I'm Going to Australia

Yes it's true. I am going to Australia in April. I was doing research for a business trip to New Zealand for April next year and thought how much fun it would be to just plan an extra week and slip over to Australia for a few days and  . . . oh  . . . by the way . . . the AQC is mid April . . . and isn't Esther Aliu teaching her Love Entwined class at the AQC this year  . . . anyway, my Sweet husband said I could go to Australia anytime I wanted. So, I am going this April. I will be attending the AQC on Fri April 17 then heading to Adelaide to visit a friend who interned at our church a few years back. She even came to the Farm for a weekend retreat and made her very first quilt. I think it was a purple and white single Irish chain.

But that isn't all . . . It occurred to me that there might be some Guernsey farms in the area so I posted on our Farm facebook wall about my trip and . . . by golly . . . I have a few new facebook friends and half a dozen farms that I can visit . . .  Sweet . . . Now which applique blocks will I prep to take along? Not this one since I finished it already.

CCCQ # 29

Not this one since it might take me until April to get it prepped for machine applique. These pieces are not yet glued under. This is the only block that has blue in it. Oops!! I just realized that the center star is supposed to be red. What to do? What to do? I might just leave it. sigh.

Ben Biggs # 13

I tried something different for the wreath. Cut out the skinny circle using floriani fuseable. Ironed it onto the underside of the green fabric. Cut only the outside part then glued the seam allowance over. I thought this would keep it from distorting too much. 

Then cut out the inside of the circle and snip the skinny seam allowance before gluing it on. Seems to look okay. Now to get at the 21 tiny leaves.

 Blessings,
Chris

Q@F Winter Retreat

Leslie squaring up her blocks

  Everyone helping Leslie arrange her Sunbonnet Sue blocks

 Robin hand quilting a Double Irish Chain wedding quilt for her daughter. She is using a 360 degree rotating wooden hoop on a pedestal and sitting on a stool. Sometimes she quilts standing up because she is short and likes to keep moving.

 Janice appliqueing

 Daiva working on GORF

 Esther adding sashing to her sampler blocks

 And me machine quilting GORF now that my machine is finally home after 3 months in the repair shop

I only got a few stitches in CCCQ # 28, probably because I was talking enjoying myself so much

We have to do this more than once a year

Winter-is-half-over blessings,

Chris

Putting on my Socks

I know. I know. I've been quiet here for a while. I have been reading blogs. I have not been quilting. What I have been doing is homework, but not too much. I anticipate completing a course this week. Maybe.

I am hosting a quilting retreat here at the Farm this weekend. Still have a lot of clutter to put away and get the room ready for the 6 girls who will be here to hang out, quilt, eat, talk and hang out. Two guest rooms are ready and the heat is already turned on. It takes a day or two to warm up the rooms just right. Two of the girls just got back form a vacation in Iceland to see the Northern Lights. They say it was +5C and raining the other day when we had -15C and snow. I wonder what interesting potluck food will show up?

Another thing I have been doing is physiotherapy. Three weeks ago I started to go twice a week to get some serious attention to my right hip area which had me unable to stand much or walk any distance beyond to my car. Has it helped? Yes. I get traction on the right leg. A lot of stretching exercises which I have been trying to do at least twice per day. I have seen their chiropractor and massage therapist and together they are working to get me mobile. I impulsively stated that I could now train for the "Couch to 5 K" charity run taking place in November. Our church gets involved to raise funds for a mission in the Dominican Republic. If I keep my eyes on that goal, I should be able to walk or at least push my walker so I can sit down and do the 5 K. Easy peasy. I used to take walks like that back in the day.  

Today I finally got my Brother machine back from the sewing machine hospital. Its been 3 months!! and $400 for the new fuse and they said the needle up/down mechanism was broken. It was not broken the last time I used it. But at least now I can get back to doing some machine quilting. I might even get GORF completed.

The little girl grand children have taken turns being sick and that means a day at the Farm. Lots of snuggles and watching their favourite videos.

