Bees and Butterflies Quilt

 

While visiting my sister in Seattle last summer, I had to make a stop in the local Ben Franklin. We don’t have them anymore, so it was kind of fun to see it again. They had a bunch of fabric pre-cut packs marked down. 

 

So many pretty fabrics!!

 

 

I came home with a few, including this beautiful charm pack called Flutter and Buzz. I was so excited about the colors in this one, I was pumped to get to work on it right away.

 

 

I knew I had a couple solids that would pull on the subtle colors in the fabric line, I just needed to figure out a good pattern. I always feel like I really need to maximize the impact of the fabrics from a charm pack. 

 

 

I saw a type of pattern in a demo quilt at another local shop I visited while there. I decided to play with a block and see how it looked. So happy! Fun use of the colors, and each of the fabrics was showcased as both strips and squares within each block. Great way to create a scrappy look while mixing up how the charm pack was utilized.

 

 

I tried to mix up the lights and darks to make sure the yellow and teal colors had an equal number. I picked a simple layout that alternated the solids, but it felt a bit too small. 

 

 

To remedy this, I ordered some light butterfly fabric to make sashing. It gave me just enough added size to reach a nice, oversized throw. I had ordered a darker grey for the final border, but to break it up I added a thin white border. It really framed the blocks nicely. 

 

 

When picking a back, I was going to just find a nice fabric from the sale room at my LQS, but I took a quick peek online and found a piece from the flutter and buzz line that was half off! Perfect!

 

For the quilting, I decided to do a fun symmetrical quilting pattern for each block, and a simple meander for the sashing and border. It worked out wonderfully. I added my label and declared it done.

 

 

This was a fun quilt to do. It came together pretty easily, and I feel like it has a fun “wow” factor. I can’t believe I completed that many blocks with a charm pack, and what a fun way to incorporate solids. Great finish for sure!