As you can clearly see, I managed to reverse one of the two foxes. I should have a fox headed each direction which is not the case. Since the first one was created last year, I don’t remember enough to know what I did differently. I know that the vellums that came as the pattern were pointed opposite directions. They turned out the same size so it is not a big thing.Paper pieced fox 2
We are having major infrastructure remodel on our property. In order to stay sane, I have taken my little paper piecing blocks back out and am working on them. This is the second little fox. It takes concentration for me to get the pieces on right so that when flipped they are in the right place. I now have all the pieces sew and hopefully this weekend I’ll get the block put together.
Little pieces make my day
It’s the little pieces that make my day. I finally purchased a new flannel backed tablecloth so hopefully my quilt pieces will stay up better. The last one was up for 2 plus years and had many extra threads on it. The cost was 1.50 and should have been done last year.
I had to go south to pick up the x-ray disc from the doctor there to take to the ankle doctor in Seattle next week. I asked them to forward it by computer which is what they usually do. They didn’t have what I thought a good reason that they didn’t want to do this. So I got to spend two hours going after the disc.
Now, since there is a wedding the end of the month, I need a dress, so Nordstrom’s Rack was my next stop. It’s amazing. I had this little talk with God, telling Him my needs and that I didn’t like shopping and wasting that time, would He please help. He did. I found exactly one dress that fit and that will work great for this purpose at a very low price. So half an hour was all it took to take care of a chore I dislike. I frequently have these talks with my Heavenly Father and am still amazed that He cares so much. No, I don’t always get what I ask for, but many times I do.
After checking in on the sheep and feeding them a bit early, I planted the tomatoes and peppers that I had started last month. I am hoping for enough energy to keep this garden going. So far, I have lettuce, sugar peas (which need stringing), garlic, and onions in as well as the winter crops that aren’t quite done. I have beets and zucchini that are started and are ready for planting – maybe tomorrow. I try to get just a half hour including watering in 3-4 days a week. I hope that will be enough to get everything growing and the weeds down.
Skirting fleeces
My neighbor came over today and we spent a good amount of time skirting fleeces for the show in 2 weeks. We first put them on this table which is made from spaced PVC tubes. Then we take off all the bad parts around the edges, neck, rear, all around. We checked to make sure there were no breaks in the fleece and removed as much of the hay, weeds, whatever they embedded in their fleeces as we could. We then rolled them up with the cut side up, and slipped them in plastic bags, ready for the judge to look at as well as the buyer.
We have many more fleeces to go through, clean and advertise.
I did get some more tomatoes started today. I’m hoping for a long summer so they will get ripe.
Practice piece
Today I worked on a practice piece – a free little mini quilt from Sassafras Lane Designs. I found several places for improvement, which was not a surprise. It had more difficulty in cutting and sewing these small pieces, so this was good practice. I also found that my sewing was fairly accurate, but I need take more care with the cutting. I sewed each of these quilting lines from the top down. Next time, I will alternate stitching one line from the top and the next from the bottom to see how much difference that would make. If I were to quilt a “real” piece, I would starch it until stiff as the back became shorter an inch shorter than the front in this small piece. Then I would spray glue it together so the top and bottom fed evenly. Or I could just allow extra backing if doing this on the domestic machine. I ended up trimming an inch off the bottom and the top. It finished at 8.5 x 10″ and out of scraps. I will use it for a mug rug when have a small plate of something with a drink. It was a good learning experience.
Road work, tagging
Road work has been the “item” the last two days, the men have been working on this road which has been a big mud problem. It is 300 plus feet long and in the wet winter can try to eat a vehicle. Midweek they will be laying the gravel. (and I’m betting we will be on a starvation diet after this expense). But what a treat it will be to walk up to the barn from the house (you see the garage in the distance) on dry ground.
Yesterday after sweeping, mopping and other household chores we spent considerable time
tagging the babies that are big enough – actually we were a bit late in tagging and had to watch to see which lambs claimed the rights to which mother. Rams are tagged in the right ear, ewes in the left. This is Kaarstan, a keeper. She is gorgeous and will be shown this fall. She was born February 13, so is about a month and half. They grow so fast.
Dinnertime is crowd time.
We pray each of you has a wonderful Passover, Easter, or maybe just a wonderful Sunday tomorrow.
Shopping
Shopping was my word for today. Beau went with me to get the sheep grain. I didn’t think ahead or I would have left him home. He usually lays down in the back of the wagon, but when these bags of grain were loaded, he had a difficult time as they are bagged in that slippery plastic paper. At first he slid around a lot and then he found a place for each of his 4 feet straddling the bags and planted himself. He probably won’t want to go next time.
For lunch I made tabouleh with some of the parsley I picked yesterday. I then made falafel patties to go with it, which made a great lunch and there is enough for another meal.
Then off shopping again. We signed up at a new gym, and shopped Costco, Fred Meyers, and Office Depot. We came home shopped out.
Cooking/gardening day
My cooking/gardening day began in the kitchen. I found another 10 jars of pear sauce to turn into pear butter since we eat the one, but not the other. So I filled the slow cooker with the sauce and will cook it down to a bit less than 1/2 what it is now. Then I went out to the hoop house. The weeds have started growing again with this warmer weather as well as the plants. So I spent time removing them and picking produce, I pulled the rest of the Brussels sprouts which were starting to flower. I picked then pulled out half of the winter broccoli which is basically done. The winter cabbage is still there along with half the broccoli plants.
I washed and stemmed the parsley. When I was done I had these 2 full gallon bags of parsley ready to use. I washed, cooked, and froze the broccoli. Winter broccoli is very different from spring broccoli in that it doesn’t have the nice big clusters, but rather many shoots with buds which are very tender. So between weeds, harvest, and cleaning, I filled the day. It seems to take as long to prepare some of these foods as it does to plant and water them.
As time goes by socks finished
“As time goes by” socks are finished! I wished the toes had ended on a dark color, but that is one of those things one doesn’t know when starting.
Then we went to a book signing at Whole Foods with author RIP Esselstyn from Engine 2 foods. We were quite sure we would freeze to death before it was over, but we didn’t. It was interesting, however, we didn’t buy anything. When I buy a cookbook, I use 1 or 2 recipes and I wasn’t about to put out 25.00 for that. I can get plenty from the internet now.
Spool Soufflé and Colorful Mountains
This is what happens when your body hasn’t decided if it is on the East or West coast timeline.
Spool Souffle has had trouble coming to the front and getting finished. But it is now and ready for gifting. It measures 62 x 74″ and is ready for gifting. It is a Fat Quarter shop pattern.
Colorful mountains is a block in general public information and I used a fat quarter pack which I have no idea how I acquired, along with a pale blue for sky. I used the leftover pieces for binding and the back is also a leftover piece of backing. So this quilt used pieces that had not yet found a home. It measures 55″ square and is a perfect lap quilt size.
And that is what happens when your body hasn’t decided if it is on the East or West coast timeline.