A Picture for Sunday - Large Skipper

Rusty orange with beady black eyes and basking in the sun on a sage leaf.  This little butterfly stayed still for just long enough for me to take his photo.

A Picture for Sunday - Peacock

At last!  I have been trying for years to get a picture of a peacock, but they are very skittish butterflies and fly off too readily.  This one settled on the path in front of me when I was out walking, so I zoomed in on him.  Now I have to aim for a photo of a peacock showing all four eyes.

A Picture for Sunday - Red Admiral in Autumn

Not a cloud in the sky - the mist had cleared and the Michaelmas daisies were alive with butterflies and bees.

A Picture for Sunday - Moth in the Bathroom

For the moment I can't identify this moth, which I photographed a few days ago.  I am rather taken by his furriness.

Welcome to Mary Nocker and Sandi, the latest followers - thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Butterfly in the Wheat

Taken on the 15th August in my favourite field, a small tortoiseshell having a rest.  The wheat was making that delicious crackling sound as it dries and the chaff cracks open in the sun. 

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Two Butterflies on a Zinnia

A small tortoiseshell and a red admiral, taken last summer in Poland.

Welcome to Angela Brennan, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - A Butterfly in the Clearing

This was last taken summer, in a clearing in the woods in Poland.  This isn't a butterfly that I have seen here at home, so I have scoured my books.  I think it is a scarce copper.  Great name.  You can never find one when you need one.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Another Painted Lady on a Zinnia

I love all these shades of pink together, especially with the sun shining through the butterfly's wings.

Welcome to Val, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Silver Washed Fritillary on Scabious Flowers

This beautiful butterfly was flying from flower to flower in a clearing in the woods in Poland.

Welcome to Autumn Adams, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Comma in the Garden

This beautiful butterfly was in the back garden on the hedge while I was pegging out the washing earlier this week.  Not only did it wait for me to finish hanging the washing and then go in for the camera, it also closed its wings so I could get a photo of the comma on the underneath.

I knew the comma was white, but I didn't realise until I looked at the picture afterwards that it had white legs to match.

Welcome to the latest followers - Pattilou  (who just happens to be my partner for this month's doll quilt swap) and 2ne from Norway.  Thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Painted Lady on a Zinnia

The undersides of the wings have such beautiful subtle colours.

Welcome to Tomomi McElwee, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Painted Lady on a Dahlia

One of the many pictures of butterflies that I took in Bogusia and Waldek's garden in Poland.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Speckled Wood

Not the most colourful butterfly, but endearingly furry.

Doll Quilt - Butterflies and Buddleia

This is the quilt I made for Liz.  These butterflies have had a long flight and have now arrived safely in Oregon.

The theme for the February on the Doll Quilters' Swap was "Something I Love".   There are few things I love more than watching butterflies on a buddleia bush - the colours, the movement, the scent of the flowers - so I did my best to turn it into appliqué.

The butterflies are decorated with beads to give them a bit of a sparkle.  

This big yellow one is based on the shape of a brimstone.

The butterfly on the flower has machine stitched legs.  I decided that doing his tongue sticking down into a flower would be just a touch too much, but I can't help imagining it.  The little purple pearl buttons were ordered specially for this project and came in the post from Hong Kong.

The free motion quilting was done on the 15K treadle, and all the rest of the machine stitching was done with the 1927 Singer 99K hand machine.  All the coloured fabrics are shot cotton from Oakshott - as always, the perfect colours for what I had in mind.

Now I have to get on with the little quilt I am making for my partner in Tennessee...

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Small Tortoiseshell on a Hand

Last week, a few days after the thaw, I heard fluttering in our bedroom.  This beautiful butterfly was flapping against the window.  He had been hiding somewhere in the room to hibernate and the house was now too warm for him.

He settled for a minute on the back of my daughter's hand.  He wasn't at all interested in the smudge of water and honey she had for him on her hand.  He just rested there and quivered his wings for a while, then I caught him and released him outside.  

He was last seen flying up into a blue (!!!) sky from our back door.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Small Tortoiseshell on Buddleia

Smart little chap.  Very furry too, if you look closely at his body. 

A Pretty Picture For Sunday - Red Admiral

He was making the most of the sun in October.

Quilting a Butterfly

Here is the brimstone butterfly again.  I have just finished quilting around the edge of the appliqué.

To give it a bit of extra body I added an extra layer of wadding to fit the shape of the appliqué.

Once the extra layer was tacked in place and trimmed, I used pins to hold the layers in place around the butterfly and stitched around it, using the method shown in yesterday's post. 

So there you have it.  Stuffed butterfly.  Sounds like a delicacy from the declining Roman Empire.

A warm welcome to Allon0711 and Madakamom - thank you for joining as followers!

Another Yellow Butterfly

Here is the last of the three appliqué butterflies, in a darker shade of yellow.

Yellow Butterfly

This appliqué butterfly is based on a brimstone.  It was fun doing the pointed wings.