The Top of the Butterfly Quilt Is Complete

Tonight, I finished the top of the butterfly quilt:

I already purchased and pre-washed a cream-colored backing fabric, so tomorrow, it will be time to sandwich the quilt so that I can start quilting it.

Progress on the Butterfly Quilt

Fortunately, I am making good progress on the butterfly quilt.  I have completed 18 of the 20 squares that I had planned to make:

Time to finish up the last two squares...

Getting Started on the Butterfly Quilt

I decided to do a modified log cabin pattern with the fabric that I purchased for the butterfly quilt.  It is basically a log cabin with a very large window.  Instead of using a small square for the center of each square, I decided to go with a 6"x 6" center square.  I fussy cut the center squares from the large print fabrics.  As luck would have it, I purchased the same print with a white background and a black background.  And, there are several great butterflies that worked for the center squares.  Next, I cut 2" strips from both the purple fabric and the white fabric.

Now, it is time to sew.  I started with the center square:

And, then cut a piece of the white fabric just a bit bigger than the width of the center square.

Then, I placed the white fabric over the top of the center square with right sides together, being very careful to line up the top lines:

I then ironed the fabric.  I tend to like to work two squares at once, so I also cut a strip of white for a second square and ironed those together as well.  Once the ironing was complete, I sewed the strips to the center squares.  Then, it was time to carefully trim the excess from the white strips:

 

This is an important step, because if you aren't careful when you trim the strips, your square won't be, well, square when you are finished with it. You have to carefully line up your ruler with the edge of the center square:

And, then, trim off the excess.

Once the excess was trimmed off, it was time to iron the seams:

Then, I turned the squares 90 degrees counter clockwise, and cut two more white strips:

I cut the strip so that it was closer to the correct width, and then repeated the process of ironing the strips to the center square, sewing the strips to the center square, trimming the excess off, and then ironing the strips:

I added two more strips, this time the lavender strips, to finish off the first round.  I continued with adding strips for two more rounds, for a total of three strips on each side.  Then, I started the process over, this time adding the lavender strips on first.

Now, I have four squares ready:

Right now, I think I'll make this one a 4x5 square quilt, but I'll see how it looks as I go along...