Let’s Make an Easy and Fun Mini Butterfly Art Quilt

Hello, Everyone! It’s Miriam from Stitch Obsessed. Today, I’m sharing a super fun and easy butterfly wall-hanging project I made recently with some gorgeous Batik fabrics.

I have been obsessing over art quilts recently, and I wanted to try a mini project to dip my toes into this fantastic quilting niche. Not only are art quilts beautiful, but they can tell a story and allow you to express yourself without speaking a word. Cool, right? 

The Fabrics

As soon as I saw the vibrant colors in the Color Play Mottled Batik fabrics, I knew I had to use them to make a butterfly. They have a beautiful watercolor look that give me major butterfly-wing vibes, especially the purples and pinks. 

The Butterfly Pattern

I found this beautiful butterfly outline in Canva, enlarged it, and printed it out. I then drew some lines through the wings to break them up into different sizes and shapes. Each shape will be a different fabric/color. You can make this as simple or as complex as you want! That’s the cool thing about art quilts; it’s totally up to you what you want your interpretation to be.

If you would like to see my entire process of coming up with this project, you can watch the video on my YouTube channel below:

Free Motion Quilting Fun

A big part of art quilts is the stitching. I wanted to have fun with the wings for this small project. Free motion quilting is a fun and easy way to add a lot of extra texture and interest to a seemingly simple design. I used several different free motion designs to “decorate” the butterfly’s wings. 

To help with contrast, I used a variegated thread that combined pinks, yellows, and oranges, which worked beautifully with these batik fabrics.

I hope this has inspired you to have fun with fabrics and thread and dabble in an art quilt project. For more inspiration, free tutorials, and fun quilt projects, come hang out with me on my YouTube channel “Stitch Obsessed” or over on Instagram @stitchobsessedwithmiriam.

Best Wishes and Happy Stitches!