Aug 26, 2008

September Possibilities


So I've been contemplating my September page and thinking maybe 6 X 12 is too ambitious--too much space to fill. On the other hand, a lot of my seed beads and found stuff is on the chunky side, so something smaller might be overwhelmed by big beads.



For this month I would like to try something with butterflies, maybe a 3-D beaded butterfly sort of appliqued onto a flower background. The main problem, as usual, is how to deal with the weight. Maybe I'll do the whole thing on lacey stiff stuff. I would like each piece to be a real quiltlet with a hanging sleeve.

Our weather has been very pleasant for Iowa in August--very little humidity. I see monarchs everywhere. Soon they should be coming through in droves as part of their migration. Sometimes we will see an entire maple tree branch cover in solid monarch butterflies. (The next spring that branch will be dead.) It is a sight to see!

The monarchs and swallowtails love our sunflowers in particular, as does one little gold finch. I haven't been able to get a picture of him--he flits up into the maple trees whenever we walk out the back door. But I can see all of them out the kitchen window; we have a sunflower "folly"--a 10 ft circle planted all with different kinds of sunflowers. In a week or two, the monarchs will be all over them.

This week I hope to piece a simple background and get started on beading the September page for the Bead Journal Project. The background should only take an hour or so, and then I can get started on my butterfly study. I may also include some origami flowers or yo-yos for more 3-D effect.

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