Butterfly Block Tutorial

By popular demand, and because after much messing about I eventually worked out my own rotary cutting and piecing instructions,  I have written a tutorial for a Butterfly Block.

You will need:

Rotary Cutter and Mat

Ruler
60 Degree Triangle Ruler
Sewing Machine and ¼ inch presser foot
Iron (lots of steam preferred)

Fabric requirements for each block:

• 2 Butterfly Wings (green printed fabric) each measuring 2 1/8 inches x 5 inches

• 1 Butterfly Body (text fabric) - measuring 1 ¼ inches x 5 inches

• 4 Background pieces (black fabric) cut as follows:

From the width of the background (black fabric) cut a strip - or multiple strips - 2 ¾ inches (2.75 inches) wide. With the 60 degree triangle ruler, and alternating with a standard straight ruler, cross-cut the strip as pictured at regular intervals.  Precision is not so important, although keep the angle correct.  I used 2 yards of Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Pepper for my Butterfly Quilt, more than I had first anticipated.


Let's get started:

Place the 60 degree Triangle Ruler so the bottom left and bottom right hand corners of the Butterfly Wing fabric are exactly on the outer edge of the triangle ruler (as pictured above). I have placed some tape on the down-side of my ruler to assist with quick placement; the top edge of the tape abuts the bottom edge of the fabric.

Trim with rotary cutter.

Using a ¼ inch seam allowance sew the background fabric to the Butterfly Wings

Press seams:

Trim these units as follows:

Place a standard ruler along the outer edge of the Butterfly Wing as pictured.  (Please bear with me here as I am left-handed, and use a left handed ruler - the numbers on your ruler probably run from right to left).  This unit needs to be trimmed to just 4 ½ inches wide; accurate piecing will result in 1/8th inch of background (black fabric) on BOTH SIDES of the outer edge of the Butterfly Wing unit):

Trim the side and top edge with rotary cutter:

Turn the Butterly Wing unit around and align the outer right edge (or the left if you are using a right handed ruler) of the unit at the 4 ½ inch mark of the ruler, and the bottom edge of the Butterfly Wing unit at the 2 1/8 inch line of the ruler (as pictured below):

Once you've pieced a few Butterfly Wings you will begin notice the consistent stop and start points of the background fabric:  see the top edge of the ruler at 1 3/8 inches and 3 1/8 inches, as indicated by the red arrows (above).

Using a scant ¼ inch seam allowance sew the body of the Butterfly (the text fabric) first to one wing.  Trim excess body fabric.  Then sew the body to the opposite wing.  Press seams together towards the body, away from the wings.

The butterfly Block measures 4 ½ inches x 4 ½ inches.  If you find that your block is on the small side, be sure to cut a little more generous (particularly the Butterfly Wings - cut a slightly generous 2 1/8 inch wide).

Repeat times 180!

Any questions?  Please leave your questions in the comments section and I will reply there as others may also benefit from further clarification.

Happy Stitching!
Rita

Relevant Links:

The Finished Butterfly Quilt
The Butterfly Quilt in Progress 
Text/Word fabrics ~ details and sources
Another variation of the Butterfly Block - larger block size (please do check it out as your might find this variation works better for you)   Tutorial by Mrs Schmenkman Quilts

60 degree Triangle Ruler available from:

The Fat Quarter Shop 
Fort Worth Fabric Studios

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Pepper available from:

The Fat Quarter Shop