Finally back in the saddle

 I'm finally back on track with my quilting projects.  I've set up a small area in my bedroom and have been busy getting a few projects done.  I have quite a few projects listed on my sidebar, and sadly, that's not even all of them.  I'm serious.  It's kinda crazy.

I thought I'd just post today with the projects that I have completed the past few months.  

This wool wallhanging was a pattern and kit from Buttermilk Basin.  My mom and I were lucky enough to go up and visit a few months ago.  It was so much fun.  We took a class because although I knew some of the basics, it's always best to take a class from the people who know all the tricks.  I still have to quilt this but it almost done and ready to hang.

This fabric and kit was from last year that was so popular and I just fell in love with the colors.  Its off to the quilter right now and hopefully will be back soon to enjoy the cooler summer nights.

This was a BOM from Fort Worth Fabric Studio this past December and January. It has a light blue minky back and is all quilted and bound now.  I'm excited to use it this next winter.

I am so far behind on this.  I literally just finished putting the binding on.  The problem is that it is a wedding gift for a friend's daughter and her wedding was last September.  I'll hopefully get this into the mail this week.

I'm excited to get more and more projects done.  This week, I hope to catch up on some much needed yard and flower bed work.  We literally had 5 days of rain and its just so wet outside.  Its supposed to be 80 tomorrow so I hope some of the yard will dry out.  We really need it!!  

Have a wonderful week!

Hubby's quilt

 My husband is always freezing.  In the winter, he has about 8 blankets on when we go to sleep and about 4 in the summer.  Meanwhile, I'm dying under 2 blankets of heat.  It's pretty funny and we share many jokes about how cold he is all the time.

He's over an over the road trucker during the weekend and made a comment how he sometimes gets cold sleeping in the semi.  I put together this flannel quilt with wool batting and cuddle backing.  He's had it for about two weeks and commented that its almost too warm.  I can't win.  hahahaha.

I am working on the following projects this month.  Several are for Christmas gifts:

• 2 Christmas table runners (for my house)
• 1 Christmas table runner (for Hallie)
• 2 Christmas table runners and placemats (for Trey)
• A lap dinosaur quilt for my step grandson
• A lap truck quilt for my other step grandson
• A rag flannel quilt for the house
• A few small embroidery projects
• I need to quilt the Christmas quilt I put together last year

Lots to do and I'm already behind.  I'm hoping to get the small projects done this year.  Hallie is moving into her first apartment next week and I hope to make some quick projects to help her decorate some for the holidays.  Trey moved into his last January so he needs some stuff to decorate his apartment.  I have the placemats almost done and the table runner needs to be completed.  I also have a wall hanging that he picked out from the quilt shop that I work for his wall that I will work on after the holidays.

Enjoy your week!!!

Canning is finally over and I've learned how to use my embroidery module

 The cold weather at night has really taken a toll on the garden and I'm almost grateful.  I'm entirely over tomatoes.  I've canned over 40 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 20 quarts of chili, 15 pints of salsa, and 10 pints of pizza sauce.  We still have tomatoes left and I just don't have the energy to do them anymore.

With cold weather approaching, I'm finishing up some projects outside this week and hopefully going to focus on the quilt projects I have lined up.

I took a class this week to learn how to use the embroidery module on my machine.  I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to making some really neat items.  We only worked on items on the machine but I learned how to embroider and how to applique.  What fun that was!

I've been working at the quilt shop for a few weeks now and really enjoy it. I love being surrounded by beautiful fabrics and quilts everyday!

Have a great weekend!

 I am finally able to stop working full time.  The kids need me at home more and quick frankly, with hubby out of town Monday through Friday (and sometimes Saturday), someone needs to be home more to take care of things around here.  Owning 12 acres with a huge garden and lots of animals takes a lot of work and time which neither of us has had.

In celebration of this and my birthday, I was able to buy a new Bernina machine with an embroidery module.  I am so stinking excited!!  

