Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Show Your Wings Blog Hop

When Carol of Just Let Me Quilt announced her Show Your Wings Blog Hop I was really excited.  My mind went immediately to butterflies.  My dad counts butterflies for the county parks each summer and we share a love of these beautiful creatures.


What fabric to pick?  Of course I dug into my stash of Island Batiks.  I'm an ambassador for the company and I just love to work with their fabrics.  Isn't this batik perfect for a butterfly wing?




I designed a swallowtail butterfly because I really like the way their tails hang down.


Here he is all stitched.  I had great fun using my decorative stitches to add antennae.  It's the first time I've done anything like this, but it won't be the last!



I decided my runner needed two butterflies.  For the quilting I marked some dots of various sizes all over the piece.  I also marked an outline for where I wanted to do a curvy binding.  I then filled the area with swirls going around each circle as I came to it.  I like how you can see the circles in the quilting as the negative space stand out.

I used Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting because I like the way it drapes even though I quilt things to death!  The quilting is done in Aurifil 50 weight.



The back is really fun too.


Once I was done I decided the dots needed to stand out more.  So I used my Fabrico markers to color them light green.  I think it's super fun!  You can also see I did a curvy 1/8 inch binding.  

This binding has a STORY.  You see, the purple fabric was a five inch wide strip.  I had to cut many very small bias pieces, sew them all together, and then I had enough to go all the way around the edge of the runner.  The things I get myself into.  Fortunately it worked well and turned out great.


However, I did not realize that the end of my runner was going to curl.  So I had to do something about it.  I got out the steam iron and pressed like crazy.  


It worked like a charm and I now have a perfectly flat runner!


Check out all the amazing bloggers who will be participating:

February 18

February 19

February 20

February 21

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

41 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning. My favourite so far in the blog hop. Love everything about it. The quilting is amazing 😍

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  2. Just beautiful work you do. Love that it has a curved finish that flows with the butterflies.

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  3. Your runner is gorgeous! Every decision you made along the way was perfect, resulting in a unique and really beautiful piece.

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  4. I’m not into butterflies but omg, your runner is stunning!

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  5. Totally awesome runner and free motion work.

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  6. These butterflies are a real delight and the quilting is wonderful. Thanks for showing it.

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  7. What a beautiful piece. Your work is over the top. The quilting really makes your stunning butterflies pop. Love the background on construction.

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  8. What a great table runner. Your stitching is meticulous and the quilting... wow! Oh, and the green circles was a great call! Thanks for sharing. MelvaLovesScraps(at)NolanQualityCustoms(dot)com

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  9. Very cool! I love the neat butterflies! Enjoy your day! :-) :-) angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  10. Lovely butterflies. Very nice project

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  11. This is gorgeous! I love the shape you made the runner. It's so nontraditional and really makes a statement. And those butterflies...wow! They are beautiful. Thank you so much for hopping with us and sharing your incredible wings project!

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  12. Wow this is gorgeous. So very creative. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
    quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

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  13. WOW Suzy! Your project is so gorgeous! I love the butterflies and the quilting and the shape. Oh my --it is just breathtaking. Thank you for sharing today.

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  14. Wow! What a stunning quilt! Love the applique and the quilting and love the curvy shape.

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  15. Hi Suzy! What a gorgeous butterfly. I love how you quilted them, and coloring in those dots with green was just genius. Beautiful, beautiful table runner. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  16. WOW! I love your quilting and butterfly is wonderful and such a fun and different shape to your runner too. You do gorgeous work.

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  17. That is amazing. I love how the quilt itself mimics the shape of the butterfly wings.

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  18. Such amazing details on your fabulous Butterfly Table Runner. That binding blows me away! ThisT was a perfect project for the Show Your Wings Blog Hop.

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  19. That's absolutely gorgeous Suzy. As always your quilting is just stunning. LOVE IT!!!!

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  20. Lovely butterflies! Thanks for sharing in the hop ... :) Pat

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  21. Very beautiful. It looks complicated.

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  22. SO cute! I really like that you didn't make it a rectangle!

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  23. Thank You for Hopping and sharing your Wings.

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  24. I love so many things about this piece. Your quilting is amazing and I like your idea to color the dots after quilting. Very pretty!

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  25. Certainly are beautiful project and even so with batiks.

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  26. That binding is insane, in a really good way! Bias strip from a 5" strip, though? Crazy! Your Island Batiks are perfect for butterflies. You have reminded me I need to do something with that small set of fabrico markers I have been hoarding. Loved your project today.

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  27. Love the things you get yourself into!! that turned out so great! And what fun to be a butterfly counter - I bet that is fascinating!

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  28. This is a favorite of mine, Suzy! So pretty (and I'm not usually big on butterflies)! How in the world does one count butterflies? Haha. I assume it's like counting birds, which I learned through my daughter the birder girl. Cool that he does that for the park each year!

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  29. Your quilting really makes these lovely butterflies pop!

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  30. Quite the lovely runner - your butterflies are beautiful!

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  31. You're runner is gorgeous, and the quilting is fantastic!

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  32. Your quilt ideas cause me to drop my jaw. This is beautiful. I now know another way to use my Fabrico markers. I have done that piecing with bias binding. Thanks for sharing this.

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  33. Very cute Suzy, a very unique shape for a runner. It does remind me of old linen type dresser scarves that had crochet lace on the edges.

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  34. Wow your runner is gorgeous. The design is awesome and the unique shape and quilting just amazing.

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  35. WoW, WoW, WoW, Suzy... normally I do not like butterflies but yours are simply gorgeous. I love this pattern and the quilting is breathtaking. I love the shape of the runner... All I can say is.. if you ever decide you don't want this anymore... write me :) I do :)

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