Weekend Notes

So let me start out by saying that the activities in this post are from 2 weekends ago...........

The hubster and I traveled to Bethany and then on to Osceola, IA to see Jackson's last regular season football game.  And all of the Nielson girl cousins were there!  And  couple of them really hate photos, so you should really enjoy this because it probably won't happen again anytime soon.

And then for the "after the game sweaty ball player" photos..............

And Grandpa Barber thought he had to be funny with the rabbit ears.  Jackson is definitely the tallest person in the family.

 So for those wondering about the outcome of the game, it was another big win with several Morton touchdowns.  They have now won their first game of postseason play and are set to play again this coming Friday evening at home.  I'll be listening on the radio and spending some time sewing.

Prior to leaving for the game on Friday, I started a new project Thursday afternoon at 3 pm.  And by started, I mean I started looking through patterns, and then through fabric bins, and then cutting the fabric and sewing it together Thursday evening so that I could quilt it Friday morning before we left and have it to take with me to do the hand sewing on the binding in the car.

And the finish photo was taken on my mom's counter before we left for the game on Friday.  And when we got home Saturday, I found a box, wrapped it, and it was given to this wonderful couple whose outdoor wedding we attended Saturday afternoon.............(yes, the table runner might have still had some smoke coming from it it was such a fast sew!)

It was a gorgeous, if sometimes breezy, wedding.  We sat on covered straw bales for the ceremony and then moved into the shop for the reception.

The leaves are starting to turn colors and fall from the trees.............

These leaves will finish at 3" in whatever project they end up in.  Shelly Pagliai offered this project on her blog, and you know I couldn't resist.  I think I have over 20 with enough cut for a total of 39.........weird number, I know.  She gave some different ideas for setting them together, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.  

And for your "animal photo" today, I was walking past Sarah's room last week and noticed something on the floor.  Upon inspection, it was this guy.........

This guy is from Sarah's collection, and I thought she had moved them all to the closet to protect them from the wild feline and canine creatures who sometimes wonder into her room.  Then I remembered that I had let the bug guy into her closet to reach the attic access and I must have forgotten to close the door all the way.  This poor guy had paws that were crunchy with dried saliva.  I'm blaming the wild feline since I'm sure the wild canine would have done a bit more damage.  

I gave his paws a good scrubbing and left him out to air dry.

He looks pretty relaxed here doesn't he?  Of course, it was piano day, so all the piano students had to ask about the poor guy.  I told them not to tell Sarah.  He cleaned up well, so she'll never know.

Christi

And then............

We made cider!  My parents came down last Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning, we took all of the apples they had brought and the apples we had to Paul and Becky's house to make cider.  They have a nifty cider press and we started at 9 and had about 25 gallons made before lunch time!

Their friend Tom also came to help.  He didn't want is photo but I assured him that only about 6 people read this blog and 3 of them were there to make cider!

My mom and I loaded the hopper, while Tom and my dad squeezed cider.

The mixing table.............

I got to be the mixologist..........

David got in on the action while Becky watched.

So after discussing how many people read my blog, I went back through and looked at the stats.  The most readers I have had on any one post this year was 25, and that was in July when I posted about the flood............yes, the world just loves a good disaster!  The largest ever was 49 readers sometime back in 2018.  So, I think Tom is safe being pictured on my blog.

And, to give Cici and Willow a break from being featured in my photos, I'm sharing this cute little toad that was sitting on the deck railing one evening.  

Next up..........weekend activites!  

Christi

So many things..........

 In looking back through my photos, I realize that I have many things to share.  So this could be a really, really long post or I can split it into several posts.  Divide and conquer it is!

We got a new toy (for the farm)!  Meet The Stampede!  It's a lot of fun to drive.  

Okay, I know you wanted to see it from all angles, right?

Yes, Willow can ride too.  I think she prefers the car because it's quieter, but she doesn't let a little noise stop her.  I have driven it across the road to take stuff to my mother-in-law, down to the hog barn (no reason, just driving), and down to my neighbor, Karen's house.  Karen needed some pink strips for her spool block for guild, and I just tucked some pink in my pocket and Willow and I took off to deliver the strips!  Fun!  See, the Stampede is needed for quilting too.

Speaking of my neighbor, her adorable granddaughter was up for a visit on quilt show weekend.  I gave Jenna a new I Spy table runner for her coffee table.  

She had just gotten up from her nap, so love those sleepy eyes!  

I also finished this UFO from last year.  

