Butterfly Block

I spent a couple of hours in my sewing room yesterday, working on the second block in the on-line sampler series.  It didn't involve applique, yay!  But, the design was made up of 1 1/2 inch squares.  Yikes!  The finished block feels so thick because of the 1/4" seam allowance, leaving only a 1/2" of a single layer of fabric per individual piece. I can see why others are posting pictures of both the front and backs of their blocks.  Having such a tidy back reminds me of the sense of accomplishment I have felt when my needlepoint looked almost as good from the back as the front.

Anyway, Friday I gathered the fabric that I thought I would use and decided to let my choice mull around in my mind before cutting and sewing.  As I went to bed, I thought back to the color theory portion of the workshop that I had attended in Burlington and wondered if had made the best decision.  I had picked out pink background fabrics and teal for the butterflies.  If warm colors pop and cool colors recede, would the butterflies stand out enough?  When I got up, I changed the fabrics and went with gray for the background and pink for the butterflies, thinking that the pink butterflies would stand out better amid the cool gray background.

Gray and Pink Butterfly block

I really liked the block.  But then again, I have a thing for pink and gray.  My first ever patchwork project was a set of place mats that were the same color combination.  I sewed those in 1990 when I lived in New Hampton.  I still use them.  They match my china.  And I'm using the fabric scraps for this block.  Hard to imagine that I have carted around those fabric scraps through the 12 moves over the 26 years.

I love pink and gray!

Block amid the place mats

Even though the 1 1/2" pieces were challenging, I liked the block enough to go back to my original colorway.  I'm not sure if one set of butterflies (minus the antennae) stand out more than the other.   The pink butterfly fabric may have too much gray in it to make a real contrast.  That's OK, I like both blocks.

Pink and Teal Butterfly block

In the afternoon, it was so warm (56 degrees, woot!) that I went out in my flip flops and took pictures of the blocks on the driveway.  Natural light is so much better than the icky florescent lights that I have in my sewing room.

2 Butterfly blocks

While I was doing that, Mom and Heather were at QuiltCon.  For so many reasons, I would loved to have been with them.  But getting out to California this winter break was too much to figure out.  Next year QuiltCon is in Savannah, and that might be doable.  And if it coincides with Selim's school break, may be we could hit up a beach or two in Florida to make the trip appealing to my guys.