Work in Progress...Ready to Quilt

Back in February, I started this project in a Pamela Allen online class.  It kept growing and I kept stitching.  Finally it is all stitched down and ready to be quilted.

Yes!  One of my own quilts to put on the machine!

I put it aside from time to time as I got tired of doing the ladder stitch to surround all these raw-edge applique pieces.  Now I have to figure out what to quilt in all that negative space.

Today I was taking pictures of butterflies outside, especially the very large black and yellow swallowtail butterflies.  I can look out the window any time and see them swooping around, as high as the trees or low as the grass.

Then I noticed a very pretty insect that I have never seen before.  He had distinctive orange, black and white markings on his wings.  I thought it was a beetle.

After looking him up on the web, I discovered he is actually a moth!  This is what he looks like with wings out.  He is an Ailanthus Webworm moth.  Pretty...and a good pollinator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_webworm