Quality Quilting with Jennifer Ogborn!

Hi, my name is Jennifer, and I am one of the designers here at Sizzix! Would you like to come on a journey with me today, to see how I made a beautiful butterfly quilt with my new ‘Garden Friends’ (666031) die?
Yes? I thought so, here we go!

I always think a great place to start, is at the end. With this in mind, I created the image below to see what I was aiming for with my final design. This is a great way of visualising what I am trying to achieve.

Now onto the fun part, choosing the fabrics! This is fantastic for using up scraps of fabric, and I wanted a mixture of patterns, as butterflies come in all kinds of colours!

Once I had chosen, I used some Iron on Adhesive on the back of each piece of fabric. This will stop the edges fraying once die cut.

I needed sixteen butterflies in total, so I ran each piece through the Sizzix Big Shot Plus die machine (660020), using the butterfly shape on my Garden Friends (666031) die, until I had enough.
The great thing about using a Bigz Plus die is that you can cut a few layers of fabric at once, making the process quicker!

Tip - If you want to replicate this project but feel uneasy about quilting, try die cutting the butterflies, then stitching them to a ready-made blanket as a great alternative with similar effects!

I then cut out sixteen 6 ½ x 6 ½ inch squares out of cream fabric and ironed one butterfly to the middle of each square.

With my sewing machine, I stitched around each butterfly to secure them into place. I then decided that they needed a little something extra! So I hand stitched the bodies and antennas with some contrasting embroidery threads.

Throughout the rest of this project I used ¼inch seam allowance.

This was a great stopping point to lay out all the butterflies and arrange them in the order I wanted. Sewing the squares in rows first, then attaching the four rows together created the front of the quilt.
I made sure to iron between each stage to keep the project looking neat.

Next, some yellow fabric was cut in strips of 3 ½inches wide and attached to the edge of the butterfly front. Then I trimmed off the corners to create an accurate square.

Creating a sandwich with the front of the quilt, the wadding and the back of the quilt was easy. I just had to make sure all those wrinkles were gone, and then baste it all into place. I dislike basting A LOT! However, it is an essential step to stop the fabrics moving and twisting in your machine whilst you are quilting.

*Basting is sewing long, removable stitches to hold layers of fabric together. It can also be called “tacking”. It’s a good idea to use a contrasting colour from your project, as this will make it easier to remove once quilted.

Using my sewing machine, I quilted either side of the squares' seams to create a checkered effect. Then on to the laborious task of sewing all those thread ends!

Lastly, I made some 2 ½ inch binding with strips, 2 ½” Wide, in similar colours to my butterflies.
I machine sewed this on top of my quilt and then hand sewed it to the back to finish off.

And there you have it, a beautiful butterfly quilt for your home, or to gift to a loved one!

I look forward to see what you have made with my Garden Friends die! Please show us on Instagram by using the hashtag #mysizzixstory and tagging me @jennifer_ogborn_sizzix.