Sometimes the obvious escapes me. I’ve been working with this pretty hydrangea floral fabric for a couple of weeks now but didn’t notice until taking pictures for this post that the hydrangeas are made up of clusters of butterflies. I even missed the clue on the selvage:

You may recall from a recent post that I was using this fabric to make three sizes of kaleidoscope blocks that I was calling Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear to distinguish their relative sizes. The bear image is now banished from my brain; I see only butterflies.

And here are those butterfly blocks are, floating on a field of pale green:

The background fabric is Krystal by Michael Miller, and I’m pretty sure the solid green inner border in the kaleido blocks is Michael Miller, too. The pink and white print in the outer border is Yvette, from the City House Fabrics line by Swirly Girls Design for Michael Miller.

I’m thinking of binding the quilt in the solid green. (I do wish solid fabrics came with information printed on the selvages like print fabrics do. I like to know what fabric I’m working with — and what if I need more and can’t find it locally? That information on the selvage is essential for an Internet search.)

Now to ponder quilting motifs and quilt names. I’m thinking of simple cross-hatching in the background, spaced an inch or two apart, and some kind of floral design in the kaleido blocks. As for a name, I’m waiting for inspiration to strike. Bloomin’ Butterflies? Butterfly Kisses? Suggestions gratefully accepted!

You already know that I’m crazy about kaleidoscope quilts. My most recent effort, Cosmic Kaleidoscopes, contained five oversized kaleidoscope blocks floating on an inky background; it measured 62″ x 82″ before quilting. I wanted to try a scaled down version using softer fabrics and a light background. I sketched a design on graph paper and chose a luscious pink and green hydrangea print as my focus fabric.

The blocks are three different sizes, the largest being 20″ and the smallest 13½”. I suppose it was inevitable that I would start thinking of them as the Three Bears. Here is Papa Bear:

. . . and Mama Bear:

. . . and Baby Bear:

The next time you see these blocks, they will be in a quilt top, floating on a pale green background.

Oh, yeah! Since giving myself permission a few days ago to spend part of my sewing time playing with fabric (and not fretting too much about projects set aside for the time being), I’ve been sketching out ideas, making sample blocks, and washing and ironing the fabrics I have (ahem) recently acquired.

I even finished a quilt top. It’s a small top, but it’s still a top. Remember that Northcott fabric line called Ainsley that I was swooning over a couple of posts ago? I made a large kaleidoscope block out of the Jacobean floral border print:

One block, eight 45° triangles. Very simple. Since I was making only one block, I fussy-cut the triangles rather than stacking eight layers of fabric. I added the narrow black and green strip and the outer small geometric — both part of the Ainsley line — to the triangles before sewing them together. Here’s the back:

I haven’t decided yet which fabric to use for the binding on this little table topper. Once I do, it shouldn’t take long to finish it.

This project barely put a dent in the fabric I bought. Not to worry. You’ll be seeing plenty more of it. I already know what I’m going to make next.