Monarch Butterfly Breeze to Remember Grandma

I’ve been working on writing a pattern for a wall hanging featuring butterflies. Maverick, Colt, and their dad, William, were visiting one day and I was cutting out butterfly wings. I casually mentioned that it was for a butterfly wall or door hanging. Maverick didn’t care as long as I kept holding him; Colt didn’t care if he could continue constructing his Ninja Turtle puzzle. William, however, focused and asked if they were Monarch butterflies. No, they are rather abstract. Why? Would we make one featuring Monarch butterflies, please? For Nicole? Well, yes, of course. And so it goes . . . down the rabbit hole we went.

Monarch First Things First

I asked William and Sue, what colors do you think of when you think of a Monarch butterfly? Orange and black were the resounding answer. Hmm. Let me take a quick peek in our newly organized orange drawer of fabrics for something suitable. Truthfully, Sue took a look because I had no idea which drawer contained the orange fabric. It’s quicker if she just finds it anyway as I get distracted easily. What am I looking for anyway?!

This fits the bill quite nicely, don’t you think? A batik fat quarter from an unknown origin. I already had an idea for the background. We have 3 two-yard cuts of some Boundless ombrés purchased from Craftsy circa 2017. They have been patiently waiting for their chance to shine and here it is. The ombré colors are orange, green, and turquoise. Guess which one we chose? If you said turquoise with a little help as the other two were strikethrough, you would be correct.

Butterfly Appliqué Begins

Before you know it, all the butterfly wings were cut out. One small problem, though. I forgot to put the adhesive interfacing on the back/wrong side. Sue to the rescue! She carefully cut the interfacing slightly smaller than the wings, ironed it to the wrong side, and passed them on to me for placement. What have I learned? Haste makes waste or something similar equally sage from an old adage.

Doesn’t it look pretty? Ooh, we are so happy with how this is turning out so far . . . but no blog talk because it was a surprise.

Woot Woot Appliqué Time

I love to appliqué and this was a quick and easy project. I forgot to take a picture of the process but in a blink, it was behind me. On to some free-motion quilting on my domestic sewing machine. No need to take this to Carol’s longarm – it’s just a wall hanging. Gosh, it’s been a while since I did any FMQ in our home sewing room. I carefully selected a nice shade of light blue that faded away quite nicely.

Remembrance for Grandma

To speak to the title of this post, this wall hanging has a special meaning for Nicole. Her grandmother passed not too long ago and they had a close bond. Together, they enjoyed all the aspects of Monarch butterflies from chrysalis to flight. Many believe that Monarch sightings represent the souls of deceased loved ones. We fall into that category and have sewn with that belief in mind. Nicole will be reminded of her grandma and feel some comfort, we hope. We know how much they loved each other, and how big a hole might feel with her passing. She is always in her heart – nothing could ever take that away.

♥ ♥ ♥

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