Veronica Greenslade from the Lewes Sewing Bees has made this stunning Butterflies & Buds Liberty Quilt using the new Alice Caroline Exclusive ‘Butterfly Garden Collection’. This gorgeous quilt showcases the ‘Butterfly Garden’ (reminiscent of an English Garden) perfectly with appliquéd butterflies coming out of a beautiful vase of flowers.
I asked Veronica about the quilt:
We love your ‘Bud and Butterflies Quilt’ – how did you come up with the design?
“Once I knew these Exclusives were called the Butterfly Garden Collection and a butterfly was going to feature on the Betsy print I knew butterflies and flowers were going to be on my dominant central panel. I have a large Emma Bridgewater two handled pot which I love and my son accurately made a template for me. I wanted the flowers and butterflies to be rising up and out of the pot. On seeing Anna’s Garden I knew I wanted to make use of all the flowers and applique them in and around the pot. Cutting up that beautiful fabric was a brave move but I think its so effective arranged and appliqued with free motion machining.”
“The butterflies were made from card templates I drew and I used a soft iron on bondaweb before machine appliquing them with a small blanket stitch in different variegated threads. The butterflies would be lovely needleturned too but I wanted a little more definition which machining gives.”
“I decided on the pieced squares and triangles on point border to showcase as many of the fabrics in the collection as I had. I was also fortunate to have a large piece of the yellow strawberry thief for the back of the quilt but knew I had to use it in the borders too. It’s just too beautiful a colour and seemed perfect for a little fussy cutting.”
“I shadow hand quilted around the butterflies, the pot and flower arrangement and the garland. I love the effect hand quilting has at lifting and puffing up a quilt. I machine quilted the borders but will add more hand quilting given more time.”
Which is your favourite fabric from the new Exclusives Collection?
“Choosing a favourite fabric from the new Exclusives Collection is almost impossible. On using them I fell in love with different ones all the time and was struck at the beautiful tones of the background colours. If I had to choose it would be the Wiltshire Blossom with the pretty pinks … or maybe the Felicite Teal!”
How did you decide which fabrics would be placed where?
“The collection is so perfectly balanced that any of the fabrics can be placed alongside each other, always complementing and enriching each other. I wanted a strong centre so I chose the Felicite teal for my pot and everything really evolved from there. I wanted the butterflies to be delicate and pretty and all the fabrics worked perfectly together.”
Do you love your finished quilt and where do you plan to put it?
“I absolutely love my ‘Butterflies & Buds’ quilt and would love to hang it if possible. I will definitely add some hand quilting to the pieced border to lift the squares and triangles.”
Do you have any quilting tips for beginners?
“My quilting tips to any beginners would be to always try and enjoy the process. We live in a world that rushes around trying to complete things in record time but patchwork and quilting should be savoured and taken time over. Choosing fabrics and prints is a lovely thing to do and if you choose what you love, you will undoubtedly adore the finished project. Happy stitching!”
