Farm Update ~ Winter into Spring ~ 2018

At the end of last summer,  an eighty something row crop farmer told my farmer, "Well, I made it through another year!"  We felt a little the same way, having completed the hay season.   The last day we baled I was so tired that night I couldn't go to sleep for a while.  The rains were just right last summer for the meadows to produce grass for more than one cutting.  The farmer says we put up 1400 round bales of hay; that's a lot of grass and more than enough to feed the cattle for a year, but it's always good to have extra in case next summer is dry.

Of course row crop farmers can call an end to their harvesting "another year", but with chicken farmers it's "what goes around, comes around" with no noticeable beginning or ending to a new year.  We have just finished the first flock of chickens for this year, having had to keep them for eight weeks, longer than any we have ever raised.  The company wants a larger bird; I suppose consumers demand larger portions to eat.  When we first started raising chickens they rarely weighed as much as four or five pounds in six weeks times; however the word obesity was rarely heard of either.

Because of my cataract surgery last spring, we didn't have much of a garden, but by late summer we planted peas and I froze enough for the winter.  A lot of our fall and winter weekends would find us getting in firewood for the furnace.  The farmer took the tractor and dump trailer to the edges of the fields and brought in logs which he sawed into usable lengths, then split them with an attachment on the front of the BobCat.  I loaded the pieces onto the bed of the side by side and brought them to the house to stack.

In December, the farmer was sick; he thought he had the flu but it wasn't anything like I remember the flu being.  He continued feeding the hay and helping in the chicken houses then spending the rest of the day in his recliner.   Much of the Christmas joy was lost because we both felt bad for a while.  On the 21st of December we had been married for 57 years.

The Christmas card from our older grandson and his wife announced that we would be great grandparents in July, and since their "reveal" party we know the baby will be a girl; our first.

 The month of January was mostly very dry but we did get about two inches of snow and around 10 inches of rain fell in February.  Although everyone thought we had a really cold winter, I didn't think it was too bad.

I stayed busy in the sewing room too;  two aprons,

 

  two quilt tops, one large top and one baby top 

two baby quilts,

and two crocheted baby blankets.

The quilts and tops were all made using scraps; however, not to worry, I didn't use near all of them.

And now spring is upon us; robins are scratching through the old leaves, buttercups are waving in the March winds, and the cattle are searching for every little sprig of green they can find.  We'll start a new flock of chickens in two weeks and then only a short span of time until it'll be back to the hay meadows to start "through another year".

Charlotte

The latest project, just finished!

Log Cabin Lullaby baby quilt;  paper pieced, six inch blocks, made mostly from soft colored fabrics, it seems just right for a baby girl.  The backing is made from the same green print as the outer border.

Now I must get to work and finish the June hope chest things.  We got baby chickens this past week and it has rained almost every day so the hay work is at a standstill; good time to get something done.

(I have a computer fly!  Every time I put my hand on the mouse, he insists on sitting on my fingers!  Drives me crazy because I usually can't see him to use the swat!  I think he's in love with the mouse!  Ever had a computer fly?)

Charlotte

Scrappy Log Cabin quilts are my favorite quilts to make, whether for a big bed or for a baby.

This one is made from six inch blocks, paper pieced, and quilted down the center (more or less, or perhaps I should say more and less, since every line might not be centered) of each log, and is for a baby.

The binding is also scrappy, made from snippets of bindings left from large quilts.

Some people prefer baby quilts with appliqued animals, etc., which end up being wall hangings.  This quilt is to be used for a warm covering or a play mat.

A hint for the next hope chest item: it went on the quilt frames as soon as this quilt was taken off.

Charlotte

Something From the Works in Progress Pile

After several years of being looked over, handled, moved about, these appliqued animals blocks have finally made it into the "finished" stack.  Well, almost; they aren't quilted yet, but there's no hurry about that.

The scrappy squares were intended to be used in a Triple Irish Chain top, but I didn't like the looks of that arrangement.  They just happened to be the right size to use with the appliqued blocks.

Each animal's body is made from the basic pear-shaped pattern, with tails, ears, or feet added.

My top measures about 38 inches square; the one in the magazine is larger.  I plan to do a lot more quilting on mine too.  The pattern came from the June, 1984 issue of the Quilt World magazine.  1984, you say?  Does that make it a vintage pattern?  I was only 43 years old that year ~ am I vintage?

Think about it,

Charlotte

Story Quilt

"Once Upon a Time"....The possibilities are endless for bedtime stories, poems, or maybe a song with this baby quilt.

How about a story of the little bear who became his team's most valuable player.

Maybe there's a poem about the giraffe siblings who live at 123 PSE street.

And surely someone knows why the cat sits in the window at night and washes his face before going to bed under a clear sky filled with stars.

The entire quilt is full of wonders, all made from scraps of novelty prints with paper pieced wonky houses.

The binding is even scrappy, and no need for fancy quilting either because it would get lost in the string pattern.  Lots of fun here for some little child who likes to pretend.

  I like to pretend, but when we were little we said, "play like, this or that" instead of, "let's pretend".

Charlotte

I know some of these pictures are blurred; shaking old hands do that sort of thing. "Play like" they're clear.

Washday at Sam and Sue's

In the weeks before our rain shower, I took refuge in the sewing room to look at something other than dried up flowers and dust.  There was this sweet pattern I had printed off the internet, called Washday at Sam and Sue's Wall Hanging; I don't really know who designed the pattern, but the name, Adrienne Franklin was under the title.  Also, it may have been printed by the Cranston Print Works Company; a lot of Wal Mart's fabric comes from this company.

