Monthly Archives: March 2016

2016
03/31

Category:
Knitting
Life

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Today there is only a bit of knitting. I had to decide which yarn and which pattern, which became overwhelming and I just went with basic simple socks. I can work on them this month when I can’t do other things.

Since I woke at 2.30 this morning and didn’t get back to sleep for 3 hours, when I did, I overslept. But that was only the start. We went to the doctor an hour away, had a burrito at Whole Foods and then I decided to check out 30/10 weight loss. I have seen what it has done for others. So I did the interview and decided that the program isn’t one with which I’d be happy. There has to be a better way to lose a few pounds. Tomorrow starts a new month, perhaps that’s a good time to start. I do know the less sleep I get, the more I tend to snack.

We made a couple more stops and came home in time to put the animals to bed. Why does being in the car a good share of the day, wear a person out? The weather was so beautiful one should be rested.

And next week promises another curve. I will be having cataract surgery on eye #1 on Tuesday, April 5th and two weeks later the other eye. The doctor promises I will see better and that colors will be brighter. That’s interesting, because I think they are bright now. April will not be a boring month.

2016
03/30

Category:
Garden
quilts

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Another gloriously, beautiful day spent mostly outside. I mean, when one finally gets the sun, how could one stay inside? More potatoes have been planted. These had very long sprouts on them, because it took so long to get enough sun to plant.

And more work planting starts and soaking the peas. This may be what I do for the next two weeks. The sweet potato starts are next to go in the ground. – hopefully Friday. And it’s already time to start squash and pumpkins. How does one keep up and do anything else?

After dark, bit by bit, this is getting appliqued down. I just have the black of the eyes to do and then pull off all the paper from the back.

2016
03/29

Category:
farming

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SUNSHINE

Marvelous, glorious, beautiful sunshine in the Pacific Northwest!

So today we let the sheep roam to find goodies outside the pasture, which means I wandered around with them to be sure they didn’t get into anything they weren’t supposed to, or be on the driveway leaving pellets. It’s much like watching small people and making sure they stay out of trouble. But oh, what an enjoyable morning we had. Here they are back of the house by the hoop house.

And here they are by the raspberries which are fenced off as last year we found they love raspberry leaf.

Julliette, a quesant sheep, still thinks she is a dog as she was originally raised by dogs, so when Beau came on the deck, so did she.

And when Beau wanted in the house, so did she.

And the party is over and they are happily back in the pasture.

2016
03/28

Category:
farming
food
Garden

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FOOD

The runs to the feed store are getting more frequent with more mouths to feed.

These were careful attendants, making sure that the food was put away correctly. And the sheep are also watching from the other side of the car – behind the fence.

I did buy a couple herbs as shown here. In these trays, I have several vegetables as well as some flowers. They are ready to be transplanted to larger containers, but not yet the garden

And some 20 cauliflower starts as everywhere I went, the seed had sold out. I must order some though as I will want to plant more. I have a some lettuce, potatoes, and cabbage on this side. Just enough to get buy until the bigger crop comes up.

2016
03/27

Category:
farming
Garden
Life
spinning

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Today’s Rodeo

Sometimes, this place really and truly is a zoo. Today, we had to give some of the sheep shots and others got larger coats, which they need every 3 months. We didn’t have enough coats the right size and so will order more and 4 still need to be sheared plus the alpacas. And our ram has decided that at least one girl was missed and he should take care of her.

But look at this heavenly wool. It is a dream come true and hand spinners love it. This and the enjoyment we have from watching the sheep make it so worth the little troubles.

Before the rodeo, we had a couple strong helpers out here turning the garden beds, in which we hope to get the potatoes planted this week. The garden is also getting vermiculite and possibly peat moss this year. The weather report has sun through Saturday. which is good, as we are a bit behind. We didn’t use most of these beds last year, so they had two years of growth on the weeds. That was a huge mistake. We should have at least covered the beds with mulch.

2016
03/25

Category:
Life
quilts

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New mattress!

Today the mattresses arrived! And the weather cooperated with sunshine. These news beds are so high, yet there is less room under the bed. Interesting.