AND, while I was at the quilt shop, the owner and I were talking and she offered me a job.  I am so excited.  I cannot wait to start working there.  I'm not sure that I'll take any money home, but I'll have a great supply of everything!!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Busy season

 May through September is always super busy here on the farm.  This year we added potatoes and corn to our garden.  Unfortunately, the green beans and zucchini did not do well this year.  I did manage to make 50 quarts of spaghetti, 19 quarts of chili, 8 pints of pizza sauce, and 8 pints of salsa so far.  We've added 40 quart sized bags of corn to the freezer and I'm not sure about what to do with the potatoes yet.  We have so many and I'm afraid they will go bad before we can eat them all.  Our basement is not the driest so food down there doesn't do well.

In July, the girls were able to attend a very small prom that was put together for homeschool students.  Hallie attended with Courtnee.

We added ducks to the farm this year.  They are certainly entertaining....but they poop everywhere!

On the cutting board:

Working full time with farm life in the summer hasn't been very productive.  I've decided that next year, I will take time off.  Kevin's been hauling sileage so its a 12 hour day 7 days a week gig, for about 10 weeks.  There's just not enough time to get everything done.

Today, is my birthday.  Kevin surprised me by buying a accuquilt machine and some awesome dies for it.  I've been playing all morning long.

Hopefully, I'll be able to use it soon to make some nice projects.  Its just too busy these next few weeks.

Stay at home order

Our stay at home order has been extended until May 18th.  I am really  not surprised about that.  I'm almost enjoying getting some projects done around the house, although, the weather has made it difficult to clean the garage and barns out.  I hope to have the garage done this weekend, but I need to go and get some shelves to put all the toolboxes and other items on.  

I have made it a point to work on Courtnee's quilt every night for at least 30 minutes.  I hand pieced this quilt 6 years ago and it still isn't done.  I am working on quilitng the borders now, so my goal is to be totally done by the end of the month.  I hand pieced another just like it for Hallie, but she'd prefer a more grown up quilt now, so Kailyn will get this next one.  I need to get one made for Hallie and Tylar.  I don't know if they will be done by the end of the year, but I'm trying. I need to get into the habit of working on them, even if its just for 30 minutes each day.

Here is the quilt I'm currently hand quilting

The above kit is on my cutting board.  I need to get this done.  Living in a farmhouse, I'm decorating lmy farmhouse and I'm enjoying the different wallhangings and such I'm finding to make.  I also have a wonderful fabric to work on a new quilt for the living room.  The current one has been used by us for about 12 years and its about done.  I had found a wonderful barn wallhanging but I'm not sure if I am going to get that or not.  I'm not sure I need another project to do at this point.

I hope to also complete the following projects this year:

• Halloween quilt
• pumpkin wallhanging
• Christmas wallhanging

Have a wonderful week everyone!

I have returned......

It's been almost two years since I've posted so much has happened and our world is upside down now the covid-19.  We are in our fifth week of quarantine and it certainly has changed and challenged our lives.

Update on the last two years:

• We added cows and goats to our homestead.  We've had several calves and kids born this last year.  
• This year, we're adding more chicks (egg layers).  The last two years, we raised meat birds but decided not to do that this year.
• We are increasing our garden this year by adding corn and potatoes.  I am excited to add both of these.  We are also adding 70 strawberry plants and 4 raspberry plants.  We added two pear trees last year and we're adding another one this year along with 2 plum trees and two peach trees.  
• I finished an introductory course on herbalism this year.  I am adding 6 different herbs to our gardens; echinachea, st. John's wort, mullein, calendula, chamomile, and yarrow.  I've found a nice mulberry bush on our fence line so I'm excited to pick those this year.  I've also foraged elderberry and nettle on our property.  And I can't wait for the dandelions to come in so I can make some dandelion jelly.  I only made one batch last year and it delicious; tastes like honey.
• I'm working fulltime for a little over a year.   A nice retail job that gives me time to homeschool as I work mostly nights. 
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Quilting projects:

