I’ve written before about my grandma and how she was a longtime quilter but, now that she’s in her 90s, unfortunately her eyes don’t allow her to quilt any more. She still does a little bit of embroidery, but quilting for her is done and instead she’s happy to know that I like to quilt.
The good news is that before her eyesight became too poor to quilt, she finished a handful of quilt tops that have been stored away in a box in my parents’ house. I finished one of those quilt tops back in 2013 (you can read about it here), and when I was home visiting my parents over the holidays I pulled out another one of the quilt tops to work on this year. This one is appliqued butterflies.
I don’t have a full picture of the quilt because this one is large and in charge. It measures approximately 78” x 86”. Whoa! I will have to clear some major floor space just to get this one basted.
My grandma liked to do a lot of applique but I’ve never made an applique quilt myself. I have a couple of ideas for some modern applique designs I would like to try, but for now they’re just that…ideas. I have too many other quilts I want to make that aren’t applique and they are my priority, so instead I’ll just finish this applique quilt my grandma made.
As someone who doesn’t applique, I’m a bit stumped right now on how to quilt this one. There’s quite a bit of white space on the quilt that needs to be taken into consideration, but also what to do with those butterflies? I think I’ll be doing a bit of research before I start in on quilting it.
Any applique quilters out there that want to weigh in on quilting it? I’m taking suggestions!
Love these butterflies! As for quilting it…maybe do swirls in the white background and stitch around the butterflies to make them pop. Or, you can never go wrong with a stipple all over for some awesome texture!
Thanks for the suggestions @Sarah! I do love a lot of texture on a quilt!
Wow! Do you know how lucky you are to have such a treasure trove from your Grandmother!? The butterfly quilt is gorgeous!!
Thanks Bonita! It is pretty special. Now I just have to finish it!
Very neat butterfly quilt. I envy you your stash of Grandma’s quilttops! If you still have not started to quilt it, I would suggest something kind of loose and flowing around like a breeze blowing around and through the quilt. See what others have done and labeled as “wind” or “breezes.”