A Second Butterfly Hoop
Recently I showed you how to hoop a butterfly applique to make a decorative hanging frame: Butterfly Hoop with Frill and today I wanted to follow up with another idea which I found to be much easier.
From the first experience of working with these hoops, I definitely learned a thing or two. For one, allow a bit more seam allowance when testing a theory! For my second hoop, I decided to trim leaving a good inch. But before I did any trimming, I decided that I would quilt down the background around the butterfly. A simple stipple is all that is needed, but you could use anything including straight quilting or echo quilting just to name a few. I echoed the butterfly a couple of times then stippled outside it. This really made the butterfly pop.

quilted butterfly
I placed the hoop over the butterfly so it was central and drew a circle about 1 inch outside it.

butterfly centered within the hoop
Then I trimmed it back to almost the drawn circle, flipped it over and positioned the hoop once again.

back of quilted butterfly
From here, I could neaten the edges by using bias binding to cover them, but I decided to gather them raw - to reduce bulk. I used a double gathering stitch just in case the first snapped when I pulled it up through all those thicknesses. As I pulled up the gathers, I ensured they were evenly dispersed around the hoop.

raw edges gathered on the back
Once gathered I knotted it off. I love the simplicity of this hoop. It looks like a tile and I can easily imagine three of these hanging in a row either horizontal or vertical.

Blue Butterfly hanging
To finish off the back, I added a small hanging hook and cut a round circle of card which I hot glued to the back to cover the gathers - this will also prevent those gathers from slipping loose.
So here is a list of what you'll need to create this wonderful simple gift:
- Blue Butterfly or Purple Butterfly pattern (click links for more details)
- Small amounts of cotton fabric for applique (of your color choice)
- 8"-10" background fabric, backing fabric, and batting
- Machine embroidery threads to match your applique fabrics
- Quilting thread
- 6" or 8" hoop
- Small hook for hanging
So which do you like best? The purple or the blue butterfly?
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Comments
Thanks Virginia, I agree with you and normally I would have put the ruffle on the back with the card over it to cover the raw edges however I needed to cover the uneven seam that was pulled out of shape on the front, hence the reason I did it this way.
Posted by Ruth, 29/10/2019 1:32pm (1 year ago)
I like both of them, but I would of glued the ruffle to the back it would give it a more polished finish. Their still beautiful.
Posted by Virginia Basham, 29/10/2019 12:14pm (1 year ago)
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