• So many projects so little time. I'm working on hand quilting the quilt for Courtnee that I started several years ago.
• I have a hen wallhanging I want to get done by the fall
• A pumpkin wallhanging to get done by the fall
• I hope to start handquilting Kailyn's quilt in the next month or so.  Hopefully, it won't take me years to get this one done

Have a wonderful day everyone!

still here

November and December are always busy when you work retail.  I started working full time in January.  This and homeschooling has really made me tired.  Too tired most nights to drag anything out to work on.  I've pulled out some hand items to work on and organized them in a bag next to my chair.  I'm also still working on Courtnee's quilt.  Hand quilting takes a while, especially when you don't work on it for months.  So, my focus is to get this quilted this summer and hopefully start quilting Kailyn's quilt.  Tylar likes the Sunbonnet Sue blocks I've worked on so I need to finish those up to start quilting that for her.  

First things first though, I need to get my house in order.  Time to spring clean and declutter.  Its getting crowded in here with all this stuff.  I hope to clean a lot out this summer to enter the winter months in a much better spot and frame of mind.  The schoolroom will also be transformed this summer into a family room with school items in a corner.  This should make a big difference.  I can't get things done when I am overwhelmed with the house being messy and disorganized.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Fall is here.....already!

I am so excited.  The kids got me a gift certificate at a quilt shop for my birthday.  I went on a weekend when it was 25% off and got the supplies to make two really cute wallhangings.  I would take pictures of the kits but I am too tired to drag out the camera.

I am working a lot lately.  I am now the shoe lead at the local Kohl's store.  I like it.  It's been pretty busy lately and I like to keep busy.  The department hasn't had a lead in a while so there were some fires to put out and I'm just now (six weeks later) getting things under control.  It will take a little bit more to get everything squared away but that's okay.  Keeps me busy.

With the garden wrapping up and homeschooling starting, I haven't quilted at all lately.  I hope to have Courtnee's quilt quilted by the end of October but we will see how it goes I guess.  

Take care and have a wonderful week!

13 months

It has been 13 months since I last posted.  Probably longer since I've done any quilting.  That saddens me deeply.  Quilting is a great creative outlet for me and an opportunity for me to have some "me" time.  It seems as the kids get older I have less time than when they were little.

I'm still homeschooling and that takes up a good chunk of my days.  I was also attending school online full-time since last summer.  And I started working a part time job in December.  I have many things to do here, around the farm also.  There just never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.

The garden is planted but we've had five inches of rain since Monday.  I'm successfully growing a bumper crop of weeds.  The flower beds haven't been touched yet (We had a very late winter here and then 6 inches of rain in May that I'm still trying to play catch up from.) I want to redo the flower beds so it may be August before those are done.

We bought 3 more goats (7 total now) and bought 3 pregnant cows.  One has calved and we bought a bottle feed from a neighbor.  We bought 35 laying hens.  My slackers from the past few years, stopped laying well last year and so we have new fresh hens, although it will be September before we have eggs.  We also bought 110 meat birds.  I found a couple that will butcher them very cheaply so we went with it.  Only 55 of the birds are ours, the rest are for 2 friends and Kevin's cousin.  

I have several projects I want to get done this summer.  Many are quilting projects but I really want to organize my genealogy stuff and enter in all the sources that I have.  I also want to get some scrapbooking done as Hallie graduates this next June and I want to have most of it done and not be scrambling.  

I hope to keep up with my blogging more and of course, my quilting.

Have a wonderful day!

I'm backkkkkkkkk.....

As our school year winds down, I find myself very busy indeed.

