Ramblings From Randi, The Wild Rose Quilter
My adventures in quilting and other tidbits of my life at Casa de Ortega.
Just as I expected, the one on the axe handle was in chrysalis stage by the time I got up this morning. I had read that some will be green, some will be brown. Well, the one on the trash can is green, the one on the axe handle is brown. Now, we will just wait for the butterflies to emerge. Hopefully, I won’t miss it. (just a reminder: you can click on each photo, then click it again, to supersize it, and really see the details)
So, I went out about 6:00 pm and took these photos of the one on the trashcan. Not much noticeable difference, if any.
I go out about 9:15 pm, and this is what I find. Dang! I missed the magic.
The one on the axe still looks pretty much the same. But, I bet when I get up in the morning, it will be a chrysalis, too.
I was really wanting to see the chrysalis emerge. The skin splits open from the head down…not sure where it goes…and it comes out a chrysalis. Wish it would’ve done it while I was watching!
Yay! I have been trying to find where my swallowtail caterpillars go, when they go into the chrysalis stage. Luckily, I walked out onto the patio with my son, as he was getting ready to go mow a lawn. I happened to look down at the trash can, right before he went to load it up in his pickup. He is not very happy with me, as I wouldn’t let him take the trash can. But, he can get over it.
Then, just inches away from this one, I saw this!
The axe is not usually out on the patio, but aforementioned son had it out one day last week, and failed to put it back in the shed. It will be fun to get to watch the whole process, for once. Stay tuned for updates!
I finished the quilting on Betty’s 30’s prints quilt. The 30’s fabrics were from a jelly roll that another friend and I gave Betty for her birthday last year. I love 30’s prints and I think it’s a very lovely quilt! Betty is one of my dearest friends and I enjoy quilting for her. She loves me and always loves her quilts. The quilting pattern is Sunny Daze by Deb Geissler.
Happy 4th of July to my fellow American readers! I haven’t worked on any of my own projects since I finished the quilting of my For the Love of Eleanor quilt. All my spare time has been spent quilting on client tops. So, this weekend, I decided to relax a little, and just have some fun.
First, I got out an embroidery collection I recently purchased, after seeing it on an episode of Fons & Porter. It’s called In a Clutch, by Vicki Tracy. I still need to find some magnetic closures, so I can finish out the tab. I don’t think I got the zipper exactly right, but it was fun to make, and I will probably do a few more.
A peek at the inside. The designer recommends finishing out the raw edges with binding, but I just don’t care that much…lol.
But, what I most proud of, is the little project I did today! I made a little apron. I don’t think I have mentioned that my oldest stepdaughter, and her family, just moved back here from Nebraska last month. That means I will be spending more time with my five year old “granddaughter-in-love”. I reckon that we will work on some little projects, such as making those little embroidered clutches, or little quilts…and maybe some cooking together. I often wear an apron while I’m working on stuff around here, so I thought she needed one to wear, too. I was watching an episode of Sewing With Nancy, and got the inspiration to make this apron, from one of her Grandpa’s button-up shirts he no longer wears. It was a nice Tommy Hilfiger shirt, but was just hanging around in the closet. I didn’t have the pattern from the show, so I just had to wing it. This is what I came up with, and I can’t wait to show it to my little Catey, later today. I hope it fits! Every bit of it, including the fabric for the ties, came from the shirt.
It’s even reversible!
The “front” has pockets.
The “back” has her initials. That was not part of the original plan, but I accidentally snipped a hole in the fabric, and needed to cover it up. Thankfully, it was almost right in the center.
I cut two identical pieces, from the shirt front and shirt back, sewed them together up the sides and across the front with right sides together, and turned it back right side out. I just used the original shirt bottom, as is, so that I didn’t have to finish that edge off.
I had fun making it. I’ll take a picture of her wearing it later. Going to get ready to grill some steaks with my hubby!
Ramblings From Randi, The Wild Rose Quilter 