Frolic’n Butterflies Quilt

Finished Size: 38 1/2″ x 46 1/2″

Hello and Happy Spring. I’m Julie Geiger, owner of Prairie Point Junction Quilt Shop in Cozad, Nebraska. I’ve been dreaming of a little butterfly quilt for awhile now. When I saw the Frolic line of fabrics – I knew the time had come to hit the drawing board.

I had a great team of gals from the shop that helped me get this project up and fly’n this time. Give a big shout out to Jolene, Connie and Terri for their help in cutting and piecing – and to Janet for super-quick machine quilting and a great backyard for photography.

Now flutter on over to our shop at http://www.prairiepointjunction.com/ to see what else we’ve been up to and to snag some Frolic fabrics for your own collection. Check out our blog at http://www.woolfeltcentral.blogspot.com/ for a little give-away for some Frolic love too.

1 Frolic Charm Pack for Butterfly Wings (Need 32 five inch squares)

3/8 yard Bella Solids Ivory for Background
5/8 yard Frolic Sky Solids for Alternate Blocks
1/4 yard Frolic Bark Solids for Butterfly Body
1/4 yard Frolic Grass Solids for Inner Border
5/8 yard Frolic Large Floral for Outer Border
1/2 yard Frolic Bark Solids for Binding
1 1/2 yards of your favorite print for Backing
The Angler Tool from Pam Bono is helpful, but not required.

*WOF in the instructions below stands for Width of Fabric, or approximately 42″.

*All seam allowances are 1/4″
Cutting:
Ivory for Background: Cut (10) strips 1″ x WOF. Sub-cut into (384) 1″ squares.
Blue for Alternate Blocks: Cut (4) strips 4 1/2″ x WOF. Sub-cut into (31) 4 1/2″ squares.
Brown for Body: Cut (5) strips 1″ x WOF. Sub-cut into (32) 1″ x 4 1/2″ rectangles
Green for Inner Border: Cut (4) strips 1 1/2″ x WOF.
Large print for Outer Border: Cut (4) strips 4 1/2″ x WOF.
Brown for Binding: Cut (5) strips 2 1/2″ x WOF.

Choose 32 of the five inch charm squares to use for butterfly wings. I choose the prints with the most color so that they would show up best against the ivory bella background. Save the remaining squares for other projects.

In the examples below, I’m just cutting through one charm square to best illustrate the steps – but feel free to cut through as many layers are you are comfortable. I usually cut through 4 layers at a time.

Cut each charm square into (2) rectangles 2 1/4″ x 5″ each. You will have a small scrap left over.

Cut each of the rectangles into (1) 2 1/4″ x 2 3/4″ rectangle and (1) 2 1/4″ x 2 1/4″ square.

The trickiest part of this quilt is being sure to pay careful attention to the orientation of the wing sections while you are sewing. The wings will be mirror images of each other. Position an ivory 1″ square on the corners of the 4 wing sections as shown in the photo below.

Tape the Angler tool by Pam Bono to your sewing machine following the instructions in the package. This tool is the handiest little invention for sewing corners squares ever! You simply tape the guide to your sewing machine, then you can align the point of the corner square with the line on the guide. Sew diagonally across the ivory square, using the center line on the guide for placement.

*If you don’t have The Angler, you can draw a diagonal line across the back of the ivory squares. Stitch on the drawn lines.

Continue stitching the corner squares. To save time, I like to chain all my pieces together. The chain makes it easy to pick up all the pieces and head to my cutting and ironing board too.

Repeat the process on the remaining two corners of the butterfly wings, being very careful that you are sewing the ivory corners squares to the correct side of the wing.

Double-check to be sure the ivory squares are sewn to the correct corners, then trim each seam allowance to 1/4″.

Press the seam allowances towards the butterfly wing fabric, EXCEPT for the seams on the middle side of the small wings. By pressing these seams toward the background fabric, the seams for the two wing sections will neatly “nest” together when joining those sections. Just one of those little details that is worth the effort for a smooth finished project.

Sew the two sections together for each side of the wings.

Sew the wing sections to either side of the body section. Be careful to try to match up the position of the horizontal seam between the wings.

Press seams towards the body. Now is a good time to give your butterflies a little mist of Mary Ellen’s Best Press or magic sizing. This will help your butterflies lay nice and flat when you join your blocks together.

Repeat to make 32 butterflies. The block should measure 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ at this point. Square up blocks as necessary.

Arrange butterfly blocks and the blue alternate blocks in 9 rows of 7 blocks each.

Sew the blocks into rows. Press seams towards the alternate blocks.

Join the rows together. The quilt center should now measure 28 1/2″ x 36 1/2″.

Be sure to measure your quilt before cutting borders to size. Due to individual differences in sewing, your quilt may measure slightly different – cut borders to fit your measurements.Cut two inner border pieces to 36 1/2″ long. Sew to sides of quilt. Press towards borders.

Cut two inner border pieces to 30 1/2″ long. Sew to top and bottom of quilt. Press towards borders.

Cut two outer border lenghts to 38 1/2″. Sew to sides of quilt. Press towards outer border.

Cut two outer border lengths to 38 1/2″. Sew to top and bottom of quilt. Press towards outer border.

Quilt as desired. Our machine quilter outlined the body and wings, then made a flower chain on the alternate blocks.

To bind, join the 5 brown strips end to end diagonally. Fold strip in half lengthwise. Press. Aling raw edges of strip with raw edge of quilt. Sew to quilt, mitering corners. Bring folded edge to back of quilt. Tack in place.

1 Small Quilt: 38 1/2″ x 46 1/2″

Perfect for a baby or toddler quilt, or a nice size to decorate a wall.

Thanks for sewing with us. Enjoy this sweet little Frolic’N quilt. Check out our website or blog for kits and other fun projects.
Julie Geiger
Prairie Point Junction