A Quilter's Mixology Sew Along: Butterflies

Hey y'all! So today is my day for the Quilter's Mixology Sew Along; my actual post for the Sew Along is over on Sara's website if you'd care to read, but I thought I'd share the quilt (and a few other things) over here too!

I was assigned to make the Butterflies quilt from Angela's book and decided to make a mini version! I did not change the scale of the pattern at all; this mini is based on one section of the quilt that finishes at 24" square.

I used a bunch of fabric from my scrap bin for this one and some Kona (Silver, I think) for the background. The binding is an older Art Gallery print I had in my stash. Now I should mention that I've never ever sewn curves before (and seriously, Angela's book makes it far less scary than I supposed it would be), but that wasn't my only hurtle...

I got a new machine and this is the first thing I sewed on it!! My mum bought me a Janome 8900 as an early birthday present - isn't that awesome?! I'm turning 30 next month and mum thinks that's a big birthday that needs a big gift...who am I to argue with her? I've named her Ginevra (Ginny for short, of course); for a size comparison, here she is with my old Janome Genevieve. I have now sewn 5 larger projects on her and it's been wonderful! I can not even tell you how nice it is to not fight with small throat space anymore.

Even though I say it over on Sara's site, I just wanted to reiterate again how fabulous I think Angela's book is. It's really special, and lovely, and thorough, and just plain awesome! And yes, Angela is my firend, but I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true *wink*.

Photo courtesy of Angela Pingel

And just because I think this is a lovely picture of the three of us (and I miss my girls so much), here is a picture of Angela, Ali, and I celebrating the release of Angela's book at Quilt Market last May. See those drinks we're holding there? That's a special cocktail that Angela made up to go with the book and they were yummy! Cheers everyone!

P.S. In case you are a giant nerd like me (and think shipwrecks are kind of neat...also like me), you will be interested to know that they found one of the ships from the lost Franklin expedition. Here is some Stan Rogers for your enjoyment...