Only 5 blocks!

Well, my sewing didn't go as planned! Lisa is already done with her quilt top and I only have 5 blocks done. She may have to help me finish it when she comes for her visit in a few weeks! :) At least 5 blocks out of 30 is better than nothing. So now I will just set my goal to have the top done before she comes to visit! Here are the 5 blocks that I have done so far.

I have been talking with my friend, Michelle, about thread. She had lots of good tips for me! Anyway, my little gift from my mother came in the mail today. Mom insisted that I let her order some for me, so here is what we got... Signature Thread in black, cream, white, pink, navy and green.

We also ordered some Bottom Line threads in white and cream.
By the way, mom came home from her 28 days of working, Friday. She got a call today and she has to go back to work on the boat tomorrow morning. Not sure how long she will have to work but she is filling in for someone else. We had plans to cut out another quilt for her. She wanted to work on it while she was off this month and then maybe take it to work with her next month. I guess we will do that when she gets back.

Andrew may be 16 but he works hard and always saves his money. He is not wasteful with his money but only buys what he really wants. So he decided to buy him a small incubator to hatch out more chickens. But he is also going to let me use it to hatch out some quail, grouse and pheasant eggs! Now I will leave you with a photo of Donkey! He is enjoying his petting time!

The Beginning Of Another One! :)

Giggle......I started another one! My friend, Lisa and I have decided to make a "Hole In The Barn Door" quit. I had one quilted back in January and I just love the classic pattern. So here is my first block for it. I am just using fabrics from my scrap basket and also a couple of fat quarters that I have picked out. These blocks measure 12inches and we are going to shoot for 30 blocks.
I cut out several of the blocks this evening so it should go fairly quick. Lisa is doing hers in 30's fabrics so I am anxious to see how it turns out too.

I missed quilt guild this morning because I overslept! I really wanted to go because I had missed the past few meetings. Maybe next time! :)
Kristie

Giveaway!

My friend, Lisa is having a giveaway on her blog! She made a beautiful wallhanging and plans on giving it away. Jump on over and sign up!!!!
http://miniaturequilter.blogspot.com/

She does wonderful work! I have had her as a partner in a few swaps and her work is truly beautiful!
Kristie

New baby chicks and Labels

As I said the other day, it is Spring here on the farm! We had a new foal born on Friday and yesterday evening, look what I found out in the weeds next to the barn lot. New baby chicks! Only 2 of them but it was exciting because I did not know that we had a hen setting. My chickens run loose on the farm so I didn't know one was setting on eggs. Andrew keeps his chickens in the chicken house.

Richard has worked most of the day today disking the gardens. I have been out and about most of the day. Just walking around the farm and I did take a little ride on Ole Jim, the mule. I rode around the fence lines to check for repairs. It was so nice!

Last night and this morning, I worked on some quilt labels. I sewed on 5 of them. These were gifts from my new friend, Jacky!
Hopefully tonight after we all settle in for the evening I can sew some borders on a few tops that need them. Just simple straight borders so that should not take too long.
Kristie

Another Quilt Top!

It has been a busy past couple of days! As I posted yesterday we have a new foal! She is just sooooo cute! She has been running and playing! Still very clumsy on those long legs but she is doing great! Here is a photo that I took of her a few minutes ago!
Yesterday morning when Richard got up for work he was urinating blood. I insisted that he go to the doctor. He had to drop his coal truck off to have some work done on it so I picked him up yesterday evening. Took him to Urgent Care, they did a urine test and said "no infection but positive for blood" Well, duh! Said that he probably had a kidney stone and sent him straight to the ER. Now our little local hospital is a JOKE, but I was lucky to get him to go anywhere. After sitting there for several hours they came in and said..." No infection but we will put you on an antibiotic anyway. They also said that no tumors or kidney stones turned up on the CT Scan. Told him they didn't have a clue where the blood was coming from but go home and if it does stop soon to come back! Now can you believe that? You don't bleed for no reason!! He is not having any pain or anything but like I said you don't bleed for no reason!

Anyway, I had to go to the grocery store and stuff today because I was just too busy yesterday. When I got back Richard decided to plow the garden! He got ours plowed and mom's too! He will disk it up tonight or tomorrow. Can't wait to start planting some vegetables! If you look closely in the background you can see the roof of the house!

This is what I did Thursday! My ex-husband's niece is having a baby in June, and her shower is in April so I jumped in and made a quick baby quilt. (Giggle, his family still like me and THEY are good people) I still need to do the quilting on it but at least the top and binding are done.

I'm off to finish the Spaghetti for dinner! Hope to do something quilty later tonight!

Kristie

New Addition To The Family!

