Sidetracked in September

I spent quite a bit of time making a background and some layered petals for my September sunflower page last Sunday, but the rest of the week I've been sidetracked. Aside from little distractions like jobs (mine may disappear it turns out) and getting new health insurance, I've been trying to get some things made toward an Etsy shop. This week I spent working on a collection in green & navy with butterflies--kinda of Asian in fall colors. I will have a table runner, micro runners, and coasters.

Then yesterday I discovered some great Halloween fabric at the local shop--kinda vintage style with black cats and pumpkins. I just love it, and I'm not even much of a novelty fabric person. So this afternoon I made a cute apron out of the Halloween stuff.

As soon as I get the scanner stuff figured out, I'll post a pic of my September page in progress. I'm not quite sure how to do the leaf, but I suspect I should just do what will get it done so I can start beading. Of course, several have posted that they have already finished their pages (!), but I will be happy with finishing it this month.
Peace,
KQuiltyBee

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.