What to do next?

We had a wonderful Christmas--lots of family, food and fun.   I didn't take any pictures.  I borrowed one Jen took, so I wasn't totally photoless--and it looks fuzzy.  I'm exhausted.   Lots of late nights just hanging out as a family again.  The girls are back to their jobs and homes.  DH and I spent yesterday recuperating.  lol  Today we made a business trip and DH bought a snowblower for the tractor.  We had snow last week and are expecting more tomorrow.   The snowblower will make it easier to get around the hay yard and clean the calves' yards.  It will also help keep the road to the highway clear.   I really hope we don't get that much, but now DH is prepared for the worst.

Now that the girls are gone I can get all my sewing stuff out again.   So many quilts, so little time.  I should have January and February to sew.  I really need to get projects out and get organized to finish some things.  Of course, all the new BOMs will start in January and I haven't finished any BOMs from last year.  I need to catch up on Raggedy Ann & Friends.  What to do next?  I need to do borders for one Pinwheel quilt, sash the Jelly Roll blocks, make 3 more Pinwheel blocks in the purple/green colors and practice my Free Motion Quilting.  There are some Snowbound blocks to make and quite a few blocks to embroider for a variety of projects.  Oh my, but I can't resist starting the new BOMs.

The first BOM is from a German blog, All About My Quiltshop Kaleidoskop.  There is a translator gadget on the right side.    

I love hearts.  This is such a pretty design.  I'm going to do this BOM or at least save the patterns.

Little Miss Shabby is starting a BOM in January called Birdie Stitches.  Of course I can't resist this BOM either.  What's a blogging quilter to do?  So many cute BOMs and so little time.  : (

There is going to be a Blog Hop with Valentine Designs.  I bet there will be some give aways too.  It's good to get started thinking about Valentine themed projects now.  You know how I love those blog hops.  : ) I put the button on the right side.

Do you struggle with all the wonderful things there are to do online?   I'm not going to let it overwhelm me.  I'm just going to enjoy working on whatever I am working on whenever I have time to work on it.  This is suppose to be fun--right? 

Merry Christmas Friends

Apron Fun

I wanted to surprise my sister with aprons for her granddaughters for their annual Christmas cookie baking and decorating day.  I found this tutorial on line.  It has a template pattern and very good directions.  I added a pocket and a ruffle to it.  I liked this apron because there are no ties to tie.  The neck strap slips over their head and the belt fastens with Velcro.  This way a child can put on their own apron without adult help.  I think they will like that.

I had fun fusing a flower and a couple bugs on this pocket.

I love this cupcake fabric.  I'm wondering if I should have made both aprons out of the same fabric.  My girls liked their clothes and toys to be different and not identical.  I know sometimes it's better not to have hard feelings over both liking the same item.   I can always make a third one if I need to.  lol

I enjoyed sewing these easy aprons today.  Now it's time to start cleaning up my sewing mess and turning the rooms back into bedrooms.  Michelle and Jen will be home next Wednesday for Christmas.   I need to change bedding and vacuum up fabric scraps.  And put alot of stuff back where it belongs. 

It's been cold here, but we have missed all the snow storms and blizzards that they have gotten east of us.  I'm sure we will get our turn eventually, but it's nice not to have "feet" of snow to deal with yet. 

A Few of My Favorite Things Quilt

I finished up Rocco's quilt today.  This is A Few of My Favorite Things by Heidi Pridemore.  This is one of the kits I won from Quiltmaker.  The fabric is designed by Heidi too.  The sashing strips are leashes.  The borders have leashes, bowls, slippers and other doggy favorites.

I did fusible applique and button hole stitch by machine.  The embroidery is back stitch by hand.

Oops,  there's a string to pick off on the fire hydrant.  I wanted the quilt to be soft for Rocco, so I just stitched in the ditch around the blocks and echo quilted the appliques.

In the outside border I machine quilted Rocco's name and hearts.

