Monday, October 15, 2012

Hubble, Halloween, and an update



Here's my Hubble in progress.

I'm using Soul Blossoms like Carrie did, but I'm changing it up with a grey background.

I had a Soul Blossoms layer cake that I cut up.  I was thinking that I use so much white.  I wanted to use something different than my usual background. 

I may be regretting that when I go to do the quilting.  You're going to be able to see every stitch on this solid fabric.

  



I threw this picture in there so you could get a look at my new carpet.

I'm just loving it!



Okay, more new carpet and more Hubble progress.

I've got the whole thing on the floor now.

Is anyone else putting it all together before sewing any of the star points into sections?

I'm not sure if this was a good idea, but I wanted to make sure that like fabrics wouldn't be near each other.

I'll let you know how that works out for me....... 





It suddenly dawned on me that there are only a few weeks left until Halloween, so if I wanted to get this orange and black project finished up in time, I'd better get started on it.

So I set Hubble aside, or I should say I stepped over Hubble, and got to work.

More on that later.........




I have some caterpillar progress to show too!

I was able to get a picture of the guy above as he made his "J" and later when he formed this chrysalis. 





We started out by seeing five caterpillars, two have wondered off somewhere else....... at least I hope so.........to become butterflies.

Now we have three soon-to-be butterflies!

Hopefully I can get a picture of them as they come out, but I know that happens fast, so we'll see if I can catch it! 




 Here's the milkweed plant they were eating in the back, and the iris they decided to form their chrysalises on in the front.

In years past we would leave the milkweed in pots and bring them in once we saw eggs or caterpillars.  But wow those caterpillars are messy!

So, since we were planning a long vacation and cleaning up after the caterpillars is something I could pass on for a year or so, we planted the milkweed in the ground this spring.

Soon after, we cut it way back to remove any leaves that could have had pesticides on them.  Fresh clean stems and leaves quickly grew back. 

Pesticides do nothing for encouraging butterflies to lay eggs on your milkweed plants.

That's how we got to this point and I'll be sure to let you know how things go from here! 



12 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

I love Soul Blossoms. I have yardage left from a pattern and parts cut, waiting...

I love the grey background.

Denise in PA said...

Pretty! I put my star points together before I did the middle. I was careful to try and not have the same fabrics next to each other. It was so overwhelming to me to NOT do it this way - LOL!

JoAnne said...

I'm loving your Soul Blossoms. I'm sure your quilting is very well done, and you don't have to worry about stitches showing. It will look fantastic.

I made the version of hubble at the end of the pattern. The one where you use charm squares instead of half square triangles. I laid out the whole star before I began sewing it together. I think that took more time than the actually sewing! I didn't want anything too similar too close together, either.

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Loooooooooove your Hubble. I think I need to get the pattern and soon!

Lois Evensen said...

Your quilts are just lovely. Yes, Halloween is sneaking up on us, isn't it! All of a sudden we have to have it all ready.

Candace said...

What a gorgeous print for the pattern, Michele! I can't wait to see your Halloween quilt, too! Great info on the soon to be butterflies, too!
Cheers!

Joyful Quilter said...

I really want to make Hubble, your's makes me want to make it even more...the grey is perfect. I can't wait to see what you do with the orange and black log cabin blocks...hehehe they kind of remind me of the butterflies you are expecting soon.

Houseelf said...

Good luck with Hubble- the colours are fantastic. I hope Halloween gets done in time.

Thanks for the caterpillar update. Exciting!

Cheryl said...

The grey background is striking! Love it as the back drop to the yummy brights!

Carrie P. said...

OOO! love both your projects. very pretty.
I bought some milkweed. just a seedling and some other insect ate it before it got big at all. I was so disappointed because I got it for the butterflies.
Have a great vacation.

Jackie's Stitches said...

I so understand the not wanting two like fabrics to touch. I try really hard to not overthink it and keep the scrappy look but I DO think about it! I'm not sure I could just go completely freestyle. I like the gray with this - and maybe quilting it with a light gray would work even on the brighter prints?

Darlene said...

Love your Hubble - the gray background is fabulous.