It's Monday morning & there's lots too do!

It's Monday morning again & not a lot has changed, I've got projects going at home & next door. I'm working on another 10,000 piece quilt next door. This one is much simpler to put together than the Perkiomen Daydreams quilt. This one is more like a checker board. I'm using whites/creams & all colors of the rainbow in Civil War Repros. I'm half way done, I've got 6 rows done!

My home project is this

I'm working on making many more pieces because this is just not big enough.😊

 I've invested in some technology. I've had multiple troubles with printing my patterns. When the patterns are created using one operating system & then they are printed on a different operating system things go down the tubes. So I've gotten a new printer so that I can print them at home. I'm really hoping that having the new printer will make my life a lot easier. 

On the farm front we let some of the heifers out so that they could get to the green grass. DH took down part of the electric fence so that they could get to the grass. Well that electric fence must have made a believer out of them because just one out of the bunch would go across the line. 

Eventually they all got brave & ventured in to the grass. Silly creatures. 

I hope yall are having a good morning. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in the middle of the USA😊. 

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

More later on,

Vicky

The blog has been invaded by crickets I think

I do apologize for being so quiet on the blog. Life has been all kinds of crazy and writing on the blog has been put on the far back burner for the last few weeks. My father in law has been mostly stable with some bad days thrown in there. I'm thankful for that but it has changed how my days go. I am also thankful for the fact that we are not grain farmers right now. There's been lots of equipment going up & down the road getting the fields ready for planting. Our "crop" of hay is looking very good and in about a month we'll be talking about getting things ready to head out & start making hay. I'm truly hoping that the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to get into the fields shortly after memorial day. Last year  we didn't even start cutting hay until after Independence day. I was baling hay on my birthday last year & I really don't want to repeat that this year!

Ok enough babling on about the farm what have I been sewing on? Because yes even with how crazy my life is I need to sew. It centers me. After I had completed the  secondary color way of Nostalgia I needed to start a new project at home. I walked into my sewing room & was stumpped. I shouldn't have been. There was plenty of fabric with limitless possibilities in my small little room. All I had to do was pick one of them & start.

A few years back (I'm saying that because I can not remember how many) I made/finished a quilt for a lady & in payment she gave me all of the leftover yardage. There were yards  of beautiful red batiks. Here is a pic of the scraps after I've been doing some cutting 

Well what was I going to do with yardage? That is not usually where i jump off when I start a quilt. Well I had remembered that I had purchased a new Accuquilt Die and I needed to play with it for a while just so that I knew how the blocks went together. This is the die

Here are some of the blocks that I've created so far. More will be made, many more will be made because I don't make small quilts.:)

Right now I'm in the process of cutting more pieces & I'm thankful for the Accuquilt, it is definetly making that process much easier & more enjoyable.

I'd better close this down. There are more piecies that I want to run through the Accuquilt before I head out to do chores. It is simply beautifull here in the middle of the USA & I'm trying to enjoy it! I hope yall are doing well. There's been more inspiration for more quilts but that will come in a later post. More later on ,

Vicky

What I'm working on, things that I know

First half of this blog post will be quilt related & the second will be life related. 

On the quilty front. When I'm at my in laws I've been trying to stay busy. I've been busy slicing & dicing through my scraps to get more 1.5" strips. Here's the last of my pile to go through

But before I can go through this I have to finish cutting up the last of the strip sets & sew up this ice cream container

My husband helped my MIL clean off the table yesterday & did his best at keeping all of my stuff together. He put all of my pieces in the bucket so I'll keep on using it. 

I had noticed that after a while after sewing strip sets on my featherweight my  machine started to lag really bad & I was frustrated with it. By golly I wanted to put some strips under the needle & I felt like I was unable. So I started surfing craigslist looking for a Singer 301. I had heard & read that those machines could do 1300 stitches a minute. That was right up my alley. Were there any available in my area, nope. Next stop was eBay. There were plenty to choose from there. It just all depends on how much I was willing to spend. I found one & I won it!!!!! Woohoo!! Now I just have to be patient & wait for it to arrive. That is not my best virtue, waiting, but I guess it's good for me. 

(Disclaimer: I'm a caretaker for my FIL whose on hospice next door )

On the life front it's been an interesting last few weeks. Definely a roller coaster ride. There have been lots of late night trips for medication or help going to the bathroom. During the day there are lots of interruptions to go next door to give my help. I have found that when I'm home I don't want to do anything but enjoy the quiet. I have found that it has been hard to sew at home. I'm not completely sure why. My current home project is the alternate color way for my pattern Nostalgia, here's a glimpse

During the construction of this quilt I have learned that I'm not a solids lover. I like patterns & textures in my fabrics. Plus the more variety the better. I also am not a fan of white. 

