Butterfly Garden Quilt Sew Along Week 2: Cut Fabric
Hey, Butterfly Babes! Welcome back to Week 2 of the Butterfly Garden quilt sew along! This week we cut our fabric. This will look different based on the size of fabric you start with — jelly roll, fat quarter, or scraps!
Even though I stumbled upon some beautiful fabric combinations in Week 1, I made a last-minute change and went with some left over 2.5" strips from my Adventureland sew along jelly roll. It's not that I didn't want to make all of those fabulous fabric combinations into a Butterfly Garden quilt, it's just that I can't help myself from taking a few shortcuts in the sewing room so I can spend more time outside this summer!
Treating yourself to a jelly roll or jr. jelly roll (you only need 16 strips) is a great way to save time this week. If you're like me and want to make a quick change in your game plan, you can find some fantastic precut rolls at the Fat Quarter Shop or from a smaller store on Etsy. Sometimes it's fun to get a couple and combine them!
If you are just finding this sew along, don't forget that you can find every post for every sew along in the Sew Along tab. A couple quick things to note:
- NO Sign-up: You do not need to sign up for Suzy Quilts sew alongs. You simply sew along with us!
- Sewing questions: You've got questions, we've got answers! The best place to ask your technical sewing questions Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group. The main purpose of sew alongs is to answer questions that pop up specifically when making the Butterfly Garden pattern, so don't ever worry about asking a "stupid" question. They don't exist!
- Prizes: Aside from having a beautiful finished quilt top, you also can win weekly prizes by using #ButterflyGardenQuiltSA in the captions of your posts on Instagram. More details on that are at the bottom of this post.
- Discounts: Get 25% off longarm quilting from Jenn B Quilts and Trace Creek Quilting on your Butterfly Garden quilt from now through the end of August 2023.
You May Also Like...
Butterfly Garden Quilt Sew Along Schedule
- Week 1, June 16: Gather fabric
Sponsor: Crimson Tate - Butterfly Garden Quilt Kit featuring Tilda Chambray
IG LIVE - @suzyquilts: Join me on Instagram to chat about fabric and color Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 2PM CT - Week 2, June 23: Cut Fabric
Sponsor: Jenn B Quilts - throw size quilting - Week 3, June 30: Sew HSTs and Four Patches
Sponsor: DuckaDilly - $100 gift card AND Sarah Hearts - Four sets of labels - Week 4, July 7: Assemble Blocks
Sponsor: Trace Creek Quilting - throw size quilting
IG LIVE - @suzyquilts: Join me on Instagram for a sewing demo and to chat about different ways to quilt your finished quilt top, July 11, 2023 at 2PM CT - Week 5, July 14: Assemble the quilt top
Sponsor: Aurifil - Best Selection Box including 45 small spools of 50 wt. thread!
Week 2 Assignment: Cut Fabric
Tip #1: Don't prewash your precuts.
Don't do it! Prewashing will shrink your fabric and cause it to fray. We don't want that, especially if you're using a jelly roll, because then your fabric will be too small!
Trending patterns!
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Quilt Patterns
Tip #2: Cut safely.
Hot take — rotary cutters are sharp! Ask me how I know 😉 It's always safest to cut away from yourself if you can. You can rotate your cutting mat or even butt up rulers like I do in this video below.
Tip #3: Iron your fabric before you cut it.
Especially if you're pulling crinkled scraps out of a bin or cutting into some deeply creased precuts, I highly suggest your iron them before cutting. I have skipped this step before and it always backfires, giving me some wonky and weird cuts.
Check out this video for the best way to iron out creases from your fabric.
Y'all, that pretty much sums it up! There's not much to it this week.
Questions?
Do you have questions about supplies, fabric or cutting? There are multiple places for you to get answers!
- Here in the blog comments.
- In the Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group.
- During one of the IG LIVE videos. (See the schedule above for hen to tune in for the next one.)
Week 2 Sponsor & Prize
This week we are giving away FREE longarm quilting from one of my all-time favorite longarm quilters — Jenn B Quilts! She did the quilting for my Adventureland sew along quilt and I just loooove it. She also used compostable bags in her shipping, which is pretty neat too.
Don't forget that you get 25% off longarm quilting on your Butterfly Garden quilt from Jenn B Quilts now through August 2023.
How to Win
- Post a pic to Instagram. The photo prompt for Instagram this week is to post a pic of your Butterfly Garden progress. Use #ButterflyGardenQuiltSA in the caption.
- You must have a public Instagram profile to participate.
- Each photo posted is an entry and you can enter as many times as you want in a single week. Once the week is over, those posts do not count in the next week's giveaway. Every week we start fresh.
- Your photo must be posted between Friday, June 23 and Friday, June 30. The winner will be picked randomly from all qualifying posts and announced at approximately 4:00 p.m. on the 30th. Good luck!
I recently purchased the Butterfly Garden quilt pattern. What size rulers do you suggest I use to cut the 81/2 inch squares. I have a 6″ x 12″ Omnigrid ruler and a 5″ x 24″ O’Lipfa Lip edge ruler (bought many years ago) when I made my first quilt. Appreciate your response.
Thanks,
Sheela
Hi, I have a question about quilting rulers.
I recently purchased the Butterfly Garden Quilt pattern. Which ruler do you suggest I buy to cut 8 1/2 ” squares and the 2 1/2″ WOF lengths for this pattern? I have a 6″ x 12″ Omni grid ruler. I have not added more rulers since I mostly sew children’s clothes . Appreciate your response. Thanks Sheela
I suggest getting an 8 1/2″ x 24″ ruler. This will allow you to cut WOF strips when your yardage is folded in half and also easily sub-cut your 8 1/2″ squares.
I purchased a Butterfly Garden fabric kit. Which—if any—of the fabric pieces need to be ripped to get them “on grain”? Just the larger yardage?
[Unrelatedly, is there a quilt kit for the Adventureland quilt pictured in this post!?]
If any of your yardage is off grain, it could help to rip it! However, pay particular attention to how much you’ll lose by getting it on grain. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting pre-cuts on grain.
For Adventureland, if you’re asking about the picture that links to our shop, here’s a blog post about the Adventureland cover quilt that includes info about fabrics! https://suzyquilts.com/adventureland-pastel-rainbow/