The Butterfly Quilt and a Table Runner

I recently finished a quilt for a little girl who has some debilitating health issues. It is a version of Edyta Sitar's butterfly quilt, which I have wanted to make for some time. 


Given the circumstances of the child receiving the quilt I thought this would be a great opportunity to give it a try--it is so fresh and pretty. I have Edyta's book, Handfuls of Scraps, and in that book is a miniature version of her butterfly quilt. I adjusted the size to make a bigger block so that I could make this little girl a twin size quilt. Before making the full size quilt, I practiced with a little table runner that I gifted to my sister.




Edyta Sitar uses machine applique on her projects, but I really prefer hand applique, so that's how I got the butterflies onto the quilt. I started out with a layer cake from Tula Pink for the butterfly wings, but I found that I started to get bored with those prints and decided to use some scraps to round out the group, which I like much better. I have also seen versions of Edyta's quilt with stems and pieced nine-patch flowers in the sashing. They are so pretty I added some to mine. 





 I intended to quilt this on my machine, and so when I made my sister the runner, I practiced some ideas for the quilt. When it came to the quilt though, I felt compelled to hand quilt it. I think it makes such a big difference in the overall texture of a quilt when it is hand stitched. I had some trouble also deciding how to bind it. I went with a spring green. I hope it brings out the green in the stems and leaves and complements the butterflies and flowers. I really like this quilt. It's such a simple concept but it's so pretty. I haven't seen an example of this quilt that I don't love. I hope that it brings comfort to its new owner.







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