Mdegenhart

My sister found these beautifully done vintage butterfly blocks at an estate sale. There are more than 50 of them (only a couple of duplicates) and I believe most are feedsack fabric. The muslin backing feels a little crispy. I need to decide what to do with them. Some of the appliques are sewn closer to the edge of the backing than others. They are bery beautiful.[ATTACH=CONFIG]541964[/ATTACH]

sewingsuz

Oh they are super cute, I hope you can save them.

Mdegenhart

[ATTACH=CONFIG]541965[/ATTACH]Lots of them

Tom W

I'd use a narrow sashing and orient the butterflies every which way to add motion and disguise the varied placement. They are beautiful

mike'sgirl

Beautiful! Do you feel the need to put a stabilizer on them?

Mdegenhart

I haven't decided what I need to do about stabilizer. I've never worked with anything this old before. I am afraid the muslin may be fragile by the way it feels. It is "crispy" enough to feel like it is heavily starched. Have any of you worked with antiques that aren't already sewn into a top?

The guy at the sale gave them to Sis. He was getting ready to throw them away as they didn't sell.

BETTY62

What beautiful blocks. They will make an awesome quilt.

DresiArnaz

Oh my gosh those butterflies are cute!

I hope it works out.

And you can't get feedsack fabric anymore, can you?

A true piece of Americana.

marilynr

This will make up into a beautiful treasure.

Bree123

I had some old fabric from a client I worked with that was from the early 60's and was "well loved". I fused it with a basic muslin to strengthen it. That would have the added advantage here of giving you more of a seam allowance to work with. If you add that, you only need to barely catch the original muslin into the seam. Misty Fuse is nice & light to use as an all-over fusible.