• I've been working for about two weeks already, with four more to go, on scoring standardized testing online.  Its a nice way to stock up some money for my trip this summer
• I've also started working at the local greenhouse (and so are the two oldest girls).  I only work two mornings a week for a few hours and only for a few weeks during the busy season.  Its enough money to pay for my veggies and hopefully some flowers too as I need to redo some of the beds.
• I start school again full-time in June.  I'm looking forward to completing my degree in history.
• The girls and I will be traveling to NY to see my family in July.  I'm excited.  I haven't been home in ten years.  When you have a large family and live on opposite coasts or different countries, its hard to afford to travel home.  It was cheaper for us to pay for my mom's ticket to come and see us.
•  I signed up for a quilting club at my local quilt shop!!!  I'm hoping to finish a few, quick projects and meet some new friends.  Here's the book the club will be working from:
  
   

• I'll be getting the garden ready this week for veggie planting.  Let the season of weeding and then freezing and canning begin!!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Gearing up for Christmas

I need to find my tablet so I can take pictures to upload with all my Christmas projects.  I've been busy making Christmas mug rugs for gifts, table runners for the house, wallhangings for the house, and knitting cowls for gifts.  Its been quite busy but I've been enjoying it alot.  I love doing hand work.

The littles lost my tablet somewhere and my phone is a "dumb" phone with talk and text only.  These are the times when I wish I had a smart phone.

The girls and I also made ugly Christmas sweaters for our American Heritage girls Christmas party tomorrow night.  I have to say, that they are pretty ugly.  We bought supplies from the dollar store and $4 shirts from Walmart. I'll try to post pictures of them too.

Enjoy everyone!

Gearing up for Christmas

I just received a box from Mary Maxim today full of wonderful yarn to make some cowls for Christmas gifts.  I plan on starting them today.

This weekend, I plan on starting a Christmas wallhanging, table runner, and placemats for my home.  I also plan on making a quilt for my hubby and some table runners as gifts.  

I haven't quilted in months and I'm just giddy looking at all of my Christmas fabrics and patterns.  I cannot decide what I want to work on first or with which fabric.

I am so very excited!!

Finally.....the end of a long and very busy road

These last few years have been really hard and really busy.  Trying to homeschool the kids and living virtually on our own for the last almost four years has been difficult.  Kevin retires at the end of this month and will finally be home.  I am so excited to have him home!!

This year has been busy for other reasons.  Our eldest graduated and starts at the community college next month.  And my step-son got married to his beautiful bride last month.  

Between all this and trying to get the garden in, I haven't sat down much this summer.  Once we return from hubby's retirement ceremony, the garden will be coming in strong and canning season will start.  In fact, I've already canned some strawberry jam, strawberry-kiwi jam, and some cherry jam.  I love jam.  So easy and fun to do!

In between all of this, I have to finish up hubby's active duty scrapbook.  Thankfully, its all patriotic so it shouldn't take too long to do.  I'm focusing on it one day this week and hope to get it down.  I also completed this wallhanging to honor his service:

 My dear friend blessed me with the embroidery.  I had asked if she could do his name, rank, and dates of service, and she sent the others to me also.  What a huge blessing!  I'm working on quilting it now.  I had quilt but its not that large and moving along quite nicely.  

I'm excited to have some more time to work on some quilts, wallhangings, and table runners that I've had stocked up to decorate my home with.  I have not had the time to do that and its been disappointing for me.  I'm happen to get some time soon!

Enjoy your fourth!!

An entire year?

Wow, has it really been a year since I've posted?  That is just horrible!!

Let's see, farm life keeps me very busy.  This year's canning was very successful.  I canned over 120 quarts of items for my pantry.  I made jellies for the first time and they are yummy.  My new favorite thing to do I think!

Homeschooling is going well and the kids keep me busy with their activities.  The girls just finished riding lessons that ran from April through October and they are also involved in American Heritage Girls. The three youngest participated in a little rodeo at the farm and played four games.  It was a blast!  And the oldest are involved in our church teen group.  TL is working and helping me out whenever he can.  He's just ended scouts with a great trip to Philmont Ranch in NM.  He really loved it.  I'm sad he won't eagle but this troop hasn't exactly been motivational or had great leadership so I understand. 

