The craziness of life

My world has been turned on its head. My husband is & will be working the night shift for the forseeable future. I'm not use to having him home during the day & it's been an adjustment. My normal schedule does not work anymore. I never realized I was that loud until I had to be quiet. My family would probably laugh at that because I have been compared to a "bull in a china shop" before. I'm trying my best to find the silver lining in this experience & what I've come up with is that DH is getting much more sleep than he usually does. I'm also learning that I need to be more flexible & adaptable to all of the different things that come my way. With this new schedule I've been having a much harder time working in my sewing time. I NEED MY SEWING TIME!  So today I just did it. There were some things that just didn't get done but I was ok with that because I needed/wanted to sew. 

I'm continuing to work on my Smith Mountain Morning quilt. I just have 15 more blocks to make & all 121 will be done!! I can not express how excited I am about that! I'm really putting the pressure on myself to get these blocks made in the next day or so. I had completely forgotten that I had committed to work on a project for a friend that needed it before December. Nothing like forgetting about it & racing to get it done at the last minute. I've got it laid out & I'm pretty sure on how I'm going to work on it. I'll share some pics when I start working on it. Before I can work on it though I want to get all of the SMM quilt blocks done because I do not want to loose any of the pieces. 

It has been just beautiful here in Kansas the last couple of weeks. To the point that it is hard to believe that it is the begining of November & I'm still wearing my flip flops. I'm finding it hard to get into the holiday spirit. I think that I'm really wanting the cold weather. I was a little over anxious the other day & wore a sweater & turtle neck in the morning, ran into town for a few errands, came home & changed into a short sleeved t-shirt. I just need to be patient it'll get here soon enough. 

I do hope that y'all are having a great day! 

More later on,

Vicky

It's been busy & finding my new normal.

Life has been busy & I have fallen behind on my blogging. Here's a quick recap since the last post.

Mom & I went to the Lake of the Ozarks for two days of workshops & trunkshows with the Lake Are Quilt Network. The Lake Are Quilt Network is made up of 5 smaller guilds in the area that get together & have speakers or workshops twice a year.  We had a fabulous time & met some wonderful quilters.

For the workshops I asked the quilters to bring their scraps in bags, buckets or baskets whatever they had available. They spread out & dumped out their scraps & had a great time!

We were working on my pattern "Prairie Stones". It's a fun block with 1 set in/partil seam. 

    

      My Tuesday group

     My Wednesday group

Thank you for having me, Mom & I had a fantastic time!

A quick update on lil squirt the tiny calf. He's doing very well. He is still very small but he is growing & is starting to find his moo (it's not that impressive yet but it'll get there). Here's a pic of him yesterday playing in the hay feeder.

On the quilty front I have been working on Smith Mountain Mornings (Bonnie Hunters workshop). I'm half way done making the blocks 60 done 61 more to go!

My impatient nature is getting the better of me & it's making me very anxious to get it done. I'm looking forward to seeing it done. For some odd reason when I started putting the blocks together I was using pins, crazy head because the seams were not matching up. I stopped using the pins & bingo my blocks looked much better. I'd like to have it done before my next guild meeting but we'll see. I like to have deadlines. It helps keep me focused with a goal. 

I hope that y'all are having a fantastic day. The weather here is getting colder, which I'm loving! Turn that furnace off & open the windows! Love that fresh air with no pollen! Kiddo is marching in a Halloween parade in a few hours. He's going to be a construction worker (easy costume & easy to play his saxaphone). More later on,

Vicky

The delinquent blogger

I am a delinquent blogger. I've been so busy & I've just not sat down to type out a blog post. It all started a few weeks ago when it was time to pick pears. We've got a very old pear tree in the front yard that produces enormus amounts of pears. Between my friend Maria, my kiddo & me we got the whole tree picked in one day. We have to use the backhoe so that she can reach the top of the tree!

This tree makes beautiful pears

Here's this years pear harvest

That's a lot of pears! These are just the good ones. We sorted them & gave the small ones or the ones that weren't quite good enough to the cows. 

