterflies this summer - too much rain right through the spring apparently.

Lara B. said...

Let me take a moment to wipe the drool off my keyboard....
This is another stunning beauty Ann! I love looking at all the details. The back is really great too. Thank you for the advice about using thread in a medium value to quilt a scrappy quilt!

It's very sad about the loss of butterfly habitat. We all could help by planting more butterfly plants wherever possible. There were definitely less butterflies around here than usual this summer.

Monica said...

This has come out really well, Ann! I love the quilting, the back, and of course all the movement and life on the front. Someone will be very lucky!

Nifty Quilts said...

Wow! Your kaleidoscope quilt is wonderful! All those scraps give it lots of interest. You have a very skilled eye to put all that together and come out with cohesion. You really know how to see the value of your fabrics. Your quilting looks great too. Yea!

Barb said...

great quilt! I love studying the lights and dark and the emerging patterns.

audrey said...

Beautiful quilt. I just love all the color with the great design! Your stitching is a wonderful compliment to it!

Ann said...

How kind of you, Kaja. I do enjoy mixing lots of fabrics together.
We have seen butterflies all summer but not many monarchs. The hummingbirds have been hanging out at the feeder, too. But no rain.

Ann said...

You are so funny, Lara. I'm glad you like this quilt; I do, too. I will miss it when it goes to a friend of my youngest. At least I know he appreciates quilts! Yea! We need to bring these younger ones up properly ;-)
I had some milkweed but it died this year. I was gone so long most of my plants died. Looking forward to new plants next year.

Ann said...

Thanks, Monica. It's good to use up the leftovers on the back. Nothing for the scrap bag. Yea!
It's going to a friend of my youngest for a belated graduation present. I hope to see it when I visit.

Ann said...

So many compliments. I'm delighted you like this quilt, too.

Ann said...

Thanks, Barb. I enjoyed making circles come and go.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

My goodness, such an amazing finish and lots to look at! You have a real gift, this looks so cohesive & flows beautifully!

Marie said...

Such a beautiful quilt - it's wonderful to let your eye travel through it and discover all of the colours and colour combinations.

Ann said...

Thanks, Audrey. This has been a delightful quilt to work out. It's in the mail to a friend of my youngest. I hope he enjoys it as much as I have.

Amanda said...

This looks amazing! I love how you can see circles within the different values.

Ann said...

How kind of you, Linda. This was such a lively quilt that part of me was sorry to see it go. Just got word it's arrived at its new home in Louisiana. Several fabrics and the color scheme were chosen with him in mind. I hope to visit it occasionally. :-)

Ann said...

Thank you for writing, Marie. In one of my previous posts I wrote about using three fabrics to choose all the others. I'm glad you can see the colors blending and combining - it means that was successful.

Ann said...

Thanks, Amanda. One of the joys of kaleidoscope is creating circles; sometimes overlapping ones. I hope you make one someday, too.

Ariane said...

Such a beautiful quilt!! I love the movement the pattern makes. Love it.

Ann said...

Thanks for writing, Ariane. Careful value placement gives kaleidoscopes these overlapping circles. It's fun to make them come and go.

Stacey K said...

I just found your site! I did a butterfly quilt I could have added to your online collection!
http://thefarmhouseinthefield.blogspot.com/2016/02/winter-butterflies-in-shades-of-frost.html

Ann said...

I'm glad you found us, Stacey. Your quilt is charming. Be sure to add it next month!

Nicky said...

Beautiful quilt and great tip about going for a mid tone to quilt a scrap quilt. Thanks for linking up to #scraptastictuesday.

Dawn said...

I gasped when I saw the first picture. Beautiful!

Ann said...

Thanks for writing, Dawn. How nice to know you like it, too. This is a traditional block; value placement makes the circles appear.

Ann said...

Thanks for hosting ScraptasticTuesday. It's always fun to see what people are doing.

Jenny - the lilac cat said...

What as stunning quilt, one that draws the eye. I can't imagine the hours that went into it. And your post was educational. I didn't know collection noun for butterflies before!

Ann said...

Thanks for writing, Jenny. It was fun to make although I did lay it out first.
Collective nouns are a joy of language. My children always enjoyed Heller's Cache of Jewels.

Mel said...

This quilt has so much interest and movement. My eyes just keep dancing all around to all the different colors, textures and prints! It is wonderful!!