butterfly quilt, a work in progress

A work in progress. A ‘quilt as you go ‘approach. The butterfly block sources are varied. The top row are quilt blocks from a yard sale or flea market quilt and the quilt was showing wear and tear so I saved the better blocks to recycle. The brown butterflies and other embroidered blocks were cut from a jacket David had bought for me at a thrift store. The large orange butterfly is a pieced block that I had made and the photo of the folded butterfly within its chrysalis. Is of a Monarch butterfly I had raised from a caterpillar. The orange sashing is a fabric showing many Monarch butterflys.I have several more rows to add but I find it is too hot and muggy to work at it today. I find quilt making is better suited to the cooler winter months.

S is for Snow for abcwednesday Round #21

Brrrr., no we don't have any yet and I do not happily anticipate its arrival.  Snow can be wet, messy, cold and cause hazardous driving conditions. Thankfully we have been preparing and yesterday my winter tires were put on my car.  Snow can be beautiful and exciting (when as a child it is anticipated happily.) In my province we get lots of snow and in the past couple of years kids have had many snowdays , when schools are closed due to hazardous driving conditions or very large snowfalls which makes driving almost impossible.  But first a couple of photos to remind ourselves what I am talking about. Our first snowstorm might look a bit like the first picture. I have titled the picture "a snowy flurry".

The second photo is after much snow has fallen but not a lot.. I think it looks rather beautiful in this picture! But first a couple of photos to show you what I am talking about.

Sometimes however your eyes may deceive you and what you think is snow in the air is not but in reality this next picture is of a group of Snow Buntings flying over a field.  We call these birds Snowbirds

I have included a picture below to show you what a real Snow Bunting looks like,

it has quite a bit of white on it and when flying in s group , it is mostly the white on these birds which are seen.  I love finding a flock of snow Buntings ( locally we call them Snowbirds.

 If you are in the province of Quebec you might think that you are seeing a field with a large amount of snow in it. Actually it could be a flock of Snowgeese that you are watching.  These large geese are mostly all white and I think they are beautiful birds.  Sometimes we see snowgeese in my province of New Brunswick but it not a sight often seen. Below is a picture of a blanket of snow? No, it is a flock of Snowgeese in a field.

Now lets get a closer view of these snowgeese.

Above you can see the whiteness of these snowgeese.

Once I took a picture of a snowgoose in flight and after I downloaded it at home I decided to  make a copy of it and turn it into a wooden decoration. Every winter around Christmas time we put our snowgoose out in a yard as a decoration for the snowy season.

In the picture above to the right is an actual flying snowgoose and to the left  in the insert,is the wooden decoration of the snowgoose we made.

Above is Our own wooden  snowgoose on our yard fence.

So as you can surmise there are a few things that I like about winter and snow, but not too many.  I am linking today to abcwednesday which can be found at sbcwednesday.com

R is for Robin's Repast of Red, Round, Rowans for abc Wednesday

This is the time of year when large flocks of Robins  roam our area looking for and foraging upon the overloaded Mountain Ash trees, which are filled with Rowan berries, thus today's title and two pictures which illustrate my title. The full lush tree where these pictures were taken at is now all but empty with just a few clusters of berries remaining at the tree tops as is another feasting tree just down the street from my house.

Above  ,  a robin with a round red rowan berry  held in its beak

In the above picture a Starling has joined in on the feast of berries.

I am linking today with abc Wednesday Round #21 which can be found at abcwednesday.com

Q is for quilting for abcwednesday

Although Halloween is now past by a few hours, I don't think Halloween quilts would  be too far outdated for my Q topic for today. These quilts are all unique, originally designed and created by quilter Riel Nason which were presented by Riel,at an entertaining, exciting, Halloween  quilt Trunk Show earlier in October of this year which I had attended..

Quiltergeist shown above  is acknowledging the spirit of poltergeists, this Halloween ghost finds its sewing supplies( scissors, nine patch block and spools of thread) floating above it in the air.

Quiltergeist and Quilting is in my Bones are both created by using selvages.  Riel Nason has published a quilting book on
using selvages.  In Modern Selvage Quilting by Riel Nason (available at Amazon) ,you can easily learn how to create unique sewing projects by using selvages. 
note: Riel Nason has also a published book, Sew a Modern Halloween, on Halloween projects available   at Amazon.

This last quilt selection  above is a Halloween scrap quilt with  a surprising  Jack face located in the upper right just waiting to be found!
I am connecting today to abcwednesday, where today the letter Q is being celebrated.
http:abcwednesday.com
A belated Happy Halloween wish to all!.

O is for Osprey for abc Wednesday

Osprey, a mighty fish-eating bird of prey.. sometimes also called the Fish Hawk or River Hawk.

This Osprey, shown above, well earns its name Fish Hawk

I am fortunate as I know of the location of more than one Osprey nest. Above three Osprey on a nest!

The power claws of the Osprey grab a fish as this predator bird swoops down onto the water

I am linking today to abcwednesday.com   

round#21

A Late Eastern Bluebird

We don't usually have Bluebirds , especially in October!  but there is a Bluebird hanging around our yard which gives us tantalizing glimpses of its beauty now and then.  Like, on Sunday, we got a fleeting glimpse of it on the clothesline and earlier last week it was perched on a feeder hook in Bird Alley in clear sight! right in front of me!  These are unusual sightings for me at any time of the year.

Yesterday I spied bird movement in our Choke Cherry tree , which still has a few lingering berries on it.  I tried to take some pictures of the activity in the tree and I got some not so great pictures, of a Robin and a Cedar Waxwing and also of the two Bluebirds shown postedbelow.  I love them!

 

N is for Nutured among Nature for abcWednesday

I saw these two beautiful fawns yesterday with an adult White-tailed deer ,which I assume is their mother. This mother deer has nourished and nurtured her  young ones within their surroundings of nature.  The forest is their home. Their surroundings are often fraught with danger, and a big upcoming danger every autumn   is hunting season.  I don't think anyone would shoot the fawns at this time of year, however their adult mother might be at risk.  I shall hope that these young deer will reamin safe within their nurturing forest environment.  I am linking

 today to abc Wednesday, which can be found at:found at abwednesday.com.

Above, the nurturing environment of the forest.