It has taken a few weeks for them to rippen in the garage but they are ready to be worked up. Maria has come up twice & then she came up again this past Sunday with Randi to can pears. We spent 5 hours & 10 gallons of pears to make 33 pints of cinnamon pears. They are yummy!

On the quilting front I made myself finish my current Civil War scrappy quilt before I could work on Bonnies Smith Mountain Morning quilt. I finally got it done this past week & was able to give it to my LAQ at guild meeting. Here it is some what laid out on my living room floor

 

I tweeked the pattern & well it didn't quite turn out like my sketch. I didn't figure the row width correctly & the quilts dimensions turned out to be 87x119. Holy Cow that was long! I decided to take the botton row off & not put on borders. I will finish it with a scrappy binding & call it good. I really like how it has turned out & am really happy to call it done!

So now I can turn my attention to the batik beauty!!! Yeah!!!!

On the cow/farm front it's been nuts. The fall calves have started to arrive. We've had a set of twins with one of the babies not claimed by its momma. So another cow stepped up & adopted it & is feeding it along with her own. She's a rock star! About a week or so ago we had Squirt. He is so small! This is him & his momma when he was first born,

We are guessing he weighed about 40lbs when he was first born (which is incredibly small. We like them to be in the 80-90lbs range when born). I could scoop him up in one had & carry him. We brought him & his momma to the house so that we could feed him with a bottle & watch him. His momma is not a tall cow but he could walk under her belly & have about a 2" clearance between him & her.

He's doing much better eating his bottle & trying to eat more from momma, which is very good!

Also I almost forgot a week & a half ago mom & I went to Belleville, KS to speak to the Heart of the Prairie Quilt guild. It was a fun time with a great group of quilters. Thank you for having us!

I hope that y'all are having a great fall. I love this time of year. The weather is getting cooler & that makes me very happy. More later on,

Vicky

Meeting Bonnie on Monday

Yesterday I got to meet Bonnie Hunter! Oh my good gravy that was exciting! I have been a huge fan for years. I remember when my friend/Long Arm Quilter told me about her website quiltville.com Oh my goodness the flood gates of possiblities was open! I was an instant fan. I read about all of her travels & presentations to quilt guilds all over the globe & was inspired. 

Back to yesterday. A friend of a friend was the one who was originally going but because of work conflicts she would be unable to. Huge bummer for her but what an awesome opportunity for me! I found out about a week in advance that I would be able to go. It was going to be an all day workshop on her pattern " Smith Mountain Morning". I had wanted to make this quilt for a while but  I just hadn't quite gotten there yet. Now it was crunch time & I needed to make some choices on what fabrics I was going to use. I didnt feel the scrappy vibe on this one. I figured that since I was in the midst of a huge Civil War scrappy quilt that I could dig into the batik yardage for the SMM quilt. Black was going to be my background (shocker right?) & the other two colors were going to be a purple batik ( Kinda went crazy & bought a huge amount of this when a quilt store was going out of business) & a pretty multicolored batik. Here are my blocks from yesterday

My goal was to get enough blocks done so that I could get a glimpse of what the quilt would look like.

Once I saw these blocks done my excitment level rose. My table mate Maggie & I were on a round table so when I got blocks done I put them on the empty table behind me

This is what I was able to get accomplished in yesterdays class. I LOVE IT!!  Now the problem is what project do I work on now? I'm not generally in this spot, two projects going at once. Most likely I'll finish the Civil War quilt & then reward myself with this beauty! Plus I need to sketch it out because you know me it needs to be BIG, & so I know how many more blocks I'll need to make.

I was able to get my picture with Bonnie,

To say that I was/am happy is an understatement. It was an incredible experience & I'm so glad that my friend got me in touch with her friend so that I could go. Thank you to the Stitch by Stitch guild in Marshall MO. All of the the ladies were so very friendly & welcoming. It was a wonderful day & not one that I will forget any time soon.

