Monthly Archives: December 2017
Ram and new quilts
This hole was put into this new piece of plywood by this
ram head. He managed to get the hole large enough by ramming it to fit that whole head including the horns through it. The neighbors asked what the sound coming from our barn in the middle of the night was and we didn’t know. They said it sounded like firecrackers or a gun and repetitively sounded 4 times. It was across the driveway from the barn, but this is what all that noise was about. It certainly seems like he should have a large headache. This is the reason one never turns a back on a ram. He simply doesn’t need a reason. He was head butting the cedar trees later in the day.The other news is that I cut out the fabric 2 new quilts.
These are the fabrics for the Sherlock Holmes New Year Mystery
And these are for the Bonnie Hunter mystery “On Ringo Lake” She just put out the 4th step, so I’m a bit behind, but now the pieces are cut for these steps, and I just have to find time to catch up.
Though the garden is not growing very much or fast, we did get a sink full of kale today.Housekeeping clutter
Housekeeping clutter
I’m not sure where all this dirt and clutter comes from. Today was the day to move and sweep under and behind everything except the very heavy dressers in the master bedroom. This room has not been top priority the last few weeks as projects, mail, fleeces etc. have made their way in and not been designated a place to live. They get in here on the pretense they’re only going to be there a few minutes to possibly overnight and the next thing, it seems they have taken up residence.
Let’s start with the mail. There are the USB sticks I ordered and will take some time to study and learn the information they hold, but they belong where the cutting machine and computer are, not in the master bedroom. They just never made it downstairs to the studio.
Then there are magazines waiting to be read the last thing before lights out. Oh, and the mail, to which I want to respond immediately – but sometimes gets out of date before that happens -and the coupons to be used when I go to the store .
There is the yarn. The hanks just need to be rolled into balls and put on the “ready to use” shelf as a package with the pattern and needles. That takes about an hour to roll these hanks and put with the needles and pattern. And yes the box of knitting needles is here waiting for the correct needles to be put into those packages. Then the needle box can go back to its home. And there is a stack of printed patterns so I can decide what I want to knit next. There is even a pair of started socks in here in case I run out of something to do at night before lights are turned out.
There is the spinning wheel that lives over by the big window. That’s fine and there is room, but it invites fleeces that want to be tried and a sampled so we can market them.
And somehow gifts finished for Christmas land in here waiting for the bit of finishing and the big event.
Oh, I nearly forgot the seed catalogs are coming in and they must be looked at with half open eyes and the garden needs to be planned, so the seed can be ordered.
There are a few things with no home that somehow think if they make it this far, they will find a home.
I didn’t mention the planning book that goes everywhere with me so I have an idea of what I’m supposed to be doing. Nor does this include necessities like reading glasses and essential oils.
I am sure there is more, but you have the idea. Right now, there is not an empty surface and there are boxes on the floor (which is now clean) that need to be dealt with this coming week so that we can reclaim this room.
And why does the dogs comb and brush need to be in here? They really do have a home in the study.
I am truly wealthy and to have these issues is a blessing. People with nothing don’t have them. I am thankful.
Pink 9 patches
There are 4 more peapods finished and one more cut out, but I don’t have a zipper for it, so it will be a ufo until a zipper happens my way for it.
Then I pulled out the quilt pattern I am testing. It has several pink and white 9 patches.. I worked on them until my machine rebelled. When a machine misbehaves, it usually is operator error, so I shut it down for tonight and it will probably be just fine tomorrow.
Spool Souffle – a new quilt
Office Depot called my name today. I had not yet purchased my calendars and appointment book for this coming year. So calendars and 4 notebooks later, I left. I usually purchase them in September or October. I don’t know how this all sneaked up on me. Do you know how little of this year is left? Well, it is done.
This afternoon, I chose and cut large squares for the Spool Souffle quilt – a new quilt, that I plan to make the first part of the year. My plan is to cut out about 5 quilts for the first half of the year and go from there. Usually that’s about when it is time to start the garden. Of course there are other projects as well, but these will be totally new projects.
Bowl cozies done
The bowl cozies are done. I love the variety of colors. And that means I can cross the third item off my December check list. I’m working on the sheep registrations and we now have an ad up for the rental – though I’m not sure people really want to move this time of year. Maybe tomorrow I can advertise my sergers. It might be a good time to sell them as well as my Featherweight sewing machines in which I’m really not interested. It feels as though I am moving along on the list this month.
Accounts
Today I spent most of the day organizing receipts into notebooks. I was just that far behind. Now I can start putting entering them into Quicken. That would take the rest of the week and I don’t think I can take that much accounting, so I will intersperse with some easy sewing. My goal is to get all the accounts caught up before the end of the year so tax time won’t be so stressful.
And while I was doing this, John was making another feeder for the sheep and a young energetic fellow was weed whacking the fence line. There is also a tree to take off the fence (wind) and many branches, so he will be back in two weeks to help some more.
Hay delivered
Yesterday – 10 Tons of hay delivered. This should keep us until spring fills the pastures with grasses once again.
I was shivering cold at the end of these 3 hours. And I so appreciated the folks that helped get the hay off the truck and stacked into the barn. This should take us into the spring when the pastures green up again. When the truck left, I quickly went to get a few weekend groceries and then stayed in the house trying to get warm.
The following hat is very easy to make and has the pattern for several sizes. I’m hoping to get 2-3 made for myself for this winter.
This big outdoor dog may want to live a cat’s life. That’s a room heater he is lying in front of. When he went to the door, he poked his nose out, looked at me like “you’re kidding, it’s freezing out there”. I persuaded him that he would be happier out there. This same dog loves playing in snow.
Pattern testing
On occasion, I test quilt patterns for others. This one I need to have done by the first week of January is now cut out. I am loving the colors and the fabric is old enough, it probably came from my mother’s fabrics. But the bears on a picnic are cute and fit well with this pattern I will test.
Bowl cozies, scraps, and puppy
The bowls are now ready to top stitch. However, I’m have to get the light above the sewing machine replaced first. It seems the ballast is bad.
The cotton scraps are all finished though I will admit that the “large” pieces that went into the color buckets were getting smaller as the day grew longer.
Daisy is and will be a puppy for another year. We are lucky she found an egg carton to destroy. Even though she has bones, she still loves to shred anything she can find. We know that and we are the adults(?) here, so if it gets chewed, we have ourselves to blame.
Yes, I did big damage at Costco and will not be going again this year. But we have dog food and dog treats and sheep treats, and even some people food. You didn’t know Costco sold sheep food? That’s because you might not know how much they love the little animal cookies.
Scraps, scraps, scraps
Scraps, scraps, scraps – after a day and a half of cutting, I am 2/3 done. This smaller box is still waiting its turn.
These are what these squares look like all cut into usable pieces (I cut 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 and 6″ squares) and
these are the larger pieces, but not big enough to put with the fat quarters as well as lengths from bindings etc. These bins are all overflowing and remember I still have a box to do. I have no idea how many quilts can be made with all these, but it will be several. I feel as if I should invite you over to play in my sandbox – well scrap box, and we could make some very pretty quilts.
Cutting gives me lots of reflection time. I remember the quilts made from the fabrics, and sometimes I think about the scraps of my life and how they have come together with Master Quiltmaker in charge. And yes, there are still pieces for which to find a special use.
Tomorrow is Costco time. The dogs are wanting treats and the DH would like a few things as well.