I have a guild presentation tonight in 

St.Joseph MO & I'm looking forward to it! I hope that y'all are doing well. More later on,

Vicky

A shot out

Just a quick shoutout to the End of the Trail quilters in Abilene KS. I had such a great time with you last Tuesday. Dinner was fun & yummy. That was some of the best catfish I've ever had at Mr. k's Farmhouse

I'm looking forward to being back in the area in a few months! 

Vicky

It's Monday! What am I working on? An elephant, bindings & a modern quilt

Good morning! What an unexpected weekend I had. I tried to fill it with as much quilting as possible! On Saturday my friend Randi came up to help me on a paper piecing pattern that she drafted for me. I had struggled with it earlier in the week but I think that all of my issues have been resolved! 

I spent a lot of time next door with my FIL   . Husband had lots of outside farm work this weekend & I needed to stay close to home. So I worked on my Wild & Goosey blocks while I was next door. I'm very close to having my first row of 17 blocks done! Two years ago while at a friends mystery quilt retreat one of the steps was a stitch-n-flip with bonus hst! I asked my fellow quilters that if they didn't want those bonus HST could I have them? This is what I got

We'll see how long this lasts. I've already taken 85 triangles out & you can't tell that I've touched it. 

Yesterday I decided was a binding day. It was time to finish up these projects & get them done! Binding is not my favorite so I generally put it off as long as possible. First up was my hand quilting project

I know where I want to hang it I just need to bring some pins home from next door.

Next up was my moms wall hanging. The fabric that I had originally planned to use for the binding I didn't have enough of so it sat. Finally I realized that I probably had something very close that I could use. Low & behold I did & this one is done!

The last binding done yesterday was the purple quilt. 

I'm really happy to have this one done. It doesn't excite me like a scrappy quilt does. Though I am happy to have the yardage used up!😊

My modern version of my Nostalgia pattern is still looking like this 

I really need to make this a priority & get this finished this week. 

On the farm front it was quiet & peaceful until Friday morning. While checking the cows I found one stuck in the mud/manure. I was able to get her out with the help of of a neighbor & the farm equipment. She can't stand & by doing some investigating we believe that she was standing in some manure & when the bull was doing his thing, she couldn't hold herself & him up & fell. There's not a whole lot that we can do for her. She's in her own pen with her baby getting feed, water & physical therapy. Time will tell if she'll walk again. Then there was this silly creature

He was up there just a crying. I walked over to the roof but I couldn't reach him & he backed up. So I thought that if you figured out how to get up there you could figure out how to get down & he did 😃. 

I hope y'all have a great day. It's going to be 80 & beautiful here today. Check out what other quilters are up to at patchworktimes.com 

more later on,

Vicky

Eating an elephant

You know that saying " how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time". I've jumped off the deep end & have started my most intense quilt yet. I've started "Wild & Goosey". It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern from her Quiltmaker articles. I've done the math & there will be over 15,000 pieces in it. Holy smokes what have I started? It is a paper pieced quilt so I've brought out the hand crank. These are the 4 blocks that I finished up today

I've got about 10 or so blocks done just need to work on the remaining 279. I'm hoping to have it done by my birthday in July. We'll see, I'm going to take it one block st a time. I hope yall are having a great day. More later on,

Vicky

Monday Morning design floor

It's going to be a glorious day today. This weekend it was in the 70's & I was loving every minute of it. I figure if I can't (and didn't get) the snow bring on the green! I asked my husband if he would help me take my treadle outside. He rolled his eyes & asked if I could just take my hand crank out instead. I said sure but we'd need to make a makeshift table. It didn't end up happening but at least I know that he can help make it happen the next time. 

I'm getting very close to finishing my morning project. I just need to finish the top & bottom borders (which I hope to do today). I'm hoping I can get them done so that I can take it to my LAQ today. 

While there I'll pick up the orange & purple hexagon quilt. I love picking up & dropping off on the same trip😊. 

Progress has also been made on the "home" project. I was able to sew 200+ hst on my treadle yesterday. 

I've got another couple hundred to go. I don't like to sew with shoes on but that pedal hurts my feet. So I keep that one worn out sandal there just for treadling. 

On the farm front it was fairly quiet, which is a good thing. The barn cats are loving the weather & were posed so I just had to take a picture

There has been lots of sunbathing going on as well

No he's not dead just completely oblivious to everything around him. They were all like this. Life is good for them. The weather is nice & the flies have not shown up yet. Give it another week & the flies will be here. 

Kiddo got a backhoe lesson this weekend 

Both of our dogs have died so it's time to  tear down the old dog pen. There was a concrete footing that went around the pen so they couldn't dig out & that's what my kiddo is digging out. He did well & he has a great & patient teacher. 

Update on my FIL. He's doing well. He hadn't eaten anything in about week but this weekend he's eaten a BBQ brisket sandwich & hot dogs. It can be a roller coaster but we're doing the best we can. 

 I hope yall have a great day. I'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute of it. More later on,

Vicky