Under the Needle: February

 Last time I checked, there were still 24 hours in a day, but they sure are flying by. Seems like I just did the last Under the Needle post. In January, I started this scrappy Christmas quilt and got all the blocks made. I pieced the top  this month and made the binding so it's ready to hand off to Jackie

Our boy brought the quilt I made him when he went to college (2008), home over Christmas, and asked if I could repair a small hole in it. Of course! I love that he loves it. It is definitely showing it's age. A college kid, turned Marine, turned husband, turned Daddy...this quilt has earned its wrinkles. The binding is looking tattered as well so I made new binding, attached it to the back and am currently hand stitching it in the evenings.

I hear, all the time, that hand sewn binding is not as sturdy as machine stitched binding, but I'm hear to debunk that myth because this quilt has been used hard, loved hard and has traveled the world and not a single stitch has loosened.

This quilt was also made with fabric from Walmart. I hear the gasps. It was almost the first quilt I made and I didn't know about quilt shops, but I had access to Walmart and they had a lot of fabric back then. 

Now, through the years, I have handsomely supported local and online quilt shops, and Walmart is my least favorite place to frequent in general, but this quilt is made with love and brought to you by Walmart and a newbie quilter and it has stood the test of time.

I also pieced the Peppermint Bark Christmas quilt. All the blocks parts were made last year so I only needed to set those together and make the binding.

And speaking of binding...I made a lot

I started a new project...a Winnie the Pooh baby quilt that included fussy cutting the focus fabric

I dropped off 3 quilts and picked up 3 more. Then 2 weeks later, Jackie called and said they were ready so another 3 were exchanged. 

I am running out of quilts to give her. I had better stitch faster. LOL. The first three got binding attached to the fronts and I finished 2 this month. The Sweetwater  Follow Your Heart quilt was finished

                                           
And this little Charming Baby Quilt also had the last stitch applied to it.

Both of those have been on the list for too many years so it feels good to have them finished. It doesn't feel like I sew much, but posting what I DO get done each month makes me realize I actually  am getting time to stitch. 

Charming Baby Quilt

 Today I have another baby quilt finish to share. I missed adding this one to my list of quilts I hoped to make this year so I'll just count it as a bonus quilt

This is one of the first fabric lines I bought when I began quilting and  I've made numerous quilts with it. It was a Moda collection called Lily & Will from Bunny Hill Designs. Circa 2010-ish I think and after all these years, I still love it. 

                                                    

I love the versatility of HSTs and this time I set them into a broken dishes design. Jackie and Sandy quilted it with a design called Feather Flip using  a Linen colored thread

I cobbled the backing together with 3 different pieces I had left

and used  a brown print for the binding with what, I think, is the last of the leftovers, but I'm sure I will uncover more if I dig deep enough.

At 40 x 50, it'll be a nice way to welcome a new little one. It's been very handy to have a collection of baby quilts on hand and this one will be added to the armoire until it is needed...and as I was about to hit publish on this post, we found out that friends are expecting their 1st grandchild. If it's a girl, this will be perfect.

Coop Complete!

 Earlier this week we finally finished the chicken compound.

We started working on it before Christmas. I don't even want to think how much time DH put into this

I helped DH make the nesting boxes out of plywood we had sitting around...which means he did 99% of the work

Then it was on to the roost.      

                                  

 Everything is perfectly level and square and the chickens and guineas had better appreciate the attention to detail. 😄 

                                         

And yes, that is my dough scraper shoveling out the sawdust after DH beveled the edges of the nesting boxes. 😂 We are 'think outside of the box' workers.

While DH was off for a few days checking our cows, I sealed everything in the coop with Linseed oil

After a few days, it dried and the chickens and guineas were introduced to their new home (the chickens were outside)

I think they like it though because the first morning I had eggs! 

DH has begun to demolish the old coop. 

Doc built it in one of the horse stalls which worked well for them, but we wanted to reclaim the stalls for horses.  The skid steer has been doing a lot of heavy lifting lately

When we talked about building a chicken coop /yard, we never dreamed it would be such a big project. DH did such a nice job. 

                            

It's perfect for our little flock and in a few weeks it will be time for new baby chicks!

The Old Featherbed

This old dirt road girl started out her life in Frankfurt, Germany. My Dad was from Ulm, Germany and my Mom was from Vienna, Austria. My Dad joined the US Air Force and was stationed in Germany when I was born. I was just shy of  2 when when he was transferred back to the States, but we spent lots of summers and Christmas Holidays in Germany. I have so many good memories from those days. I was quite the stylish baby. LOL.

                                     

One of the things I always loved when we visited was the featherbeds.  I felt like Heidi (a favorite childhood read) when I was tucked beneath those puffy feathers. It felt luxurious to snuggle into them, not unlike a nest. I remember reading Heidi, and later, Gone with the Wind, while nestled safely midst the downy warmth.

Anyone remember John Denver's song, Grandma's Featherbed?

Grandma's Featherbed

My grandmothers always believed that it was healthier and that you slept better in a cold room, so they both kept windows open at night. Winter, spring, summer, fall...the windows were at least cracked during the night. We still like to sleep in a cool room although open windows are banned when the mercury drops into the 20's.

I have 2 twin sized featherbeds  that my parents brought with them from Europe 60 years ago. 

 We lived in Colorado for 5 years and then Daddy was transferred to Texas where featherbeds were not needed, but they kept them packed away and passed them on to us when we married. 

 The little pink and blue  snaps were still in the little tub mom kept them in.  

They keep the duvet from shifting. So old school. So filled with memories. It transported me instantly back to Vienna.

                                            

It was -5 the other morning so a few days earlier, they were washed, aired out and back in business

                                  

When I pulled them out a few weeks ago, I wondered whether these featherbeds  ever wonder how they made it from the streets of Vienna and Germany to the end of a dirt road in New Mexico.

