Tula Pink Butterfly Quilt

Wow, this was an EPIC journey!!

I have had the Tula Pink Butterfly pattern for quite a while and I have always been drawn to the impact of it, so when @gnomeangel started her sew along, I decided I was just going to do it.

But boy, I should have thought about how much effort was going to be required to do this quilt!! (and thought about all the other things I already had on my plate for the rest of the year!)

Soooooo many blocks and I have discovered that me and circles are not friends. at all. and possibly will never be friends. 🙂

Another thing I really struggled with was I didn’t have a plan for the fabric… I had some specific colours in mind (dark green, blue and I thought a spot or two of pink highlights) but each of the blocks had no cohesive plan. This did not sit well with my OCD side.

I think I *almost* got it working together… there were a few blocks that jarred  a little with me and I thought I would have to live with as I was running out of time. Sometimes I just have to repeat to myself ‘finished is better than perfect and sitting in the WIP pile!’.

And wow, when those wings start coming together it really starts to make it all worth while!

I did end up unpicking a couple of blocks (one was the large circle in to the top right!) but I was so much happier with them afterwards 🙂

And then it hit me how HUGE the quilt was and how on earth was I going to quilt it myself?!?! As of course there was no way I could get it into a long armer to get done before xmas! Doh! This forced me to get a quilting set up that works for me. A backup machine, a table that the machine sits down into and is flat and a couple of folding tables all around to help hold the weight of the quilt. Worked like a dream!

I quilted a meandering swirl all over the actual butterfly and in the grey background I did little flowers / butterflies with some swirls as well. Definintely not perfect at all, but pretty easy to do and when someone looked at the quilt and said “oh, you did little butterflies!” I was very chuffed that they could recognise them!

But getting a picture of this finished quilt was VERY difficult… it is king sized and even the ever willing @thefabrichusband had to decline – his arms just weren’t long enough! I needed two people to even get close to holding this one up. Even the old clothes line struggled under the weight.

I was finally able to gift it to my niece Tori just after Christmas and she loved it! Her share house in Fitzroy is a bit cold and damp, so hoping this will keep her wrapped in warmth this winter 🙂

Things I learned from this quilt:

1. I need to stop trying to take on too much at once
2. I really do like to have my fabric sorted out BEFORE I start a project
3. I kind of like doing FMQ… very basic FMQ admittedly, but I like doing it. Would love doing it on a long arm even more I suspect!
4. that getting something finished is just soooo rewarding and is my drug of choice (right after fabric purchasing!)
5. that really long projects are not for me, I need to have the buzz of a finished project regularly!
6. and sewing circles, especially teeny tiny circles, are NOT FUN!

But whew, I made it. Thanks for the sew along @gnomeangel – I doubt I would have stuck to it otherwise!

And this was my final quilt for 2017 and part of my fourth quarter #2017FAL  #2017FALSWL