And here is the mattress for the guest room. I guest it is time to unpack the furniture to make it a welcome room.

This box holds a few more bags of pieces, but since the quilts are not yet quilted, I’m not ready to cut the remainder into squares and applique pieces. If feels like much was accomplished and the floor is still clean. I can either start new quilts, or tackle all those squares and make more quilts with them. Such a decision!

I’m praying that each of you who celebrate Easter have a safe and enjoyable family time, remembering the reason for the occasion.

2016
03/24

Category:
food
Garden
Life
quilts
Shopping

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Cleaning

Do you remember these sweet potatoes that I put in water. Today I was able to take the starts off them and put them in the water. There are probably 12-15 starts in this jar

Today, I mopped all the floors upstairs, then we went to our chiropractic appointment and to Whole Foods, where we wandered, looking for new products that didn’t have oil. Now that is challenging. We found some Engine 2 crackers and pizza crusts, but not much else. However, since we were there and I am behind in starting seeds, we picked up some cauliflower, broccoli and other starts – about 1 in all. Most started cups had about 4 starts in them if I am careful when I transplant.

Every so often, messes get to the point that I can no longer think. Today, I was at that point.

No more walking room, so they went on the cutting table and I mopped the studio floor as well.

I can now walk through the room,

However, I needed to take care of all these scraps in the boxes.

Just as these weren’t all created in a day, they will not all get taken care of in a day. I will leave the larger pieces by color, cut some of the smaller pieces into various squares and leave the strips for a strips quilt someday

2016
03/23

Category:
quilts
Sewing

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Microwave bowl cozy

Our first microwave bowl holder is holding up well, but can only service one person at a time. So it was time to make another holder.

Using the free pattern by “aquiltedpassion“, I cut two 10” squares from my cotton fabric (or for reversible, use 2 different pieces) and 2 pieces of cotton batting a bit smaller. This must be the Warm and Natural batting made for microwave use. JoAnn’s carries it as do other stores. Also use cotton thread as you do NOT want a microwave fire.

Then sew the 4 darts in each piece and trim to 1/4″

Trim corners and snip at the darts to help turn Place the two bowls right side together and sew leaving a 3″ opening to turn.

Next topstitch around which also closes the opening through which you turned this.

And you have a fast and easy cozy for you bowl, which you can put into the microwave to hold your bowl while heating and then take to the table to eat the food. They also make wonderful gifts. They sell for 7.95 up on Ebay or Etsy.

Here is a video if that makes it easier for you to follow.

2016
03/22

Category:
quilts

COMMENTS:
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Frustration

I spent several hours over the last few days trying to get my quilting machine threaded to sew a good stitch and at this point, I think it needs service. So with this frustration, I pulled out some of these squares.

Remember all the 2.5 inch squares I cut out some time ago. I’m not sure yet, how it will look, but it helped soothe the nerves to sew squares together. I still have many scraps to cut into squares. So eventually there will be more squares and they will turn into a quilt.

2016
03/21

Category:
Sewing

COMMENTS:
4 Comments »

10 minute table runner

This is a very easy table runner which is the width of your fabric when done. Thank you, Sally, for the suggestion.

Take 12″ of your focus fabric and 18″ of the bottom fabric, width of fabric. Place right sides together and sew each of the long edges. No, they won’t match, because you want the bottom one to fold over to the top.

After sewing, you have a tube to turn right side out. (I pressed the seams to the center before turning). Then press so the borders are the same width.

Fold the end together toward the bottom side. Can you see my line of stitching (near the top of photo) where I sewed the end closed. Repeat on other end.

When opened, it looks like this. I pressed the seam you see before turning it to the inside.

Then because I had the sheep buttons, I sewed them on, but it is totally optional.

One can use this idea for any occasion. I’m thinking flowers for spring, flags for July, etc. This one is for our table for Shabbat and I made another matching one as a gift for a friend. Most of the time spent was choosing fabric and cutting it.

Monthly Archives: March 2016

Today there is only a bit of knitting. I had to decide which yarn and which pattern, which became overwhelming and I just went with basic simple socks. I can work on them this month when I can’t do other things.

