Under the Needle: January

 Time in my sewing room has been scarce this month - I think I've misplaced my sewing mojo, but I did manage to make a little progress.

I finished binding this quilt that I started last summer

And I made a binding for this quilt that I'm taking to Jackie's as soon as she calls and let's me know the 2 quilts I left with her last month are ready

I am currently binding the 2nd blue-green quilt 

And I really want to make a Kaleidoscope quilt like this one from Kitchen Table Quilting

I didn't even put it on my 2024 quilt list, but whenever I get a little time, I'm trying to spend a few minutes cutting down scraps and I'm making a pile for these blocks 

- I'm using a Kaleido-ruler instead of templates and I made 2 blocks (6"). 

I'm not very  happy with those intersections. I may try an 8" block later, but I cut out a quilt for our son and daughter-in-law and this one is a priority this year so I'm currently piecing these blocks

And while I was on a cutting spree, I cut out squares for yet another gingham quilt 

Lastly, I cut and sent out 5 yards of red fabric for a Red & White Fabric Swap. I posted about that here

I usually work like this. I have multiple projects in various stages going on at once. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but it works well for me. It's not often that I have large chunks of time in my sewing room, but with 15-30 minutes of time; I can pull fabrics for a new project, or cut or press or stitch or quilt or bind a little and everything moves forward just a bit closer towards a finish. 

Red & White Fabric Swap

 Besides this blog, an occasional peek on Instagram (I used to post there, but stopped years ago - I just felt like it took up too much time for me), and just recently I've watched a few pieces on You Tube, I don't participate in Social Media. It wears me out. I probably miss a lot, but my hermit personality just needs less information. The kids usually reach out if there's something I need to know and phone calls and texts are good too. 

That being said, a post popped up on Instagram (Julia @Redrainboots) late last year for a Red & White Fabric Swap and it caught my eye. I've been wanting to make a red & white quilt for a long time and I've been collecting fabrics for 5 or 6 years, adding them to a bin so I added my name to 5 of the groups. 1 yard of fabric, cut into 5" squares per group.

These were my contribution

1. Faye Burgos - Marcos Fabrics 

2. Tidings of Great Joy - J. Wecker Frisch - Quilting Treasures

3. Gingham Picnic - Poppy Cotton

4. Sunshine Chamomile - Poppy Cotton

5. Sunshine Chamomile - Poppy Cotton

So many fun fabrics arrived! I have a lot of that white on white plaid that I think I'll use as a background. It's been a while since I've used a single fabric for a background - I don't know if I can do it. LOL.

There are 4 (5") squares of 70 different fabrics. Who knew there were so many different red fabrics! I've started pulling a few reds from my stash as well and cutting squares to add.

 Julia has 3 children and the 4 of them worked together and I was so impressed with their organization and implementation of everything related to the swap. Well done!

Julia is also hosting a quilt-along for this quilt

 but I'm probably not going to be able to stay on schedule. I may just make HSTs as leader enders and settle on a layout later. There is no shortage of  red fabric here so I'm leaning towards a classic hourglass quilt too. I like the variation of low volume prints in this one

or I may just piece a simple patchwork quilt like this one although that much white probably isn't a good match for our dirt road lifestyle.

Or maybe I'll just make them all! 😉

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

 I haven't been posting much about ranch life because we've pretty much been spending our days doing this

Still no help at North Camp so feeding 700 hd of cattle on 128,000 acres means DH is in the feed truck every day for 6-8 hours. I wish we had another feed truck because then we could divide and conquer. We had a load of cubes delivered on Monday. It arrived at night and the next morning we found this at the bulk bins

Not good. I don't know if the driver overfilled the bins and didn't get his auger turned off in time or exactly what happened. We keep our bulls in this pasture and if they had access to that pile of cake, they'd probably bloat and die. 

Very grateful we were home. 15° or not, we had to get that cleaned up so I loaded up buckets 

and shovels and DH brought the skid steer over. We shoveled cubes into the skid steer bucket until we got down close to the ground

Then DH shoveled them into the bin of the feeder

While I picked up more loose cake by hand in order to keep from shoveling up gravel and filled buckets

Crisis averted. 

Then  I ran into the house and threw together a pot of potato soup for dinner and DH brought up 30 calves that we weaned and brought over from Devil's Tank the other day and we ran them through the chute 

                                          

They were branded 

Vaccinated

And poured with Cydectin

DH unloaded a load of mineral tubs

And then it was off to make another feed run

And that's why it takes me a month to bind a quilt - I can't keep my eyes open at night. LOL.

Best Ever Potato Soup

 Today I'm sharing another recipe from my favorites file. I found this in Taste of Home in 1999 and I've been making it ever since. I only make it once a year and it seems it's always the week before Christmas. This soup is quick to pull together during the busy holiday season. Served with a good, crusty bread, it always hits the spot and I love having it as a part of my soup collection. After spending the day bouncing over ranch roads, feeding cattle, trying to stay warm, it's comforting to come home to a hot bowl of homemade soup.

Best Ever Potato Soup

4 Tbsp butter

8 bacon strips, diced

1/2 C chopped onion

1 large carrot, grated

5 C cubed potatoes

16 oz chicken broth

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

1/2 tsp each celery seed, salt, and pepper

3 Tbsp tapioca flour (or all purpose flour)

3 C milk

8 oz Velveeta

1 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

green onions

red pepper flakes

*In a large soup pot, saute butter, bacon and onion for about 5 minutes. Stir in grated carrot. Add potatoes, broth, parsley, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender - about 15 minutes. Make a slurry with tapioca flour and a little bit of milk. Add slurry, plus additional milk to soup. Simmer for a few minutes. Add cheese; stir until cheese is melted and soup is heated through. Garnish each bowl with chopped green onions, grated sharp cheddar cheese, red pepper flakes, and additional chopped bacon..

*I know Velveeta's not 'real' cheese, but it has it's place in my queso and this soup. I also grate my own cheddar cheese for the garnish. We love cheese and just think grating our own from a block, gives recipes a better taste than the pre-packaged grated cheeses.

So dish up a bowl and come join us at the table!