Check out what other quilters are up to at patchworktimes.com

Have a great evening.

More later on,

Vicky

Enough done to get a glimpse

I'm the type of quilter that likes to get all of one step done of a block/quilt before I move on to the next.

That way I know that I've got all of my pieces done & that I don't loose any. Well my curiosity has gotten the best of me, because I have the patience of a knat, & so I had to make some blocks. 

Oh my goodness I LOVE IT!!! It's going to be beautiful & definetly unique. I've not made anything like this before. I'm not sure yet what I'll do on the borders but it'll come to me. I've got a little bit before I have to make those choices.

This is a current pattern from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. I loved the pattern all except that they chopped off half of the blocks. I understand that is how the antique quilt was made but I'm not going to do that! I've worked hard for these & it would kill me to cut them in half.

So my solution is this

Please excuse my chicken scratches but sometimes you just need to jot it down. That way I would know that I had enough blocks/pieces made & my lay out will work. 

It's ok to modify a pattern to make it the way you want your quilt. It would not be ok for me to claim this as my own, which I'm not. The designers who create new patterns or who've designed patterns from antique/vintage quilts have done the hard work for you. They have figured the math to make sure that everything works. It's then up to you the quiltmaker to make your quilt uniquely yours.

(Though you still need to give credit to the original designer).

 It's also important to know that there is more than one way to skin a cat ( gotta give credit to my FIL, that was his line). There is more than one way to make all of the units that we as quilters use. Find the best that works for you with the sizes that you use. On the same hand don't be afraid to try a new technique. You might find something new that you like.

Ok time to get off the soap box. I guess I just want to encourage you to make your quilts  UNIQUELY YOURS!

I hope that y'all are having a good evening. It was a gorgeous day & I enjoyed it.

More later on,

Vicky

Monday was just to busy

Yesterday was full. I was able to get some sewing done! Yeah! That was the first time since Friday that I was able to sew. I almost got all of the third layer on the current quilt done.

I ran out of my muslin triangles, there are just a few more & then this layer will be done. This has been a skill building quilt for me. Learning how to work with 60 degree angles is not something that I've worked with often. They're not bad though, just different. I'll post more pics once I get the last layer on. I'm getting anxious to see what these blocks will look like.

Farm News!

This year has been a hard one for the cows & their feet. Foot rot ( a cows version of athletes foot) has been more of an issue than usual. With all of the rain that we've had it's made foot rot a common term this summer. With a simple shot & some time down at the barn with some TLC they bounce back & are just fine. 

The problem is that you've got to get them down here from the pasture & that can be easier said than done. Before the kiddo & I headed off to get them the pens down at the barn had to arranged so that we could get the cows were we needed them so that we could sort the one off that had the sore foot.

We were off! The kiddo & I found the herd in the pasture &  I would walk with the bucket & he would come behind the herd to make sure that we got everyone down.

Usually it's my husbands job to walk with the bucket. I think that you've got to have nerves of steel. All of our cows know what a bucket means, grain! So off we go. As I'm walking I'm hearing hooves & cows getting much closer & soon they part around me & take off for the lane down to the house. They know they're getting some feed. Well  while I'm walking blissfully towards the house kiddo is having issues & half the herd breaks & runs the opposite way. To make a long story short I get the first part of the herd going down the lane, kiddo takes them the rest of the way & I"m head back for the last bunch. The hoodlum calves (calves that are about 6 months old, (they have the same mindset as 14-15 year old human males) were in this bunch. Thankfully we got them down & I noticed that my heels were starting to hurt. Hmmm.

The cow with the sore foot (aka: Trouble Maker) was in the first pen along with a few of the hoodlum calves & a brand new baby. We needed to sort the calves off & put her in another pen so we could play ring around the rosie with cows & pens & get everyone where they needed to be. Trouble maker just wasn't having any part of it. I was maning the sorting gate & here she comes, she wants out! I'm closing the gate & she's trying to get her head through & my left knee comes in contact with her head & she backs off, thankfully. I think, man that's going to be sore & tell kiddo that we're going to have to go about this in a different way. Well we manage to get her in the right pen & now we have to figue out who this new baby belongs to. Usually the momma will come right to it when it balls (moo's). No one was stepping up to the job. Husband gets home from work about now, thank the Lord & we (He thinks that the new baby belongs to Trouble Maker. Easy fix put baby with momm, give momma some feed & baby goes to get some milk. Everyone is happy.

