Feline Friday

When you are a princess you sleep on a pillow!  This has been Puss's napping spot this week.

The wheat is ready to combine.  I went for my yearly eye appointment.  There were a lot of combines in the field and trucks on the road.   We haven't combined ours yet--probably next week.  I'm hoping they don't call tonight and want to come this week-end.  It is Uncle John's 100th  Birthday Bash tomorrow and our family reunion week-end. 

The corn is looking good, but we could use some rain soon.

I enjoyed my afternoon away from the farm yesterday.  After my eye appointment, DD 1 and I got pedicures and went out for supper at LaMinestra.  I had the salmon and it was wonderful.  We had a nice visit too.

The prayer quilt was delivered this week.  Seven of us were able to visit with our quilting friend and see how well she is doing so far.  She was very pleased to see us and her quilt.  

Sewing and Praying

I had a couple girl dates last week.  The first one was a sew all day at a friends.  Eight of us gathered at a quilter's home to make a quilt together.  We sewed and prayed together.  It was sad that the reason for this was to make a quilt for one of our quilter's who has been diagnosed recently with cancer.  We wanted to make her a quilt.

The quilt we made is called Cheese and Crackers by Terry Atkinson.  We used  30's fabric from all of our stashes.  We had stations set up for cutting, ironing and sewing.  These young gals can still get down on their knees for the laying out of the blocks.  I'm jealous of that!

 

Lunch was potluck and there was no shortage of food.  All of our quilters are good cooks too.  I love this huge kitchen island.  It was great for cutting fabric too.

 

Here is the finished top.  We started sewing at 9:30 am and finished up about 5:30 pm.   One of the quilters took the top home to quilt.  The backing will be gray minkee (gray for brain cancer).  We plan on getting together to bind it and give it to our friend.  I've missed my quilting friends--it was a bittersweet day.

There was more mowing and raking last week.  Then on Thursday night I had a night out with 3 friends for the July birthday of my friend, Peggy.  We had supper at  Guadalajara's Mexican Restaurant and went to the play "Kiss Me, Kate".  The Pierre Players community theatre does an amazing job.  It's a tradition to go to their plays for our birthday celebrations.

 

Finished Quilt

I'm cheating............but I really did help finish this quilt.  Our group got together and did the binding on our love quilt last week.

A lot of this fabric is still from our member who passed away two years ago today from cancer.  Love  you, Gloria.  I believe the actual pattern for this was in an American Patchwork magazine.  It lends itself to a scrappy quilt very well.  The navy blue background of the stars is the cohesive part of the design.  I missed the night that they tied it.  It didn't take us long to get the binding on with two people on each side.  Someone suggested we start binding all our quilts together.  lol  I really don't mind the binding part of quilting.   It's a large, cuddly quilt.  The last two quilts that we made were given to families who had house fires.  We aren't wishing a house fire on anyone soon.  I'm sure a special time will come for someone needing some extra love and a blanket.  

This is about half of the wonderful women I call quilt friends.  We have so much fun together.   Last year we made 45 pillow cases for the local Healthcare Center.  The pillow cases have been such a blessing to the residents there.  They have asked us to make some more.  We'll be working on those next time.  There is something about homemade items that carry love from one to another.

Hand Quilting

We had quilting group on Wednesday evening.  The last two meetings were cancelled due to the weather, so it was really nice to get together again.  A woman from a neighboring town came to give a trunk show and show us how she hand quilts.  I was so mad--I forgot my camera in my hurry to get out the door and into town so I could do all the farm errands.  She has made some lovely quilts and showed some vintage quilts from her mother and MIL. 

Her mother had been in a care facility for a number of years and accumulated a large amount of "dusters" or house coats.  When her mom passed away she made quilts from them for all the family members.  The one I liked the best had blocks made with the fancy collars and pockets.  She had photos of all of the quilts. 

She keeps a binder with all the patterns, pictures and fabric samples of the quilts she has made.  It was fun to look through.

You can see the photo of my sample quilting.  Some of our group brought quilts and wall hangings to quilt.   I have hand quilted before, but it was 30 years ago.  I hand quilted Michelle's baby blanket I made her.   I think it would be very relaxing to do in the evenings.  I think it takes alot of practice to make small and even stitches, but I even like the look of the larger stitches.  I think the "new" in thing of quilting with large stitches and perle cotton thread looks fun. 

 I've been having trouble with my right shoulder, arm and hand, so I didn't do a lot of stitching.   I've had bursitus in my shoulder before, but it has never hurt down into my arm and hand.   I've put off going to the doctor until my yearly check-up. 

We have had a whole week of warmer weather (above 32)  and high wind. The snow has quickly disappeared. It has even been drying up in the yard. DH is hauling snow from the sorting pens. We plan to sell our calves in the next two weeks.  They are predicting 6 inches of snow this week-end, so maybe we'll be back to square one.  lol  

Have a great week-end.  Hugs!

January Progress

 After looking through all my starts from last year, I decided to set 2 goals for January.  The first one was to catch up on the Raggedy Ann & Friends blocks.  I completed block 5 & 6 the last couple days.  I know the next one will be out pretty soon, so I wanted to get all caught up.  I really want to stay on track with this quilt.  I like doing the embroideries and I love using my stash to piece the scrappy blocks.

My second goal is to put borders on my pinwheel quilt and get it totally finished.  I really like the Blush fabrics I used.  I got this one out today and layed it on the bed.  Now to measure and decide what borders I want to put on it.

I haven't joined any UFO groups.  I guess I have committment phobia.  lol  I know how little I can predict in my life, so it's better to set a couple small goals and proceed.   I can do the stitchery for the Little Birdie BOM now some evening too. 


We had quilting last night.  I sewed strips of fabric for 3 hours.  We are making a rails and stars quilt. The fabric was donated by a friend of one of our members.  It's mostly odds and ends, so this is a scrappy quilt.   Each year our group likes to make at least one quilt as a group.  The quilt will be given to a family who most needs it.   Last year a family lost their home to a fire and we gave them the quilt we had made.  I brought beef vegetable soup, buns and apple butter for supper.  There were only 4 of us.  Cold weather and family deaths made for a small group.  It was 9 F when I drove home at 9:00 pm. We will meet again in two weeks.

DH just doesn't understand how it can be fun to haul my sewing machine, sewing equipment, pot of soup and fixings 30 miles to meet for 3 hours.  It is such a soul restoring time for me.  Of course, I still had time to pick up 16 bags of medicated feed and buy groceries.  It's so nice to sew and visit with other women, especially the others that drive from the country.  We had a nice "bitch" session last night about husbands and ranching.
It's nice to know we all have the same challenges.  I'm certainly glad we aren't lambing like some are right now. 

DH is grinding feed today. I helped him get everything set up this morning after feeding. I'm so glad it was 30 degrees out and the sun shining. He didn't stop for lunch. Rocco and I delivered chicken salad on a bun to him. He will grind enough feed for 10 days. I hurried back to the house to start piecing block 6, before something broke down. : )


I'd better get planning my borders, before I need to go help DH unload the truck.  Until next time..........