However, one of the most exciting things going on here lately is that I can now put on my socks! This is huge! I took up the challenge to "Eat Clean" for 30 days. I am on day 18. I was reading about it a few months ago but did not see 30 days in a row on my calendar where I was willing to give up grains (cookies, turkey dressing, pasta), dairy (I am a dairy farmer), sugar (addictions) and legumes (whatever that is). So, I set Jan 12 as the start date. I had not planned on being sick that week and starting physio therapy that week just sort of happened. I thought I was being referred to a new chiropractor.

On day 3 I put on my socks sitting on the edge of my bed. I used to stand beside a chair, lift one leg up with my hand and pull the sock on with my toes hanging over the edge. I got one try to get it. Now I can just put them on. So, something I have stopped eating has been causing my feet and legs to swell. I can do the stairs easily now. And I am 1/4 of the way to my 2015 goal of losing 40 pounds. But don't tell since I am not supposed to step on the scale for 30 days. The motto is "No cheating". But I had to put in a new battery and check to see if it was working properly. I eat all the meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables that I want. I had one day of craving about day 11. I ate 3 bananas that day. After the 30 days, I start re-introducing the foods that I have avoided one at a time to see what has been the trigger. I'm pretty sure its not the legumes.

Blessings,
Chris

"It's Baby Time"

Don't get too excited. We are not have a baby. Well, not a human baby. "It's baby time" here on the farm means that everything stops and anyone nearby hustles over to help or watch as the newest baby Guernsey calf is born. It's kind of important. Cows must have babies first before giving milk and selling milk is what we do here on the Farm. Girl babies are the preferred gender since the males do not give milk. 

Yesterday was a quiet day. No visitors. Nothing special going on. I finally made the turkey soup from all the bones that were in the freezer. Then I sat at my computer typing out notes for one of my courses and wondered why my hands were hurting so much. Then it dawned on me. I had peeled and chopped a lot of vegetables. That made sense. Then I drove into the city to babysit the little girl grand babies. All 3 are sick right now. Poor dears. I know. I have been sick with the same thing for the past 2 weeks. I am getting better, but the  throat still hurts. But only when I swallow. Or try to sing. Or talk.

The girls were all in bed and asleep by 9. The little ones earlier. The older one begged  negotiated trying to get some ice cream treats. We settled for a freezie and a piece of toast with honey. By 9:30 I was tired so put aside the book report I was working on and lay down on the couch. Soon after one of the little ones started coughing and crying, but by the time I got off the couch, climbed up all those stairs and got to her room, she was quiet, so I went back down to the couch. Around 11 she started coughing and crying for Mommy. I went up and sat with her until she fell asleep again. Mommy and Daddy came home around 12:30 to discover that with the rising temperatures outside to +4C the outside water hose had thawed and it had not been turned off, so my son had a mess to deal with. So I left. I got home about 1:15 AM. Surprising how much traffic there is at the hour.

When I got home, I went out to the barn to check on the 2 cows we had brought in earlier in the day because they were showing signs of getting read to calve. The one was laying quietly not chewing her cud. This is important to note. If she had been chewing, she was not ready to have her baby. The other cow had 2 feet sticking out. This was a definite sign that the baby was on its way out. So, got my farmer husband out of bed and we helped the cow have her baby. This was not easy since the calf was already dead. It was a bull so we did not cry. Instead, we went to check on the other cow. It appeared that her baby was backwards and he could only feel one foot. So, phoned the vet on call that night. Since I am retired, I went to bed. It was 2:30. My husband went back out to the barn. Good thing I had napped on the couch earlier. I later got up about 11.

In the meantime, my sister in law (who is not a farmer) was coming home from a charity event and saw the lights on in the barn, so sent out her 18 year old daughter (who is a farmer), who is home from college for the weekend (where she is studying agricultural technology) to help. This was very timely. The big bull calf was eventually born with much assistance and we will get a vet bill. My husband got a half hour sleep before going out to start morning chores at 5.

