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Thursday, September 3, 2015

Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing


Establishing a goal and linking up to 

 ALYOF last month
worked very well for me,
so I believe I will give it another go!
(If and when the internet allows me to.)

I finally have a herd of zebras.


16, to be exact.
All sewn into rows and ready for the border.
My goal will be 
to construct the border units 
and have this quilt finished and bound
by month's end.
I don't think Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts believes
I'll ever finish this quilt, her amazing design.

The hold up for me was the eyes and nostrils.
I was a little intimidated.


I had to wait until I woke up one morning
with this thought, 
"Today's the day I'm going to do eyes and nostrils!"
It was a while before that happened.

Breezed through the eyes..they probably could have been better.
The nostrils?  Well, I ended up making a template


so that each one was the same.
Worked out pretty good.
Although it has taken me forever to make this quilt,
it has been an enjoyable process.

*
I love wild things, large and small.  Make believe and real.
While I was out picking blueberries late yesterday afternoon,
I stood to stretch my back (our wild blueberries are close to the ground, ugh!)
And what did I see?


A beautiful Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)!
My heart was singing as I ran down from the meadow for my camera.
It has been a few years since I have observed one on my property.
Hope she finds the Swamp Milkweed I planted!

Here are some interesting facts about Monarch Butterflies:

~Caterpillars eat milkweed, which makes them poisonous to birds.

~Thousands of individuals roost in the exact same trees every year
along their migration routes.

~No other known insect undergoes an annual, two-way, long distance,
large-scale migration.

~It is still a mystery how Monarchs correctly navigate to their
overwintering grounds, since no migrants 
have made the journey before.

Monarch Butterflies like nectar-rich plants such as Joe-Pye-Weed,
Goldenrods, Asters, Boneset, Coneflower, Butterfly Bush,
as well as the invasive and aggressive Angelica, as pictured above.

By planting milkweed as a host plant on my property,
my goal is to help provide a safe, chemical free habitat.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
~karen






22 comments:

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I haven't even started on my zebras. Good luck with your goal.

Simone de Klerk said...

Loved reading your post. It made me laugh at the part where the wake up call took its time to come. I'm glad it happened and look forward to the next step for this quilt.
Thank you for sharing the interesting facts about the butterfly. Beautiful picture! Never ever knew there are butterflies that migrate. Amazing!

Lesley said...

Karen, your herd of zebras is adorable! What a great idea to make a template for those nostrils...they look perfect to me!

Sheila said...

I love your little zebras , they look just sweet and those nostrils are perfect. How nice you saw a monarch , sure wish one would show up here . I do have what I was told is a butterfly bush .

julieQ said...

That is just the cutest quilt EVER!! I love it!!!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

love your zebra's - you must be heading back to Texas soon

eileeninmd said...

Hello, I love the zebras, they look so cute! Adorable quilt! I have only seen one Monarch this summer so far. I hope I get to see one in my yard! Have a happy day and weekend ahead!

Linda Reeder said...

By enlarging your photos I can see why this quilt took so long. There's a lot of piecing in the white background - all those tiny triangles! And I see that the eyes and nostrils are satin stitch. Making a template to know where to put the needle down was a good idea.
We don't get Monarchs here in the Seattle area.

Linda Reeder said...

PS - I learned a lot about Monarchs from reading Barbara Kingsolver's book "Flight Behavior".

Lorna McMahon said...

Lovely herd of ZebraZ, Karen! Good for you getting those facial features done and dusted. Can't wait to see this baby with borders on!

hetty said...

Cute zebras! I love them. Have not seen a Monarch Butterfly this summer, even though I have some milkweed plants that volunteered themselves in my garden.

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

These are so cute x

Sondra said...

LOVE the quilt its soo cute, nostrils and eyes and all!! Traveling around Im happy to report I see a lot of milkweed seed pods so I assume there was plenty of food source for the monarchs. Glad you had one visit you!

Teresa in Music City said...

A wildlife extravaganza today Karen! From zebras to monarch butterflies - wonderful read :*)

Lin said...

Your Zebra's are fun Karen, am looking forward to seeing what the border units are. Glad you have a Monarch. xx

DeniseinVA said...

Great fun to look through your post Karen. Such an interesting read and I enjoyed your photos also.

Roy Norris said...

Amazing to see the Monarch Karen.
Unbelievably there was a sighting of one on the Southern English coast a couple of years ago.

Fiona said...

I love your zebra's... they are a favourite animal of mine too.. and your Monarch looks wonderful...
Hugz

Montanagirl said...

Hi Karen - I'm back for a day or so... LOVE your Zebras, and the Monarch Butterfly makes "my" heart sing too!!

Julia D @ Jada's Quilting Adventures said...

Can't wait to see those zebras quilted :)

Frederika said...

Wow so lovely this looks.

Allie-oops Designs said...

How cool are your zebras!!!! I love them!!! I haven't seen a Monarch butterfly in years, I used to see them all the time. Grasshoppers, too, never see those anymore either. I really hate all the toxic chemicals people put on their lawns.....