Papillons de Paris Finished!

Papillons de Paris (Butterflies of Paris)   51" x 71"

Features Paris themed fabric, with Souvenir and Quatrefoils blocks.

Original design.  About half of fabric is from stash.

I just finished Papillons de Paris (Butterflies of Paris).  I had gone back and forth about an outer border, had decided to use the mottled pink, and bought a couple of yards.  But when I held up a sample next to the narrow chocolate brown border, the pink seemed like an afterthought and didn't add anything to the quilt but size.  The quilt was perfectly happy ending with the dark brown border, so I went along with it.

Close-up of quilt front

The Paris themed print in the center of the quilt was bought at Poppy Fabrics in Oakland, CA about 6 years ago.  Sadly the store is no longer in business.  On the same visit to Poppy I picked up another Paris themed print--completely different with 50's fashion ladies in blues and pinks.  That fabric will become a quilt someday, but I have no design or starting time in mind yet.

Stylized Eiffel Tower, image found on Internet.

Incorporated rough outline of Eiffel Tower among Loop-de-Loop free-motion quilting.

One of 16 Eiffel Tower motifs in the center section of the quilt

I searched for easy designs of the Eiffel Tower and found one I liked and that was easy to sew.  I printed 16 of them on freezer paper and scattered them around the center section of the quilt, ironing them to the quilt top, then pinning in place.  This was my first experience with freezer paper.  I'm not too sure of the success.  The free-motion foot kept moving the motifs out of place, and I'd have to bring them back to finish outlining them.  I'm not giving up on the freezer paper yet, but I might try something else to keep the motifs in place better next time.  I decided not to use the motifs in the side sections of the quilt, and did loop-de-loops only.

Quilt back -- Same butterfly fabric as in the Souvenir Blocks on the quilt front

When I was shopping at Beverly Fabrics for backing fabric recently, I auditioned several possibilities, none of which thrilled me.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that I could use the butterly fabric.  I love the fabric, it works with the color scheme, and it was the same price as fabric I almost settled for.  And, hello...the title in English is Butterflies of Paris.

I'm so glad the quilt is finished.  It's going on my bed so I can sleep under it tonight.  Another WIP finished.