My First Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry!!

Hi, all!
Wow, this is exciting - my first quilt festival entry!  And what a great idea to make it in "blogworld"!  

This quilt is part of a group of quilts I am making for a silent auction the first Saturday in June.  My daughter and son-in-law are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia, which can be a very expensive process.  They are well on their way - they've made it to the waiting list so we're probably just a few short months from having a new grandchild to join the adorable Lilli!!  Lilli is two and a half and my almost constant companion, at least Monday through Thursday during the day while her parents are at work.  We have a wonderful time sewing (she'd like to use my sewing machine with the power on, but I think she's just a little too young for that yet!)  She has her own little stack of "quilts" in the hall closet - I can't wait until she's old enough to really put one together!

So anyway, my contribution includes this quilt, which I call "Breakout Butterflies".  My granddaughter, who serves as my #1 encourager and critic, immediately pronounced it playworthy - I almost didn't think I would get it back from her - so hopefully some child will also love it well!  The butterflies are appliqued on top of the quilted top and the backing, with baby rick-rack outlining and antennae.  

As you can see in the picture of the backing, I outlined both butterflies with stitching then quilted up to the outline, creating a "ghost butterfly" on each side.  I love the bright colors in this quilt, and sure wish I had remembered to take a picture of the bound quilt before I gave it to my daughter for safe-keeping!  I used the bright blue print of the four-patch squares for the binding and it really makes the border look complete.

What did I learn from making this quilt?  That piecing the back is a great place for creative expression - even though it sometimes feels like more work than piecing the pattern on the front!!   (If you are interested in seeing the other quilts I'm making for the auction, check back  - I've got three more ready to quilt and bind and should be posting pictures of them in the next week or so.)


Hopefully soon I'll be posting a picture of my new grandchild so you all can see one of the benefits of this quilt!   I hope you'll join me then in welcoming him or her to the family!
Thanks for checking out my entry in the Bloggers Quilt Festival - enjoy browsing all the great quilts!!
Later!
Sarah