This was Bonnie Hunter's Leader/Ender from last year.  I was using 1.5" squares, so only made a lap quilt.  My parents have gifted it to someone they know in a nursing home in Bethany.  The person loves red, so the back has red with big white polka dots on it.

And, I have been doing some roofing.  I'm hoping to get my Christmas Village quilt finished this year.  I just completed 26 more blocks and only have 26 to go.  I need to cut some more so that I have them to work on.

And all this running around and quilting has been exhausting, can't you tell?

Well, more adventure awaits in the next post.............it's a real cliffhanger, right?

Christi

Quilt Show

 Well, last week was spent mostly in preparation for the guild's annual (although it didn't happen last year due to Covid) quilt show in Arrow Rock at the heritage craft festival.  It was a beautiful weekend and there was a huge crowd.  After working my shifts, I went around and took photos of some of the quilts........

This was made by my friend Gina from leftover half square triangles.  I think this is a great use of scraps!

 

This was Becky's Ohio Star Flag............I think it placed second in its class.  Again, a nice use of scrap fabric!

This was Gina's again.  I have done some (not all) of these blocks to make a Halloween wall hanging.  I really like Gina's fabric choices.  This placed first in its class.

This was made by Mary for her grandsons who love dinosaurs.  My 24-year-old daughter still loves dinosaurs too and she voted for this one.

This flag quilt was made by Mary as well.  Compare her brighter fabric choices with my flag quilt a little further on in this blog post.

 

This was Mary's pineapple quilt made for a granddaughter.  I love the color placement.

This was mine.........I'd kinda forgotten about it as it was done in 2019 for the 2020 show which didn't happen.  Still really like this one.

There were several pumpkin quilts.  I think this was Mary's.  I really liked all of them.  I could make lots of pumpkin quilts.

This was Pam's goat.  She borrowed the pattern from me.  Cute, cute, cute!

This was Mary's crab quilt made for her granddaughter.  I probably would never make this, but it's sure cute!

And again, Mary's for another granddaughter...........again, just too cute!

This is my challenge from last year.  Lots of people commented on this one.

And here is my original design homespun leaves...........I love it, but it didn't get many votes.

This is Judy's Trail Mix quilt.

This is Carrie's quilt.  Adorable.  Sarah voted for this one because of the squirrels.

And Mary's Happy Houses............made me want to get my Christmas Village finished.

And my flag quilt done in darker homespuns........  still love this pattern.

This was Kris's Christmas alphabet quilt.  I think I have the pattern, but have never actually started it.

And another of Kris's quilts.............

Mary's granddaughter made this quilt as a 4-H project.  Love it!

And another pumpkin quilt.............but I don't remember whose it was.

And my Flea Market Mix, with the custom quilting...........  it got absolutely no votes, but I still love it!

And Mary's younger granddaughter made this one as a 4-H project.  Stunning!

Well, that's my wrap up from the quilt show.  The guild raised a lot of money through donations, raffle ticket sales, and the bazaar.  So, a very successful weekend.  And, it's only taken me a week of working on it to write this post!  

Christi

Weekend of Quilting, Sewing, and Pets!

 After finally getting the Flea Market Mix quilt off the longarm, I had the opportunity quilt a small quilt for my mom this weekend.........don't you love the "mood" lighting from Lucey!

Cici supervised the Friday evening sewing while watching and listening to Jackson's football game.  Another win!  Three more touchdowns for Jackson!  In their last 5 games, they have had 4 shutouts and let one team score a field goal.  Jackson was leading the team in tackles prior to this last game.  Of course, during the game, one official came up to Chad (coach and brother-law) and said he needed to stop #15 from hitting so hard.  That's Jackson............as laid back as they come until football.  Of course, you also have to wonder what that official thinks the word "tackle" means?!  Cici wasn't too excited about the football action.

I also finished this wall hanging for Sarah.  It's going in the mail today!

Saturday afternoon found us running errands with Willow.  We happened to be going by the Marshall Dog Park, so decided to stop and check it out.  We were the only ones there.  Willow wouldn't go up or down the ramps.  She just jumped on and off.

On Sunday morning, we took care of the neighbor's rabbits............

This mama bunny was enjoying her hay.  She had a pen full of babies that looked just like her........

except for this little guy!  He/she was definitely the oddball.  And was very squirmy!  I had a hard time getting him still for his photo.  But he was adorable.

When we got home, I got out of the truck so Kenzie could get in to help David with the chores and of course Willow didn't want to be left out.  We finally convinced her that she couldn't go along for the ride.

Busy week ahead.........writing the advertising grant for work, piano lessons, and getting ready for the quilt show this weekend!

Christi