Around the farm...

 I forgot to take photos of my quilt progress but I'll try to show that next time.  With the heat upstairs I will sew downstairs like I did last summer.  Right now I have 4 machines downstairs but yesterday I pieced on my Singer 328K Style-O-Matic.  She sews well and I like sewing on her.  She sits in the corner of my dining area. 

I pieced 6 more blocks on my Star Gazing quilt.  I have 5 more that are cut and partially pieced, so I will finish those today and maybe start with the strips...if I decide to put those in.  After I get all of that pieced then I will decide if I want/need 5 more blocks to make 30.

Here are a few more random photos...this first set was taken yesterday morning as Hunter and I were feeding.  The horses were feeling sassy and playing around in the rain and mud.  We have 4 horses but I only got photos of 3 of them because Andrew's horse is in the stall and he just kept turning his behind to me every time I tried to take a photo. 

I love this photo of Rhett, my rooster.  Can you tell that I love the movie, "Gone With the Wind"?  :)  He is so big and stays so clean and white.  The white hen that I have is named, Scarlet and then I have Mammy and so on...

Last night we drove to town so that Hunter could see the fireworks.  We had a nice time and of course, he loved them.  Andrew didn't get to go because he had to work until midnight. 

This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at Richard's grandmother's 93rd birthday celebration!!!  She had a wonderful time and it was a Blessing getting to spend it with her.  Andrew wasn't able to make this either because of work.  :(  So in this photo is...me, Hunter, Richard, and Willard (Richard's uncle)  Poor Willard had just lost his precious wife a couple of weeks before this.  Richard hates this photo because for some reason he looks like he has a big grey spot on his face, I promise he doesn't.  LOL. 

So that is all for today.  It is almost 7am so time for me to get my day started...
Kristie

Counting blocks...

 Thanks for all of the nice comments and emails about me Star Gazing quilt.  This really makes me want to work on this one instead of my tumblers. 

After thinking about it all day, I brought it downstairs and sorted through everything to see what I needed to do on it.  As I mentioned I wanted to have 30 blocks but with the blocks being 15 inches and having small strips between each block and then add a border to it and that would make it huge, maybe too huge.  So if I go with 25 blocks that would make it square and I'm not always crazy about square quilts, so I have 25 cut out, I'll piece all of those and then see how I like it.  I can always piece 5 more, if needed...right?

As of right now, I have 14 completely pieced...

 I have 6 pieced to this point.  If you look close you can see the 3 sections just need to be sewn together.  Oh...btw...you can see part of my fresh eggs that Hunter had just brought in, I love my chickens!  :)

I have 5 blocks pieced to this point.  I have the corner squares cut, but I just didn't add them in the photo. 

So what I have here will be a total of 25 blocks.  I also have all of the little strips cut that go between the blocks.  Those strips are what I dread sewing on. 

Anyone have any 4th of July plans?  Nothing major here, Richard is at the Church today trying to get a few things finished up and  Andrew has to work from 4-midnight.  I think we may take Hunter in to town tonight to watch the fireworks at 10pm.  Other than that...nothing.

My mom comes back home from work next Thursday.  It will probably be fairly late when she gets home.  She is on the Mississippi River and depending exactly on where she is at the time determines if she will fly in or drive.  I think this time has been particularly hard on her, since she lost her mother.  I think she was home for a week for the funeral and such and then made the decision to go back to work.  Mom does always have cell signal while out on the river, just depending on where she is, but my sister, brother, and I always try to call her several times a day, to keep in touch and to let her know that we are always thinking about her.  I'm sure she gets very lonely out there. 
Kristie

Star Gazing

 This morning I went upstairs before it got too hot.  I took my tumbler blocks off the design wall.  I brought them downstairs and I figure I will work on those a little at a time. 

I put up my Star Gazing blocks on the design wall.  The true colors really don't show well in these photos for some reason but I like them.  If I remember correctly I was hoping to make 30 blocks so that I can do a 5x6 setting.  I have several more blocks made than are showing on the wall here.

Here are a few more of the blocks that I just didn't take the time to put on the wall.  These blocks are big blocks!  So easy to assemble, I really enjoyed piecing them.

A few more of them that need pressed.  I didn't count them this morning but I'm pretty sure that I'm close to my 30 blocks. 

Here is a photo of the pattern front.  If you look close, you can see that there are narrow strips that are sewn between each block.  I like that, it makes them look like they are floating and not all hooked together.

I may run back up there and count them and get them all sorted so that I can see what all needs done on that quilt.  I guess I really should wait until I get the house cleaned before I start sewing...right?  Hunter has had a friend over for the past 2 nights and the house really doesn't look too hot.  LOL!

Here are a couple more odd and end photos to wrap up this post.  I posted these first two on facebook last week so some of you may have already seen them. 

I found myself at Hobby Lobby the other day because Hunter wanted to stop and look at some art supplies.  I found a vase/bowl/urn thing that I really liked.  The original price was $40 but it was on sale for $20.  They had 2 of them left and both had chips on them.  The one that I got had a small chip on the top, I took a black sharpie and now you can't even see it.  I asked if they would come down on the price because of the chip and they said, yes.  So in the end, I got it for $7.  The flowers are just odd and ends from this and that.  Some of them are just odd leaves wired on a stem, but in the end it all worked. 

So here is the arrangement that I made for my entry table, which is actually a treadle cabinet.  Just so that you can tell how big that arrangement is, that horse photo above it measures 33 x 45.  I was pleased with how it looked but more pleased with the price! 

Then I decided I wanted to see how it would look on my dining table.  I've been wanting a big centerpiece for the table, but this was just a little too big.  There is no way that you could see the person across from you.  So when I decide to make an arrangement for the table I will make it a lot shorter. Just to give you some size on this photo, that picture above the table measures 27 x 43. 

Last but not least...here is a photo that was taken this Spring at Church.  This is right beside the Church and I thought it was so pretty. 

Our new Church is almost finished.  I'll post photos of that and the story behind it real soon. 
Kristie