In the quilting area, I got a few stitches in on the chili peppers CCCQ block.

I like to relax with needle turned hand applique.

MOO--ny Blessings,
Chris

Music in the Quiltroom

I have been sick this week with a virus that's going around again and am finding it difficult to focus on any hard tasks. The simple solution? Do some applique. However, I am at the point where I need to prep some blocks. I had prepped several Ben Biggs blocks last week and then appliqued them by machine because that was easy as I sat hovering near my daughter working on her quilt. I posted the other 2 last week but forgot to photograph this one. I also got 2 more CCCQ blocks ready.

Ben Biggs Block  # 12

I learned how to rip music off CDs and save them to my laptop. I never knew that was possible. All I had wanted (for the past 2 years) was to learn how to load music into my MP3 player and now I know how to do both. So, today I have been ripping music onto my computer.

I have this big 5 CD player in the quilt room that is integral to the Quilting at the Farm experience. I have hundreds of CDs on my shelves and play specific music for specific occasions.

Let me explain.

If I am playing computer solitaire or spider solitaire, (which can go on for hours if I am determined to complete a game) then I let the music rip with Jesus Culture  and Hillsong, volume up.

But if I am trying to read or do some sewing, then I play instrumental worship music without words. It sets a gentle atmosphere and occupies my subconscious with praising God. This is the music I usually have playing when quilters come to the Farm. I am often told how that ministers to their stress. The volume has to be set just right in order to hear the music but not interfere with conversation.

When I listen to school lectures (pen in hand), a book on CD ( A Path Appears by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn), listening to Polish language lessons or Bible on tape, I pick up my applique and keep my hands busy while my mine is being educated.

And, when I sit down to do some machine quilting on my domestic Brother sewing machine, that is still away for repairs, then the music has to be gentle, relaxing, instrumental and contain no words that I know. This is where Pachelbel,   Dan Gibson's Solitudes  and this come in. For me, machine quilting is a very intense activity where I need to focus on the spot where the needle will land on its next stitch as well as the design I am working on. If I know the words, then I am distracted or do not even hear them.

The problem is, that the CD player has quit working. I cannot imagine why. It was a $79 purchase about 8 years ago and played in here on a loop. All day. Every day.

Now to figure out how to create a playlist.

Musical  blessings,
Chris

What Am I Working on Today?

Since completing the CCCQ is on my 2015 goals, I figured that I should get caught up.  Today I am checking to see which reds and greens I have used so far to pick the next block colour. I have repeated only 3 reds. So now to choose a red that is not already used in one of the paper-cut designs.

CCCQ in progress

These colours have not been repeated.

And the winner is . . . the chili peppers. 

I still have 5 blocks that I have not yet started. There are only 5 more blocks to be released. This sounds like a logical 2 blocks per month.

blessings,
Chris

After the Holidays

The last of the Christmas house guests just left and I am home alone for awhile. Good thing since I have picked up a virus. My husband is taking our daughter and the baby to her in-laws and they will fly home tomorrow. It has been a wonderful 3 weeks of family visiting. The turkey is all gone and so are the cookies. The big box of Lindor chocolates are hidden away to share with the Q@F retreat here at the end of the month.

Although a lot of quilting got done here in my quilt room, not much of it was by me. My sister from Qatar made an entire quilt top out of a jelly roll. My daughter made an entire queen sized super bright quilt with the extras from my Bright Jane and she added the borders onto a top she made several years ago. She will not let me show pictures until after they are given as wedding gifts later this summer. A friend of hers machine quilted her first lap quilt made in the first class I ever taught here at the Farm.

What I can show is progress on Ben Biggs. I am machine appliqueing and am way behind. I do plan to add the 4 corner buds when I finally decide what colour to make them.

Ben Biggs Block # 10

Process

Ben Biggs Block # 9

Grampa feeding Jonathan

Feeling so Blessed,
Chris