Butterflies, Butterflies

My army girlfriend in Texas is a new grandmom. She has a beautiful little granddaughter who is simply, well, beautiful. And I don't usually say that about babies in general. You can say what you want, but truthfully, they aren't really that cute. However, this little girl is the exception; she truly is a cutie pie!

When Pat saw my latest Instant Bargello quilt on Facebook, she decided she needed me to make a quilted wallhanging for Paisley's room. I suggested a bunny, she suggest butterflies. The research was on.

I knew somewhere in all my magazines I remembered seeing a pattern for butterflies. The problem is, I have 10 years worth of magazines, and I currently subscribe to about 3 or so. Multiply that out and you have many, many magazines with which to search through for that "just right" quilt. 45 minutes later, Jim and I found it!

The challange: Paisley's room is done in pink, green, and grey. She has a white bedroom set so that gives me a little more leeway, but butterflies are supposed to be colorful, aren't they? I felt like Winnie the Pooh when he taps is noggin and mutters, "Think, think, think." How can I make this work? I love a challenge and set right in pulling and purchasing fabrics on Sunday and Monday.

Monday night everything was cut, and all the butterflies (11 of them) were assembled and put on the fabric wall. There was one butterfly that just wasn't flying right so he had to go and so 12 were actually made.

Tuesday was spent, ALL DAY embroidering antenna and flower stems. I mean nearly 8 hours of nothing but hand sewing. Considering I pretty much suck at needlework, that's a record for me at any race.

The quilt is a special quilt for a special family. This family opens their arms to us whenever we get together (which isn't that often, unfortunately). I love the fact that the extra two days I'm putting into it will be appreciated, but even more, loved!