                                    

                                 

Sometimes I ask myself the same question about me. 😄

                            

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

 I was weeding through some recipes I had pinned and pulled this one to make on Friday. DH had gone to check on our cows, I had finished oiling the interior of the chicken coop with Linseed oil, and my cookie stash had been depleted. These sounded promising and I had all the called for ingredients on hand. As I took the last batch out of the oven, someone knocked on the door. We live very remotely. People don't just knock on our door. I wasn't expecting anyone, but turns out a couple guys drove out to pick up the dumpster we had filled. (Yes, we are still cleaning up things that we left behind by the previous owners.) They picked up one dumpster earlier in the week, and said they'd return to haul off the other next week, but 2 different fellas showed up unexpectedly on Friday. They must have sensed I was making cookies. 😉

So I sent them off with a couple of ziplock bags of cookies and then promptly copied this recipe and added it to my favorite recipe book.

Here's the link to the original recipe where she shares all the tips as well as a printable version.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C butter, softened

1 C creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 C flour

2/3 C cocoa (spoon the cocoa into the measuring cup - do not scoop) - I used dark cocoa because that's what I had.

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2  C sugar (divided - 1/2 C is for rolling dough in sugar)

1 1/4 packed brown sugar

*Cream butter and peanut butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Mix in brown sugar and 1 C of sugar. In separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa together. Slowly add to wet ingredients and mix just until everything is well incorporated. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Form into small balls - roll in sugar - bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. They will set up more as they cool. The original recipe says to bake for 8 minutes, but mine needed a few more minutes.

                   

I love adding new keeper recipes to old family favorites!

Follow Your Heart Quilt

 Today I'm sharing my oldest UFO. 

I rarely buy kits, but I caved to temptation when I stumbled upon this one from Sweetwater on sale years ago. Looking back, it's been on my list since 2018.

It was the addition of the taupe to the red and white that lured me in. 

                                                   

I cut everything out a few years ago (May, 2022 - according to a blog post) and pressed the hearts to the blocks,

                                        

 but then everything was stashed back into the bin. I finally committed to this quilt last year, in April. I just sketch-stitched around each heart 3 times. I wanted a more rustic finish on the hearts:

The only thing I did differently was that I didn't applique hearts on every block - I left some of them empty, I used red thread instead of black, and I substituted a few fabrics from my stash. Oh, and I eliminated one size of heart that was included in the design. Jackie and Sandy quilted a design called Heart Fancy over it that's perfect, but difficult to see - this shot shows it the best.

I love the taupe print on the border

We're not done with winter here, but last week was unseasonably warm so I took advantage of the 70° weather and sat out on the deck a few days for a little while to work on the binding

Last year, I found this print for the backing that I thought would be a good fit

It's not very big at 70 x 78, but I I don't need every quilt to  cover a bed.

 I don't decorate for Valentine's Day but we have a partial wall in this house that separates the dining / living area from the entryway and I just hung it there

It's always fun to finish a quilt, especially one that's been sitting in a  bin for years. 

I'm quite smitten with this one

Rachel Cooks With Love Texas Chili

Are ya'll familiar with Rachel of Rachel Cooks with Love? I'm not a You Tube watcher, but somewhere, she crossed my path and my kitchen hasn't been the same since. LOL. 

I made this last Friday and it was a big hit. Now, I know there's an ongoing conversation about chili with beans vs chili without beans. It's just a personal preference. I grew up with chili made with ground beef and beans. DH likes this with a side of pinto beans (no beans IN the chili, please) so that's what I did on Friday. Rachel says this is an easy recipe. And it is, but it also does take some time. Don't let the ingredient list scare you - all those flavors absolutely come together in this winning recipe. 

                                           

Here's the link to her video, but I'm adding the ingredients here because I will print it and add it to my recipe collection. I'm still old school and like to have things in print.

Rachel Cooks With Love Best Texas Chili

4# Chuck Roast (cut into small cubes)

2+ Tbsp bacon grease

1 large onion, diced small

1 large green pepper, diced small

2# diced tomatoes (I used 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes, partially drained)

2 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin

6 large garlic cloves, minced

4 1/2 Tbsp chili powder

3 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Paprika

2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Oregano

1 1/2 tsp ground Allspice

2 Tbsp chopped Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon (Beef)

1 Tbsp Maseca corn masa flour w/ 1/3 C water to make a slurry

5 C water

2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

*Instructions - Please see above link.

Rachel's recipe calls for 3# of chuck roast and 1# of ground chuck. I just used 4# of chuck roast.

Now, I Do have a recipe for Black Bean Sirloin Chili that is a long-time favorite...chili with beans...LOL so I guess we're a family with a foot in each camp. But there is always room for one more outstanding recipe at the table. 

A Man and His Chainsaw

Moving to the mountains means the chainsaws are getting a workout. That also means this old ranch wife is getting a workout too. 😂

We're looking to have some abnormally warm weather this week and DH has been itching to trim some of the trees around our place before they begin to bud out. They were in dire need of trimming so last Tuesday and Wednesday we got busy

But DH was having way too much fun and the junipers and pinon did not escape without a good pruning either

And he kept cutting

And cutting

And cutting

And I kept stacking

And stacking

And stacking

27 loads scooped up

and hauled away

And while he was making the skid steer runs, I'd run over and work on the chicken yard - adding more hog rings to secure the wire

Always grateful for good help

Okay, dear, it's time to step away from the chainsaw. 

Your wife is smoked, dog-tired, knackered... she's so tuckered out that just one adjective won't suffice. I'm trying to not let the old man (gal) in, but surely she's earned a nap!