Signs of Spring! Today is the first day of Spring and Beauma had her foal this morning!! We had moved her in another lot and stall waiting the birth of the new foal. She had been in there for a few weeks now, but in the night she had gotten out and got back in the pasture where she stayed before. Luckily no other horses where in there. My sister was picking Andrew up to take him to school this morning. As they were leaving, they called to say that Beauma was out and back in the pasture. So I got dressed and when I got out there she stood up! When she stood up the colt was hanging out. It's head was sticking out!!! I was sooooo excited! I ran back in to get the video camera and phone! I guess she just wanted to have her colt where she was comfortable and what was familiar to her!

All went well and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at 7:47am this morning! Her name is "Saphira" Richard had picked that name out when we bred her. He got the name from the movie "Eragon" "Saphira" is the name of the dragon in the movie!

So here is my new "Grandbaby!"

Mother and baby are doing great! Expect to see lots of photos and videos to come!
Kristie

Another Finish!

I still have this flu/virus and it is driving me crazy! Still have my cough and can't seem to get rid of it. Doctor called me in more antibiotics today so hopefully this will kick it.

Got the binding done on my other quilt. This one is a scrap "Jacob's Ladder" It is one of my older quilts, just glad that it is done! One more for the pile!


I am getting ready to start a baby quilt. I have several baby tops but I looked through them and I didn't see anything that really suited a boy. My ex-husband's niece is having a baby boy in June, but her shower is in April. Funny I guess, but his family still likes me! :) That makes it good for my oldest son! Anyway, I need to get this baby quilt done. I'm not going to do anything fancy, just a simple "sawtooth star" I'll post a photo when I finish it. I have the fabrics ready but have not started cutting them yet.

Beauma, our mare, still has not had her colt. :( She still has about 15 days until her due date, but just like a woman the due date really doesn't mean anything. She will have it when she is good and ready, I guess, but I am just anxious for the new baby!
Kristie

Antique Tiles

Richard and Hunter are feeling better but now Andrew and I are sick! It has been a long time since I have been this sick. I called my friend Lisa the other day and she did not even recognize my voice at first. Today I feel better than I have for several days, so hopefully I am on the mend. Andrew seems to be a lot better too.

Speaking of my friend Lisa, we send a lot of little packages back and forth. Fabrics, patterns, and things like that. Well in my box of goodies that I got the other day was this cute little bracelet! Isn't it so cute!?! I really like it!
I did manage to sew down some binding on this quilt while on the couch or in the bed. I know it is bright but I still like it. The pattern is called "Antique Tiles" very simple to do.

I ended up putting a white binding on it, because I did not have anymore of the orange fabric left. That is going to be the problem with a lot of my quilts. The tops have been made for many years and I don't have some of the same fabrics so I will just have to use some of the plain background fabrics or make scrap binding for some of the scrap quilts.

Now I think I am off to take a nap!
Kristie

Sick Babies and Birthday Surprises!

Not a lot of sewing going on right now! Richard and Hunter are still very sick. They both have tested positive for the actual FLU virus. You can tell by this photo of Hunter that he is very sick. And yes, he sleeps with his eyes half open! :) Of course, I did not take a photo of Richard! :) So I have been very busy taking care of them. I'm sure before it is over Andrew and I will have it too.

Still no colt! She is spraying milk everywhere. She laid down last night and I was standing beside her and she sprayed milk all over my legs! Hopefully she will go soon!

Yesterday was my 37th birthday! Yep, I'm that old! :) Here is a photo of my cake! I tried to tell them that I did not need a cake but they would not listen.

My mom is working but she and my sister gave me a card with money in it! Chantal also brought me balloons! My sister's best friend, Crystal brought me these beautiful flowers!

I also got lots of goodies from my blogging friends! First off a while back my friend Lisa sent me some fabric for my birthday. I did not get a photo of it before I put it away but it was very nice fabric! Oh and Lisa and her family are coming down from PA in a couple of months to visit! How exciting is that???

I belong to a Yahoo group called "Quilting On A Budget" and we have a Secret Sister swap that we do 6 times a year. Here is my birthday gift from her. I don't know who she is but when I opened the box it had this card on top...

Inside the box was the following...a little birthday pillow, confetti, a bottle of bubbles, bodywash, and candy!!! That was such a wonderful idea! Thanks so much!

Also I recieved a package from my new blog friend in Texas! Her blog is JackyO! Our birthdays are the on the same day! She sent me a cute card and these wonderful quilt labels! I have neve had preprinted quilt labels like these!

Here is a close up of the western themed ones! They are so cute! Just my style!
I had such a wonderful birthday except for my babies being sick! :( Thanks to all my blogging friends for the birthday wishes!!!

Kristie

PS...I've had a couple of people ask about the Quilting On A Budget Yahoo Group. As of right now she has closed the group from new members. She said something about not wanting it to get too big. She also said that she may open it back up later, so if she does, I will be sure to post about it on here! Sorry!

