Some quilts begin with a crystal-clear vision, and others take you on a creative journey. This one definitely landed in the second category. It started as the haziest of quilty dreams: a boho-style quilt, like the Butterfly Knuffel quilt in my shop, maybe in shades of plum and caramel. 

From there, it slowly reshaped itself into something entirely different, evolving and developing like a Polaroid becoming clear. As we explored colors, textures, and motifs, the palette shifted toward rich antique-y, earthy hues of navy, gold, brown, and sage green. But always the same focal point: butterflies.

The final quilt is a queen-size version of my Knuffel pattern, pieced with butterfly prints, earthy botanicals, and soft nature-inspired textures that give it that beautifully lived-in, curated boho feel. 

It really did evolve organically, every design choice leading to the next, until suddenly it became this warm, eclectic, one-of-a-kind piece. A true creative metamorphosis.

This customer started with a vibe. She wanted “butterflies” and “boho style”, but she wasn’t sure what that would look like. The first picture above is a collection of fabrics that she really liked (always a great place to start): warm and earthy purples and coppers. 

The second picture is the final approved palette: much cooler and a much wider array of colors. Not a purple in sight!

Choosing fabrics online is always the most delicate dance. I do my best to photograph fabrics next to white and next to each other, so someone can get a sense of their true color and their interaction, even through a screen. Tricky business!

The star of the show was this green and brown butterfly print from designer Bonnie Christine, from Art Gallery Fabrics. Nobody does dreamy boho like Art Gallery Fabrics and Bonnie Christine.

From the various groupings of fabric that I sent, all of them fitting the basic criteria of earthy and boho, the customer felt very drawn in the direction of deep teal and navy blues, golden yellows, and even some sage greens.

There were a few more butterfly prints brought into the mix, and then inspiration! The customer really wanted some sweet family memories represented in the quilt through the inclusion of some sheep. Sheep hold special significance to her family and childhood, and Bonnie Christine has some sheep prints in her signature dreamy aesthetic, and so the deal was sealed.

What is the point of a fully custom quilt if you can’t infuse it with your memories and stories?

Thank goodness for EQ8. That’s the software I use to audition fabrics, and create mock-ups that allow my customer and I to share the vision. It’s hard to know what a quilt will look like from pure imagination.

This time we went through somewhere around 16 iterations before settling on a final draft. I think you’ll be able to tell which one we went with out of the 4 that I've included above.

We honed the palette quite a bit, settled on a light and bright cream background and added in some solid navy and chocolate brown fabrics to increase contrast. Even with a dreamy boho vibe, contrast makes a composition POP. Your muted tones will be even more muted and tonal if your eye can compare them to a deep teal navy. Your golden yellows will be even glowier against a chocolate brown.

And I am so glad she had decided on the Knuffel pattern. Not only does it have the delicate and rounded look of butterfly wings to match the feature butterfly prints, but the cream background gives it the intricate look of lace or crochet here, which really accentuates our storied and bohemian vibe.

The Knuffel quilt is a beginner quilt pattern, but that does not make it quick and easy. I am a huge proponent of “quilt honesty” which is spreading the truth far and wide that quilting is usually VERY TIME CONSUMING! It often demands careful attention, and fiddly bits of thread and fabric, and hours and hours of repetitive motions.

That being said, it is also TOTALLY WORTH IT. To me, at least. And I find those hours and hours of repetitive motions to be deeply meditative and restorative.

And because I wrote this pattern, and have made quilts from it many many times, I feel like I’ve got the process down to a science, leaving me free to create beautiful color and print combos in every block. I had A LOT of favorite blocks in this quilt.

I know when a quilt has hit Queen Size when it covers my entire design wall.

Once the top was complete, the finishing details became the perfect place to lean even deeper into that antique-y, boho vibe, and for the customer to make decisions that really make the quilt a collaboration. 

For the backing, we chose a fabric that is soft, lacy and intricate, something that would complement the rich tones on the front without competing with the butterfly prints. This cream Rose Bloom wideback print from designer Stephanie Organes.