Well I'm always up for a good challenge and so I decided to have a bit of fun with my 2nd entry in Tartan Kiwi's Butterfly Challenge.
I decided this time around that I would alter the original pattern and do something different on the wings. Using this butterfly picture as my inspiration, I dug out my scraps of batiks.
After playing around with a few ideas, I finally settled on using a Basket Weave design for the upper and lower wings. I paper pieced these bits separately and then trimmed them down to size to fit the main wing template.
Once I had finished piecing the entire pattern, I decided to add some sparkle by using some DMC Light Effects Embroidery Floss (E130). This time I didn't just hand stitch on the antennae, but I also stitched around the outside perimeter of the butterfly and highlighted each of the colour block sections. It glistens & sparkles each time the light catches it.
As I didn't have enough of the darker blue or pink batik fabrics to use for borders or binding, I decided to turn this one into a cushion instead. I raided my fabric stash and found some blue butterfly fabric which also had a bit of sparkle in it. Perfect! I sewed around the outside of the butterfly and stuffed it with Hobby Fill.
Once finished I let it fly free around the house. The first place it settled was on the futon next to Gemma the cat.
Then I let it fly around outside:
Here are some close ups of the detail of my "Basket Weave Batik Butterfly":