We made a couple more stops and came home in time to put the animals to bed. Why does being in the car a good share of the day, wear a person out? The weather was so beautiful one should be rested.

Another gloriously, beautiful day spent mostly outside. I mean, when one finally gets the sun, how could one stay inside? More potatoes have been planted. These had very long sprouts on them, because it took so long to get enough sun to plant.

And more work planting starts and soaking the peas. This may be what I do for the next two weeks. The sweet potato starts are next to go in the ground. – hopefully Friday. And it’s already time to start squash and pumpkins. How does one keep up and do anything else?

After dark, bit by bit, this is getting appliqued down. I just have the black of the eyes to do and then pull off all the paper from the back.

The runs to the feed store are getting more frequent with more mouths to feed.

These were careful attendants, making sure that the food was put away correctly. And the sheep are also watching from the other side of the car – behind the fence.

I did buy a couple herbs as shown here. In these trays, I have several vegetables as well as some flowers. They are ready to be transplanted to larger containers, but not yet the garden

And some 20 cauliflower starts as everywhere I went, the seed had sold out. I must order some though as I will want to plant more. I have a some lettuce, potatoes, and cabbage on this side. Just enough to get buy until the bigger crop comes up.

But look at this heavenly wool. It is a dream come true and hand spinners love it. This and the enjoyment we have from watching the sheep make it so worth the little troubles.

Today the mattresses arrived! And the weather cooperated with sunshine. These news beds are so high, yet there is less room under the bed. Interesting.

And here is the mattress for the guest room. I guest it is time to unpack the furniture to make it a welcome room.

I’m praying that each of you who celebrate Easter have a safe and enjoyable family time, remembering the reason for the occasion.

Do you remember these sweet potatoes that I put in water. Today I was able to take the starts off them and put them in the water. There are probably 12-15 starts in this jar

Every so often, messes get to the point that I can no longer think. Today, I was at that point.

No more walking room, so they went on the cutting table and I mopped the studio floor as well.

I can now walk through the room,

However, I needed to take care of all these scraps in the boxes.

Just as these weren’t all created in a day, they will not all get taken care of in a day. I will leave the larger pieces by color, cut some of the smaller pieces into various squares and leave the strips for a strips quilt someday

Our first microwave bowl holder is holding up well, but can only service one person at a time. So it was time to make another holder.

Then sew the 4 darts in each piece and trim to 1/4″

Trim corners and snip at the darts to help turn Place the two bowls right side together and sew leaving a 3″ opening to turn.

Next topstitch around which also closes the opening through which you turned this.

And you have a fast and easy cozy for you bowl, which you can put into the microwave to hold your bowl while heating and then take to the table to eat the food. They also make wonderful gifts. They sell for 7.95 up on Ebay or Etsy.

Here is a video if that makes it easier for you to follow.

I spent several hours over the last few days trying to get my quilting machine threaded to sew a good stitch and at this point, I think it needs service. So with this frustration, I pulled out some of these squares.

Remember all the 2.5 inch squares I cut out some time ago. I’m not sure yet, how it will look, but it helped soothe the nerves to sew squares together. I still have many scraps to cut into squares. So eventually there will be more squares and they will turn into a quilt.

This is a very easy table runner which is the width of your fabric when done. Thank you, Sally, for the suggestion.

Take 12″ of your focus fabric and 18″ of the bottom fabric, width of fabric. Place right sides together and sew each of the long edges. No, they won’t match, because you want the bottom one to fold over to the top.

After sewing, you have a tube to turn right side out. (I pressed the seams to the center before turning). Then press so the borders are the same width.

Fold the end together toward the bottom side. Can you see my line of stitching (near the top of photo) where I sewed the end closed. Repeat on other end.

When opened, it looks like this. I pressed the seam you see before turning it to the inside.

Then because I had the sheep buttons, I sewed them on, but it is totally optional.

One can use this idea for any occasion. I’m thinking flowers for spring, flags for July, etc. This one is for our table for Shabbat and I made another matching one as a gift for a friend. Most of the time spent was choosing fabric and cutting it.

Enjoy and send a photo of what you have made.

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