I've been busy working on knitting items for Christmas and hopefully working on some quilts.  I'm trying to finish up a few things here this week and then hope to focus each weekend on sewing and quilting.  I'll post pictures when I complete the projects.  I haven't even worked on anything for the house; which is awful.  I have so many ideas and things to do.  Just not enough time. 

I hope to post more frequently now to keep accountable for my quilting projects.  Enjoy a wonderful fall weekend!

TL at Philmont

Princess Buttercup riding Moonshine in the rodeo

Princess Daisy riding Moonshine in the rodeo

Bug-a-bug riding Windsor in the rodea

Hubby and Sissy this summer

Some quilting....mostly school

March of this past year I started working on my master's full time.  Between homework, homeschooling, and running kids to Boy Scouts, American Heritage Girls, and church activities.....I don't have much time to quilt.  But I did just finally finish a twin size and a wallhanging so I hope to have the binding finished up this week.  I have ten days off of school so I'm trying to clean out the garden, rake, paint, and quilt.  So here's what's been going on:

• TL got his driver's license!!!  Yippee!  Freedom for me!  That gives me two nights a week that I'm not running around anymore.  Well one, until popcorn sales are over for scouts...I'm the treasurer so I need to collect the money.
• My dad and his wife sold everything and bought an RV to travel full time.  He's here right now with a trailer filled with furniture that he has made so I'm trying to reorganize.
• The garden was pretty successful.  Didn't get alot of tomatoes but found out that the dog was going in and eating them so next year we will block them off from him.  The chickens also foraged so we ended up putting a fence up for them.  And we got hit with an early Sept frost that killed the tomatoes.....which was sad because I was just really starting to get some in.
• Canning went well....except for the tomatoes being short (I only got 14 jars of spaghetti sauce and 6 jars of chili), 15 pints of pickled beets, 14 quarts of green beans, 14 quarts of carrots, and 15 jars of apple pie filling....plus 15 quarts of pickles.  I need to up the green beans and carrots so I will be expanding that next year.
• We got a pig and a calf.  The pig will be butchered in December and the calf will be another year at least.  We hope to get two more pigs in the spring and another calf so we always have meat coming in.
• Wood is piled up for the winter.  We've had the heat on for a while already because its been chilly and windy.

Well I think that's it.  I have new pics of the kids (I think the ones on my sidebar are about three years old) and the quilts I've finished to post on here.  Will get that done hopefully by the end of the week.

Michelle

Update on my crazy life

TL and I had to go out and dig a drainage ditch...well, not really a ditch but a path for the melting water.  The ground is still frozen solid.  The snow is piled 6 feet high on both sides of the driveway with no where for the melting snow to go but sitting in a pool in the driveway.  The pasture next to the driveway is thankfully angled down from the driveway so we just had to shovel a path through the snow for it to move.  The problem was that we've had a few days of warmer temps so when we got to the bottom, there was ice about 4 inches deep and 18 inches wide lining the driveway.  TL had to take a hammer and screwdriver and chisel a path.  

I've started back to college.  This is the end of the second week.  I'm working through and seem to be doing okay so far.  Its hard and keeping me very busy but so far I'm really enjoying the classes.

TL had his belt test for Taekwondo and has moved up to his blue belt.

Princess became a teenager and got her braces a few weeks ago.

Her friends came over for the day and we had a Jamberry Nail party.  They spent hours doing each other's nails and had a blast.

I ordered my bifocals.  I pick them up next week.  I'm having a hard time doing my reading for school because I've been wearing my contacts and I can't see to read.  I'll have my glasses back on tomorrow because I'll be doing homework all day and I can take them off to read.  TL is getting new glasses too and hopefully contacts.  I've had to take him in two times to try to get them into his eyes.  Hopefully he will be more successful on Monday when we get our glasses.

Life is busy but good.  I've ordered a half a pig to put into our new freezer and our friend called to tell me that the 1/2 cow should be ready in a few weeks.  We rent our back 8 acres to him each year and in return get a 1/2 cow.  We're still hoping to get a few pigs and cows this year but we will see how it goes.  I'm not sure I can add anything else on my plate right now.  We may just get the pigs this year.