Kristie

Chinese Coins and Excitment On The Farm!

Hunter is sick once again! He was sick last week and started getting over that and then on Friday the school called. Hunter was very sick so I picked him up and took him to the doctor. He had the rotovirus. Very sick little boy but he seems to be feeling a lot better. Still running to the bathroom and is weak but better than what he was.

Saturday we had to make a trip to town, we stopped by Tractor Supply and Hunter found a basket for Strawberries. He wanted to plant and grow them so I could not turn him down, it's not like it was a toy or something and it was only $5. When we got home we got the seeds planted and now we just have to wait to see if they grow. He was a very happy little boy!

Here is a quilt that I had started probably 10 yrs ago and finished the piecing last year. Just one of those UFO's that I kept putting off doing. Not a fancy quilt but still a nice one, it is called "Chinese Coins" It measures to be a full-size bed quilt. I love the heavy quilting that she did on it not a bad job for $20 huh? Anyway, I have the binding attached to the front now and need to sew it down on the backside. Hopefully I can work on that on and off this week!


I have spent a lot of time outside this weekend. It has been so nice and near 80 degrees! Here is the maple tree that is in my front yard, it is starting to bud out! The animals are loving this weather! Speaking of animals....

I mentioned the other day about Beauma our mare that is about to foal. Well she is due around April 2 so by that she has 25 more days but.....she should have it SOON! I know I am going into great detail but this is just life on a farm. Her vulva is VERY relaxed and she lost her mucus plug earlier today. So just like a woman the birth should come fairly soon. If she has it tomorrow she will have it on my birthday!! :) Here are some photos of her today.

Here you can see how big her belly is! She is miserable!


And if you look real close in this photo you can see that her teats are waxing! Another sign that the birth is near.

This is the proud "Dad To Be" his name is Bullet!

While I was out taking photos, I took this one of Storm too! He is my baby! This is the one that the boys won on during the horse show in the "racking" class.

On the way back in the house I snapped a photo of a couple chickens! Lots more animals on the farm but I will save them for another day.
I think I will sit and work on my quilt to keep me from pacing the floor over Beauma! Would this make me a GRANDMOTHER since I consider all of these animals my babies!?! Hopefully my next post I will be showing a colt!

Kristie

It's Done!

It's done! Well, at least the top is done! Now it will go in my big pile of tops to quilt! The photos are a little dark but you can get the idea of how it looks. I still need to do a little bit of pressing on it. But I am pleased with it.


The best part of it is.....all the fabrics were from my stash! So I didn't have to purchase anything new for it! That feels great! With the borders on it, it measures 84x96! That is alot of PINK!

Now I guess I need to clean up my sewing area and start something else. I really want to start a new quilt but maybe I should finish some UFO's! I guess I will have to wait and see which mood hits me!
Kristie

Thrifty Shopping!

Today I had to do some errands for mom that she was unable to get done before she left. So I had to make a trip to Paintsville! I have been trying to watch my pennies and not spend alot since Richard had lost his job back late last summer. I guess I look at things a little differently and I always think twice before I buy and ask myself "do I really need this" So I know I didn't really need these but I did buy them! :)

While I was in Paintsville I stopped at Walmart! They were just putting out their "March Quilt Of The Month" patterns and fabrics. What I love about these fabrics is that they are only $2 a yard! Here is the pattern...

A nice Springy looking pattern and the quilt measures 83x99. I bought the fabrics that it required and it was $22 for fabric for the top and the binding! Now how thrifty is that???

As I was waiting for my fabric to be cut I looked around a bit more...and found these. They were in the $2.44 per yard section and I bought 1/2 yrd of each of them! Just a little something extra to add into my stash.

Then I headed on up to the bookstore and found these great books! This first one is hardback and has a ton of quilting designs. Regular priced at $23 and I got it for $4!
This book here has beautiful patterns in it with several different layouts. It was regular priced at $25 and I got it for $3! So in the end I spent just over $35 for fabrics and books! Not too bad, I don't think! I actually started feeling a little guilty for buying them but then I was telling Richard what I had bought and he assured me that I DID deserve them! :) Gotta love a good husband! :)

Then on the way home I stopped by the mailbox and look what I got! A beautiful birthday card from Amelia! Certainly brightened my day! Thank you so much, Amelia!

So after my long morning, I came home and took a nap! Got up started dinner and had it ready for the boys got home from school. Now I am waiting for Richard to get home. Here it is 7:40pm and he has been out since 4am this morning and he still isn't home! I expected him earlier but he called to say that he was going to work late! Giggle....I wonder if he is trying to make up for my spending today!!! :) hehehe

Kristie