Tin Lizzie Ansley is ready to quilt...I hope!

Well, I think we've got everything on my new longarm quilting machine...at least I cannot find anything else that needs to be attached, installed or loaded. We're still waiting on Shirley Stitcher II to come in (the company we bought it from forgot that part....OOPS!).....but it's okay since we had quite a bit of work to do to get everything else up and running. I've got one of the leaders on the rollers, backwards first, of course....doesn't that just go without saying??!!?? I have to get an order ready to go to Checkers (wholesale distributors) for supplies.....thread, batting, bobbins, needles....and other necessities.....but I've got some practice (play) right now. If it seems I fall off the planet, y'all will know where I am, right? LOL!

Merry Christmas (in case I fall into the deep dark hole of quilting).....

Until we chat again,

QuiltingCheri

Tin Lizzie Ansley: Phase 2, the Frame/Table

Yes, we are moving in a forward direction here! It won't be long until Tin Lizzie Ansley will be teaching me how to be a longarm quilter! I'm growing more excited by the moment! In these pics the frame is about 1/2 put together....evidenced by the box that is still a little bit full of parts. Who knew there were so many pieces to a longarm quilting frame? Gotta love Grace (the maker of the Hailey frame that Tin Lizzie Ansley glides across). Real quilting coming soon, stayed tuned!

Until we chat again,

QuiltingCheri

Tin Lizzie Ansley has ARRIVED!

It has been an exciting day at our house today, Tin Lizzie Ansley arrived today in 4 big boxes.....all shrink-wrapped together. It was VERY heavy and arrived on a UPS truck....not a regular truck, a semi-truck! My husband (thank God he has pick-up trucks, a tractor and some experience with heavy lifting....not to mention those muscles!)....and my son put it into the back of the pickup truck and brought it up to the house. We cut apart the shrink wrap and brought the boxes in the house, one at at time......MUCH easier! The frame is metal, Hailey frame by Grace, so it's heavy....and Ansley is rather heavy....so still quite heavy even in 4 boxes! The guys are working on the frame tonight....but have lots more to go....I'll post pics when she's up and ready to quilt on...can't wait!! The celebrations have begun in southern Missouri, we'll be longarm quilting VERY soon!!!!!

Until we chat again,

QuiltingCheri

A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler

This would be a typical day at our house during the homeschool year. It's just a little more festive at the kitchen table during the holiday season...the table is decked out for the holidays, too! :) Cody (16) has plenty to keep him busy this year, with a good, solid curriculum. He is studying:

Algebra 2

Chemistry

American Literature/Advanced Writing

American History

Bible study

Fine arts: Music theory, guitar lessons and calligraphy/italics

Practical agriculture/Farm management

Until we chat again,

QuiltingCheri

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas TREE :)

.....and the Christmas tree is up, decorated! I love the house all decked out for Christmas, and it is the most awesome feeling every time I walk into our great room (the main living space in our home). I am *almost* ready to begin listening to Christmas music....but not quite yet! I do have several books on CD that I'm anxious to listen to, Christmas themes, of course!! Still waiting for Miss Tin Lizzie Ansley to arrive...and beginning to wonder it it was shipped on the day it was promised....HMMMMM, I might need to call and check in with the company AGAIN to see what's up if it doesn't arrive today....and it's already 3:11 p.m., so I'm beginning to doubt we will see it today.....

Did I mention I can't wait?

Until we chat again,

QuiltingCheri

More pics of the chickies arriving this week....

And more pics of the very happy chickadees, finding the feeders and making themselves right at home! The chickens come in on semi trucks and are brought into the chicken houses as shown above....it's a very interesting process. There are only hens in the houses right now; the roosters arrive tomorrow (Friday). In all, we have about 8,800 hens and 500 or so roosters in each house, so just under 10,000 birds! That's going to be a lot of eggs rolling down the conveyor belts here in a few weeks! I think we'd better enjoy this little break we get with our current "babysitting" duty only! :) Seriously, my husband is monitoring the chickens very closely, making sure every bird is eating and drinking and moving around well....and so far, so good!

Okay, now I'll find some quilting to do....what a stressor....NOT! :)

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Chicken houses all ready!!

OOPS! The pics posted backwards! The bottom pics are the clean houses with the fresh litter, awaiting chickens....and the top pics are the chickadees arriving! This is our 3rd flock of birds now, and we're beginning to feel like we know what we're doing....amazing! I am still surprised at how much there to to properly raising egg-producing hens.

Yes, I'm quilting, too....I'll post some quilting pics in the next few days, with any kind of luck!

