Butterfly Kaleidoscope
24" x 25.5", May 2025
Cotton fabrics, 3-strand cotton embroidery floss, metallic thread. Fusible web appliqué. Hand-quilted along embroidered stem lines and leaf edges.
Worked on this piece for over a year because I'd never stopped to consider what to do next once the butterflies were in place. Tried many arrangements of the little hexagons (this is version 4.0) and then restarted the embroidery several times because stitches or colors were not right. Pieces attached with fusible web did not appreciate being in an embroidery hoop and began to fall off; reattached with glue. Green leaves were originally embroidered and this looked wrong; replaced with fabric. Etc.