On to the next cow. In her younger years she was a handful when she didn't have a baby & when she did you needed to giver her a wide berth. She was in the foot recovery ward & had her baby. I could tell that she did't feel that good because she allowed me to pick up her baby & carry it to another pen. We stayed & watched her & her baby to see if it would eat & it wasn't having much luck. So husband gets the pen ready & well she doesn't like him but he did get her in. Come to find out she didn't have much milk to give to her calf. So we made a bottle & this is what we were doing last night. We all took our turn feeding the cutie!

Me & Blanco (good friend Liz just named him). He's a sweetie!

Husband taking his turn

& kiddo taking his.

Finally getting home after 10pm & taking my boots off, my feet hurt. Yuppers big 50 cent piece size blisters on each heal. Time to get new boots. So between sore feet & a sore knee there will be no yoga this am. I'll have to go & check on Blanco & the others in the sore foot pen here soon & I'll be wearing flip flops!

On one last thing before I go. A few days ago I got a fun text from a quilty friend of mine. She had a friend who was going to Bonnie Hunters  workshop in Marshall MO but would be unable to go & would I like to take her spot? Ummm, YES! I so excited! More on that to come.

I do hope that y'all are doing well. Thanks for being patient while I was being long winded with the story of my night last night. Have a great day! Check out what other quilters are up to at patchworktimes.com

Vicky

Finding something that was lost uncovered things I'd forgotten I had

I was on the hunt this week for a set of keys that I had missplaced. I was wishing that it had been something bigger that way it would have been easier to find. I was tearing apart my sewing room, moving stacks & totes of fabric to no avail I could not find those keys. What I did find was that I now had a messy sewing room & as I turned around my rumpus hit a stack of quilts that went tumbling to the floor. That was the last straw. I was fed up with my stacks of fabric & quilts, it was time to do something about it. In coming to that realization I accepted the fact that I was running out of room & I wasn't entirely sure on how to deal with it.

First things first my sewing room is very small, 10'x10'. I have a large cutting table against one wall & on the other is sturdy shelves. There is fabric under the cutting table, in front of the closet door & the shelves. I have also started a stash of leftover batting. Whenever I get a quilt back from my longarmer I just put those pieces under the table. Well I think I need to bite the bullet & take the time to sew them together. That way it would use them up & same me some money.

Second: I have thought of selling some of my quilts. The problem that I have is that I have not been able to find anyone who is willing to pay for what they are worth. The majority of the time people (non quilters) want  a handmade quilt for a Wal-Mart price. That is just not possible. I have listed some quilts on a Facebook page but was told (by fellow quilters) that I was asking to little & that I was not asking an appropriate price. I agreed but also knew that I was not going to sell them at the price that I was asking & I didn't. 

Third: Books & Patterns. I think that I have enough different patterns, books & magazines to last me my entire lifetime. I like making other designers patterns as well as my own. What do I do with them? I had the crazy idea to get a hand scanner & scan all of the patterns & put them on a thumb drive. It would definetly save on space. I've not completly thrown that idea out the window but I am technology challenged & I'm just not sure yet.

I'm not sure what the answer will be on how to solve this issue. In the whole scheme of things this really isn't that big of an issue. I do know that I am going to be working on it & I will share whatever ideas that pop into my head. I will also let you know which ones work & which ones don't. I hope this hasn't been to much of a downer. I'm fired up & will find a solution.

I hope that y'all are having a great day. It's beautiful here.

More later on,

Vicky 

p.s. I did find the keys, they were in my car. Good place for them right? I'm just happy I found them.