Now I'm not real fond of wall hangings for my home, so I have in mind this piece would make a cute baby quilt; it seems more suited for a baby girl, thus the light green border.

The clothesline was made by couching with a zig- zag stitch over blue worsted weight yarn.

This was the first applique work I had done using the blanket stitch on my new sewing machine.  I did o.k. with it until I came to a corner, then I usually made a small boo-boo, and now I realize I should have practiced with the machine stitch on a larger piece first.

Of course there had to be quilts to wash and hang!

The clothes are pinned with embroidered pegs and really they just gave life to the piece.

And doesn't every clothesline have to be a fly-over for a bird or two?

After this top is quilted I'll put a hanging sleeve on the back just in case the person who gets it might want to use it as a wall hanging.  It would be sorta cute in a laundry room wouldn't it?

Charlotte

Baby Quilt ~ Scattered Dots

 

Will you believe I do other things besides complaining about the weather?  Actually, the drought has taken me from the fields and given me time to quilt more this summer.

This is a baby quilt made from a pattern tutorial on Amy's blog, www.duringquiettime.blogspot.com .  You may remember, I made a doll quilt by the same pattern.  For the baby quilt I simply made the strips longer and wider and the dots larger.  The binding is made from pieces of fabric like the dots.

Now I think I'll let the frames stand empty for a while and get out some WIP things, such as a topsy-turvy doll and a crochet project, maybe even another apron.  Can't let this old mind go idle!

Charlotte

This One Surprised Me !!

This little quilt surprised me; when it was just a top it didn't impress me much, but the more I quilted on it, the more I grew to like it. It seems to be just what a quilt represents to me: a pieced block, quilted by the piece, set together with strips, pretty enough for a bed, or sturdy enough to be played on. And I didn't feel pressured to make every stitch the same length or every seam a perfect quarter inch; I just enjoyed it.

The backing came from my stash; I've always liked the print but had never found a use for it until I saw how well it matched the red border. The binding, from the same print, and which always is just like "the frosting on the cake" hugs it all together.

So, that's another WIP out of the cupboard; on to another!

Enjoy, Charlotte

This One's Finished!

Do you remember the quilt top with the embroidered primitive nursery rhymes? It's finished!! I quilted the patchwork blocks by the piece,

and quilted circles in the embroidered blocks. The backing fabric is the same design as the sashing strips, but in yellow. Even though it's set together with blue, the patchwork blocks make the quilt look soft and sweet enough for a baby girl. I like it!

Charlotte

I Promise ...

not to make you look at this quilt again ! I know you must be tired of it; however, some had asked to see it when finished. So----

here it is, all quilted and bound,

with two little bears on the back, covering up those bothersome holes. No one will ever know, because, you won't tell, will you?

Smiles, Charlotte

Embroidered Blocks Set Together

The embroidered blocks are set in the middle, surrounded by the churn dash pieced blocks. I separated the blocks with a one inch strip of a little blue print. It turned out to be larger than most baby quilts would be, at 51 1/2" x 41 1/2". Maybe it will make a better quilt for a toddler anyway since mom or dad can recite the nursery rhymes to the child. If I give this as a gift, a Mother Goose book would make a good companion gift. There is a doll quilt in my frames now, so I want to finish it before quilting this one. Thanks for all the nice comments you've sent my way concerning the embroidered blocks. I always see mistakes; however, my quilts are not made to hang up on the wall to pick out the crooked places, but rather to be scrunched up around a sleeping child.

Quilt for a Baby Boy

This is a quilt for a baby boy with choo-choo train, kite, and animals. I like to make quilts from bright colors for babies; don't you think they respond to bright, basic colors best? I do most of my applique using the blanket stitch since I can't seem to get the hang of needle-turned applique, and I do hand quilting.

Have a blessed Sunday, Charlotte

Baby Quilts As Gifts

Next to doll quilts, I think baby quilts are my favorites to make. They're quicker to complete than large quilts and so one reaps the benefits of her work sooner. I rarely sell any quilts I make; can one really ever get paid enough for all the work that goes into making a quilt? The pleasure of making them becomes my reward. So, now and then I will give a baby quilt as a gift to a special someone.

This quilt went to my daughter's sister-in-law; she had said she wanted one of "Mama Charlotte's" quilts. I barely knew her but was flattered to know she respected my work enough to want a quilt. She was using butterflies as the theme for her nursery, so hand appliqued butterflies, flowers, vines, and bumble bees went into the solid spaces. She never contacted me to say a simple "thank you".

I became good friends with the young lady who cleaned my teeth; she was always so interested in the fact that I made quilts. She left the office before her baby was born and so one day I took this quilt and left it for her. Shortly thereafter a wonderful little note came with a thank you card. She sent me pictures of the new baby girl, and since then I receive cards from her at Christmas with pictures of the first baby and a second baby girl. Now and then she sends an email message. As for the quilt, the animals, fence, sun and clouds were hand appliqued with blanket stitches. The distant mountain was made from fabric which was printed with farm scenes.

I gave this quilt to the young lady at the dermatologists office who removed a cyst from my shin. She was so caring and skilled and I was so very thankful it wasn't melanoma! I had known her family for several years so felt confident she would appreciate a hand made quilt. When I gave the package to her I asked her to wait until I was gone to open it. (I'm very shy about my work, but notice it has a blue ribbon on it?) A few weeks later she sent me a thank you card.

Thank you cards aren't necessary; that isn't the reason I give the quilts as gifts. But, I suppose it shows my age; a word of thanks used to mean something. Maybe we get too many things now.