Roc was a good sport about posing.  He knows what sit and stay mean--even tho he is kind of camera shy.  Sorry about the red eyes--note to Santa:  I could use photo shop software.  : )

I put navy blue minkee on the back. It is so nice and soft.  It also matches his new bed.  He's so spoiled getting his presents before Christmas.  lol

You may be wondering where my Christmas decorations are---they are still in their boxes.  Today is Jennifer's birthday.  She and I both have December birthdays.  I have always waited until after our birthdays to decorate for Christmas  So I better start looking in that dreaded closet--that may be another reason I have waited. 

We don't make much ado about Christmas in our family.  Jesus is the reason for the season and family time is the biggest gift we give to each other.  Some of that tradition comes from my having worked at the Post Office for 30 years.  Even tho I have more time since retirement, simple celebrations are the way we do our thing.   I'm not knocking the way other people do theirs.  I enjoy all the lights, music and commotion I see other people doing, but self imposed stress doesn't make anyone happier at our house. 

I'm off to start a little surprise Christmas project.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Birthday Book Winners

The winners of the books are:

Shannon won Simplify

Michele won Bloom Creek Quilts

Apple Avenue Quilts won 16 Brides

Congratulations!  I hope you all enjoy your books.

Runner Contest

I entered my Gingerbread Dancers table runner in the Quilting Gallery's weekly contest.  They have a themed quilting contest every week.  This week is for table runners.  This is the first time I've entered.  I'm not asking for your vote, but follow the link to see all the pretty runners. Vote for the one you like best.   Michele does so much work keeping the Quilting Gallery on line.  There are fun contests, swaps and lots of  blogs to read.  If you've never been to her site, check it out.

The baby calves born last spring have grown up.  Today we weaned them from their mothers.  The youngsters are in one pen.  The mothers are in another.  There is a strong fence in between.  There will be a lot of bawling going on for about 3 days and nights.  

This little guy is what happens when "the boys" don't stay in their pen.  He was born about 2 weeks ago.  It will be a cold winter for him.  He's doing well snuggled in the hay.  We'll keep him and his mom near the barn, so they can go inside when it gets real cold.

I'm in the process of drawing the book winners.  I'll announce them in the next post.  I had planned on sewing this afternoon, but I have a migraine.  I don't function very well with one of those.  Rocco and I are hanging out until my meds kick-in.  I want to put the borders on Rooco's quilt and start the sandwich.   I can't believe it's Friday already.   Jen will be home for Christmas in 12 days.  Michelle has finals next week.  She will be home the days Jen is.   Can you tell I'm smiling?

Frosty Morning

Thank you for  all the birthday wishes!!  It was a good day.  I'll draw for the books on Friday.  There is still time to comment if you haven't yet.

It was a beautiful frosty fairyland this morning.  I had to take a few pictures for you.   The little tree that the cats love to climb is loaded with thick white frost.  The sun was so bright and the sky a gorgeous shade of blue. 

Of course, it wasn't much fun driving home in the fog last night!!  We went to Aberdeen (about 90 miles north and east of the ranch) for the day--my birthday.  : )  We did some farm supply shopping and went out for supper with one of DH's sisters and her husband.  The last 45 miles home was pretty foggy in places.  It was -2 F when we got home about 9:00 pm.  Brrrrr.  As you can see we don't have hardly any snow yet.  Aberdeen has about 8 inches.

No surprise this morning to find out that the heater in the shop wasn't working.  Whenever the temperature is below zero you can count on something not working.   lol  Thank goodness DH got good advice over the phone from our propane man.  He had it going after 3 trips to the shop.

The haygrinder came today.  I thought you might like to see the machine that grinds the big hay bales into ground hay.  DH is feeding the grinder the big bales.  We mix the ground hay with silage and oats in the feed wagon to feed to the cows.  He ground bales for 2 hours for $500.00.  The price has gone up since last year.  Hasn't everything?

The cattle have been in the fall pastures.  Last week we brought them home and worked them.  The calves got fall shots and everyone was "poured" to kill lice, grubs and worms.   In a few days we will wean the calves.  There will be alot of "bawling" going on. 

Oliver, Olivia and Lillian are back closer to home too.  Oliver has gotten bigger and has more brown spots on his coat. 

I didn't get to the sewing machine today.  Bookkeeping, cleaning and laundry needed to get done.  I'm hoping tomorrow is more "fun".