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

We've got Australian shepherd puppies

Tressa's little darlings are almost 2 weeks old now, and soooo cute!! There are 7 of the little munchkins....4 blue merles, 2 black tri's and 1 red bi. We have 5 girls and 2 boys, all roly poly and round. Tressa is doing a marvelous job as a doggie momma! :) I don't have them on our website yet, they're way too young, but I thought I'd post a pic to the blog...who knows I might even think about updating this frequently, so y'all can watch the little puppies grow.....

That's it for now....

Til we chat again,

Quilting cheri

Happy Halloween....and some news!!!

Long time, no chat.....I've been busy, for sure!! I've got my newest quilt top done, see above. It's from some BOM's I bought at JoAnn's Fabric a couple of years ago. I think I bought the BOM's at the end of the year, thinking it was for the upcoming year and OOPS, I didn't get the rest....so I made a roosting robin out of them. I really like the way it turned out, and it's the perfect size for my daybed, so that's it's destination after it gets quilted...

And...speaking of quilting.....I have news! We're getting ready to order a Tin Lizzie Ansley 26" longarm! I am so excited!! We could order it as early as the end of this week, or next week at the latest...just waiting for the first bonus check to come in from the end of our 2nd chicken flock. I love bonus time.....such fun!! I'll be sure and post pics of Ansley when we get her here.....we're ordering from a vendor out of California and they have her in stock, so she will be here really quickly, no wait other than normal shipping. Not sure how long it will take, but it can't be soon enough for me!

In the meantime, I have been collecting quilt tops to practice longarm quilting on.....see the pic above? That stack currently occupying my ironing board will be the guinnea pigs....er, I mean first quilts I do longarm quilting on....could be fun!!! I think I'll start another quilt top today.....wonder if I can get a few more done??

Chickens, chicken, chickens.....yes, 3rd flock is due to arrive on 11/18. With the 2nd flock not leaving until the late evening hours of 11/1 and 11/2, that doesn't leave much time for chickie house cleanout and preparation for the new flock.....so Mr. Wes and Cody and are going to be busy boys! It's all worthwhile, though, poultry farming is a great adventure.

Well, I guess that's about it for this blog.....hope y'all are enjoying each of these beautiful fall days....gotta love fall in southern Missouri...it's 70 today and gorgeous!!

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Happy 4th of July LONG weekend!!

We enjoyed a nice visit from my parents to celebrate our youngest child's 16th birthday.....hard to believe but Cody IS 16! They brought a beautiful grill as a b-day gift for my husband, Wes and I...our b-days were June 20th and June 21st. Tried that grill out on Saturday AND Sunday, it's beyond words AWESOME!! :)

I'm not entirely sure what all I am going to do today, but I'm relatively sure there will be a quilt shop involved. I joined several block-of-the-months this year, one of which is an embroidery project that is just TOO cute! I have to go and get some Sulky 12-wt thread, though, so I can work on the little ladies...they are Snowladies, and adorable! I just saw the completed quilt a few days ago, it's sooo adorable. Guess that's it for now.....hope everyone enjoys this holiday weekend as much as we are.... Remember NOT to take your freedom for granted!

Until we chat again,
Quiltingcheri

Long time, no blog...sorry! New quilt, too!

Wow, I can't believe it's been THAT long since I've blogged. I guess life got crazy! I just started a new quilt a week or so ago that I had to share!

I also started working on organizing my quilting room, esp. the fabric!! I had fabric all over the house in different nooks and crannies, and it just wasn't working for me. I discovered when digging one day that I had actually purchased 2 pieces of the same exact fabric....of course, the fabric is pink muscial themed fabric, so no problems with that....but it was a wake-up call for me to get the fabric organized....I have pics of that, too!! I bought some of those cool cube shelves they sell at Target...on sale...and some of the clear plastic organizers at Walmart...and guess what? The clear plastic organizers fit PERFECTLY in the cubes.....life is just sooooo good!! :)

I just started a new quilt a week or so ago that I had to share! It's out of 30's repros, which will shock NObody that knows me! I am doing a somewhat organized random butterfly quilt....here are some pics....

Look really close at the pic, do you see the butterfly that *was* pinned on, 3rd row from the bottom, 3rd butterfly in...OOPS! It's not there!! LOL...I didn't even see that until after I took the pics!! The butterfly flew the coop! (That's just "chicken" lingo for dropped on the floor of the quilting room, no worries, it's all safe and sound!).....

Well, guess that's it for now.....I promise, it won't be a year before I blog again....at least I hope not!! :)

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri