I have a friend (80+ years old) whose mother made these embroidered quilt blocks in the late 30s or early 40s. She has been talking about getting them into a quilt but she is physically unable to accomplish this task. I brought them home to finish the project for her and am now challenged on what fabric to use in sashing and bordering. I am appreciative of the era and the value of an antique quilt, but she just wants it finished so she can pass it on to someone special before she leaves this world. They are a variety of colors and all are on a heavy muslin fabric that appears to be tea-dyed....but this is the real deal. What suggestions can you offer? Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Bubble gum pink or pastel mint green were popular solid colors of that era. I Googled "butterly quilt depression" and clicked on "images" to get some photos of actual butterfly quilts of that era. Here's a link to what I got:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=gsis,i18n%3Dtrue&cp=26&gs_id=r&xhr=t&q=butterfly+quilt +depression&qe=YnV0dGVyZmx5IHF1aWx0IGRlcHJlc3Npb24 &qesig=f2PDfAcbLREsDYghm-QQOw&pkc=AFgZ2tkiRH3CSjwa4Onq22kEc1E_oqxlAXC4Ppnt4 16Kyb3pss0O_32F6_iwpEOQjdOmeKP6LGG2wzwKmW3GD5p7-9axg-hh-A&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GZAG_enUS434US434&gs_sm=&g s_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&ion=1&biw=1466&bih=7 07&wrapid=tljp1316366071147020&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Personally, I'd look for an aqua because I like blue better than pink or green. A pastel purple might be nice if you could find the right shade.

I am too new at this, but I think some sort of 30's reproduction prints would look nice. Something not too busy that would complement the blocks, not overpower them. Those are sew pretty!

I think I would just use black cotton for the sashing and binding. Unless you really want it larger, I don't think I would do a border.

How many are there?

I forgot to mention there are 24......thanks for the link; there were a number of examples with pastel sashing. I am a little concerned with the dark tea-dyed appearance of the muslin so I was thinking of a mottled blender brown; however, now condsidering a lavendar or turquoise. Will have to try some swatches. Keep those ideas coming. I appreciate your help.

This would be my choice as well, then you don't have to worry about the vintage of the fabric you're going to use. Plus, the black sashings would really make the pastels pop.

I have about a dozen similar butterflies from my grandmother. Here is what I did with one of them.

Remember, there was a time when quilters thought that every color went with every other color, and in a way that's true, expecially when the print is very small.

I know that you want to make a whole quilt, not a tiny one, but this shows that all kinds of retro prints can go together.

Lovely,Be sure and show us when it's finished. Sweet thing to do for her.BrendaK

if there are only the 4 blocks, I would make a large basket with flowers as a center medallion and then place the butterflies on point around it! Very 30's looking that way!