Under the Needle

As busy as things are around here right now, I've managed to move a few projects forward in my sewing room these past 2 weeks. On Ringo Lake is pieced and now officially a top:

I love the brown scrappy border. It'll be a while before I get it quilted, but our little peach bush (yes, it is just a bush - the tree died, but it is coming up in another spot ) is in bloom and I wanted to catch a photo of it before the winds strip it of it's pretty flowers:

The wasps were out in full force

After the winds get done, there won't be any blooms left and once again we will be left peachless.

I also made all 168 HSTs for Sequoia and trimmed them up

Making a copy of the photo in the book was incredibly helpful in keeping things in order and it kept me from turning blocks around. I didn't have to bring the stitch ripper out even one time with this method:

                                              

As I pieced the blocks into rows

                           

and then into a top

                                          

I am looking for something for the back.

I also needed a baby quilt and bought this fabric (the dot is from my stash) when I made my trip to Texas a few weeks ago:

                                   

This pattern, called Petal Power, caught my eye

                        

It didn't take long to piece the blocks

                                         

I hope to get it to Jackie today, but I neglected to get a shot of the full top before heading out this morning.

 And the binding on this little quilt ought to be finished this week

This Week...

has not been conducive to stitching. Every Monday is sale barn day and on Tuesday we drove 3 hours to attend the bull sale where we purchase bulls every year.

                               

I did manage to get some hand stitching in during the drive

 This year we filled up our dance card with 16 pretty boys. I didn't walk through the pens with DH

 this year because I unhooked from the trailer and drove another hour north to sell DH's bobcat hides. I got back just as the sale started.

It was after 9 when we pulled back into the ranch and let the new residents out to have their fill of hay:

                                       


Then overnight, our gentle spring exploded with activity and wind:

                              

Folks complain about the wind, but I just shake my head. Unless you've experienced wind in the New Mexico desert, you have not experienced wind:


                                           

That's a horribly grainy shot, but I had to include it. And, no, you cannot just hole up in the house when it hits. Cattle still need to be fed, doctored, moved, sorted and when you're a rancher or farmer, staying inside is not an option. I was talking to a friend the other day and she said you just had to wait for it to pass and then shovel all the dirt out of your house. She got it right.

                             

On Thursday, the folks we bought the bulls from, delivered the rest of the bulls at noon and after dinner DH and I ran them through the chute

                                         

 to brand them:

                                        

With Skeet's help, we got it done:

                                        

That evening DH had a board meeting to attend so we drove into town for that and I bought groceries for all the extra folks I'll be feeding in the coming week.

Yesterday, my SIL came through at noon and today, my BIL came through at noon. Tomorrow I'll have 4 extras for breakfast because we are gathering steers to haul to the sale so again...I'm in the kitchen.

I think I'll have extras on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and then the kids will be here for Easter weekend with little T and apparently we're going to meet the newest member of the family:

                                                    

I dumped the boys out one morning too after breakfast and then scurried back to the house to fix dinner

Thankfully, there is no sale on the Monday after Easter, and Tuesday I'll have extras to feed again as we're sending out roping cattle to a sale and then we'll make a trip to watch them sell.

Plus DH is looking to get some more bulk feeders so we'll probably squeeze that in somewhere and they're still working on the new scale setup in spare time:

It's been nuts. I've been keeping sane by sewing when I can. I just got the binding on a little quilt so the long dry spell of no finished quilts might be coming to an end.

                                       

Somehow I have managed to get in some sewing. I'll be back with an update of that in a  day or two.

Cows Around

Our girl shared this tune with me last year and I shared it with Shelly, from Prairie Moon Quilts via e-mail yesterday. I thought it summed things up rather nicely as to our lifestyle around here.

 Click on link to play. I tried to add the photo, but it wouldn't play.

                                           Cows Around

I wish I knew how to make a slideshow, but alas, I do not

so I just added a few photos to this post:

                              

I thought we ought to begin each Monday at the sale barn with this song, but alas, I don't think they took me seriously. But come to think of it, I have control of the microphone...but I would also like to keep my job. :)

Those of you that aren't surrounded by bovines on a daily basis will just shake your heads, but my ranching readers will understand, and hopefully it'll give all of you chuckle.

It's funny, but it's funny because there's a lot of truth in it!

                                           

 I'm so thankful we get to make a living this way

Thanks, Corb!

                         

Doesn't Everybody...

get up at 1:30 in the morning and bake cookies,

wash laundry,

                           


and make HST's?

I am a champion sleeper. I need my sleep. And it is a rare night when I cannot sleep. Both DH and I were up at 1:30 this morning. He got up and read a little and watched a little TV.

I have a crew to feed this morning, but with the time change, they won't even be here until 6:30.

And according to my calculations,

                                                     
 I'll be about ready for a nap then!

Under the Needle - March

I made a trip to spend some time with my mom so that explains my lack of posts lately. Plus, the days are just moving much faster than I am these days.

I worked on getting a binding on while I was there, but I've still got one side to go. I actually started binding this when the Olympics began, but it's a big quilt and I didn't get as much time to to watch as I had planned:

I've been making some progress in my mystery sewing for On Ringo Lake. I managed to get all the blocks made

as well as the sashing, but I wasn't crazy about it. Then this variation popped up in my Pinterest feed one day:

I loved it. There is only a photo. It doesn't lead anywhere and I cannot find the original source. It only mentions that it was pieced by Forest Jacobsen. This seems to be an EQ variation so I tried to discern what changes were made. I knew I needed 6 extra 9-patches so I made those and I pieced the original sashing pieces into blocks for the borders - which required I spend some quality time with my stitch ripper since I already had them pieced to use as sashing. These run along the top and bottom:

And these are for the side borders:

Then I figured out what shape I needed in order to complete the setting triangles and I cut and pieced those. I'm sure there was a simpler way to go about this, but this was what worked for me:

                                  

The top is the original setting triangle and the bottom is the new setting triangle

Then I finally settled on a scrappy brown border because I had a pile of 3 1/2" strips left. I added to these and cur them for a 5" border:

                             

And  I pulled this blue from my stash for the backing. I bought the rest of the bolt years ago for $3 a yard and it finally found where it belongs. Plus, there was just enough!

                                        

There was no sewing last week, but I'm close to finishing this one:

I really wanted to get started on the quilt for our girl, but I knew if I didn't get this top together, it would linger in some forgotten corner and I was hoping to avoid that.

I worked on Monday, fed the crew breakfast and dinner on Tuesday and tended to a big pile of mail and paperwork, but today I can focus on getting blocks pieced for the Sequoia quilt: