Sunday, June 15, 2014

Butterflies and Besties...

January 2014 found me thinking of the year ahead and also thankful of the year that had just ended.  My best friend, Rita, was going to turn 60 in June of 2014.  I contemplated in January what to make special for her.  A quilt!  What kind, I asked.  Why something from a Tula Pink Collection, of course.

The Butterfly quilt.  How appropriate.  Appropriate because there have been many times that Rita and I have lifted each other up over the past 32 years of friendship.  Many many many times.  I ordered the kit and contacted my longarm quilter, Michelle of Heart and Soul  quilts, gave her the dimensions, etc. and it was decided I needed to have it finished and mailed to her by April 15.  Seemed doable.

Kit comes in from Tula Pink, with fabrics and approx a booklet of instructions.  I can be easily overwhelmed - like looking at a booklet with so many directions and blocks.  But I took it one page at a time and it was so easy.  Her instructions were in great detail.  My only complaint would be the specific fabrics used in the Sample quilt were not identified in the booklet.  They were just light, dark, etc. So I printed a copy of a picture of the Butterfly quilt and marked it myself.  I wanted it exactly as the Sample from Tula Pink.  They did have to substitute some material in the same line and I decided one piece needed to be darker - just like in the picture.  So I went to my quilt shop and purchased grape colored fabric for those particular blocks.  Worked great.

I sewed on it almost every single night.  I would finish the blocks per the instructions and put them in ziploc baggies with the name of the block on the front.  It was truly a fun and relaxing quilt to sew.  Love Tula Pink!

This is hands down the largest quilt I have ever sewn.  And the heaviest.  However, as everyone knows, life sometimes gets in the way of your best laid plans.  So the plans I had in my head to give it to Rita went poof!  I ended up mailing it to her last week and she loves it! Every single stitch was made with love...