Enjoy your weekend!  We're supposed to get some snow!

Snow!

Although we haven't had a lot of snow this year, we've certainly seen our share of cool temps which means that the snow we've gotten hasn't melted.   The winds have been crazy this year with 25-35 mph being common with up to 50mph wind gusts.  The snow has picked up off the fields and blown into my driveway. 

Seriously, if we get any  more snow, there won't be anywhere to put it.

This is looking off of the deck.  You will notice that pile of snow next to it is higher than the deck.

This is that pile of snow next to the deck.  You can see how high it is next to the garage and playhouse

I literally cannot get to that barn right now.  That's where we store the wood.  My son is standing in front of that tree so you can see how high it is.  Its higher now after the driveway got plowed

The driveway which was clear before the blizzard.  Don't let it fool you, its 3-4 feet deep.

I promise that underneath that pile of snow is the stairs to get up on the deck

I've been busy doing household and homeschooling projects.  Quilting has been on the back burner while I've been getting things done and caught up.  I've also planned out the garden and expanded what we did last year, at least on paper.  There's no gardening in this weather.

I start school on the third.  Going full time to finish my masters in two years.  Its gonna be a struggle but worth it in the end.

Happy quilting everyone!

Update on my crazy busy life

Almost three months and not post?  And I haven't even done pictures today either.  ugh

I finally completed the wallhanging for the living room (one of two that I want to do).  I'm getting a hanger for it and will take pics of it up on the wall later this week.  

I am almost done quilting the littlest ones quilt.  Then its on to her next biggest sister and then the two big girls.  I should just do a quilt machine quilt for the big girls, but I hand pieced their quilts together when we lived in the fifth wheel and don't feel right about machine quilting them.

Reasons that I haven't keep up with much quilting and even less blogging:

• hubby was home for almost three weeks at Christmas time.  He managed to get several of his honey-do list items completed
• still homeschooling
• became an Explorer unit leader with American Heritage Girls
• treasurer for the Boy Scout troop
• volunteering for our after school program at church one day a week
• chauffeuring the teen to taekwondo
• chauffeuring the oldest two to our teen church program Friday nights (did I mention that I will be totally thrilled this summer when he gets his driver's license this summer!!)
• teaching at the homeschool co-op
• taking training sessions with Tapestry of Grace (a homeschool curriculum) for their advisor program
• working on all the paperwork for entrance into a master's program which I hope to start in March (y'know in my spare time, lol)
• laundry......seriously, who bought these kids that many clothes and why do they have to change them every single day?  Can't they wear the same clothes over and over and over again?  lol
• and whatever else I can find the time to do 

So you see, I really am busy although my hubby thinks I sit around and eat bon-bons all day long while watching Soap Operas.  

I'm off to complete some files that need to be updated because in the midst of all of my running this week, my desktop decided to die on  me.  Well, in fairness it was running.........just smelled like it was burning and about to start on fire so I turned it off.  

Have a wonderful and blessed week!

Just checking in

I have a bunch of projects I'm working on and trying to get done for Christmas.  I hope to have them completed before Thanksgiving.  I just found an adorable snowman flannel panel that I'm going to make some quick lap quilts with to save some money this year.  No problem, I have tons of flannel to make borders and lots of backing.  Except that apparently my box of flannels is still in storage in CA so I will have to go and pick up some yards of flannel.  Oh well.  It won't be too much though and I'll get several gifts out of it.

I have plenty of fat quarter Christmas fabric that I plan on making into table runners and placemats also.  I have enough batting to be able to do all of this and enough to baste the next twin size quilt that I'm working on for one of the littles.

I also need to quilt my son's quilt for his room.  I finished the top for his birthday in July and still have to quilt it. 

I hope to have pictures up later this weekend or early next week.

Happy quilting!!