Quilting Around the Corner

Friday night's accomplishments

2012-02-11T13:18:00.003-06:00

I know it's Saturday when I'm posting this, but I was too lazy to post it last night...lol. When I went into the quilting room after work, I found this lovely quilt laying next to my sewing machine (I had put it there last week when I was organizing the quilt tops I still need to finish up, and remembered this one was DONE)....so that's what I worked on! Binding is completed and the quilt is all finished. The quilting has been done for quite a while.....but it's all good, one more completed project. Now...whatever will I work on today??

Here's hoping you're deep in stitches!
QuiltingCheri

New BIG BOY toys here....The Mule!

2012-01-29T21:45:00.003-06:00

We've had a busy weekend....went big boy toy shopping with my husband, Wes, and he hit pay dirt! LOL. We first went to the tractor store (aka where he buys the BIG tractors for the farm) and he bought an industrial size zero-turn mower to solve the ever-growing, difficult to cut area around the chix house. Problem solved! THEN...the real fun began...we went and found a UTV (like an ATV minus the sales tax when you have a farm account)! Isn't it cute!! :) Yes, I chose the camo, I thought it was perfect.....and the guys have been having a marvelous time "breaking it in" today!

So....I didn't get much quilting done this weekend, as in none....but I did manage to select some fabrics for a BOM I have chosen to do...."Thru the Woods" link listed to the left, and I'm excited.

Here's hoping you're deep in stitches (unlike me this weekend....LOL),

QuiltingCheri

Quilting is going on around here!

2012-01-25T23:27:00.006-06:00

My Janome is a humming tonight! I am finally putting together a mystery quilt I started in September. About time, huh? I have had the individual sections done, but just have not put it together. I love the fabrics AND the pattern...it's from one of my yahoo groups. What a fun thing to do! I don't think I've ever trusted my fabric judgment enough to go for a mystery quilt before. I was always afraid I would put it together and then hate the quilt. I'm sorry to say if I hated the quilt, I would not finish it....sad, but true.

So......do you want to see the main sections? Okay, but I haven't read the next step yet, so I've no idea how this will all go together. I have the big part in 5 strips, so I'm pretty sure how that's going to go.

I also did not follow the directions....I'm sure that will surprise everyone who knows me....NOT! So...I will have to cut the border strips out before I can do the next step I'm guessing.... I'm getting pretty excited and thinking I might just quilt this one next, jumping way ahead of my other quilt tops that are waiting patiently in line. I know, no cutting...but hey, they're all my quilts, so I can do which ever one I want. Here's a sneak peek:

I think it's going to be a beauty....so glad my friend, Jody, posted the steps and lead the mystery!! Let me just say I am so glad I've done my FIRST ever mystery! I think I'm going to love this quilt!

Here's hoping you are deep in stitches,

QuiltingCheri

Projects, projects, projects

2012-01-24T20:50:00.014-06:00

It's a new year and I have a new resolution...to actually USE my blog, now there's an idea! I really *needed* some help taking pics of my purchases, so along came my trusty sidekick, Pippa. She says it's time for me to get quilting, since I already went shopping and bought the fabrics for my projects....I do believe she's right!

I really like the free Just Takes Two BOM this year (the BOM link is to the left under Pippa's pic)....the fabrics were calling my name from across the room this weekend when I went to the LQS in Springfield, Missouri....so I brought some home. I haven't even checked my stash yet to see what I have, LOL, but that's okay, I still need more, I'm sure.

I think that's a pretty fine start, now I can start cutting, cutting, cutting and listening to the lovely hummmmmm of my Janome 6600.

In honor of our chicken houses (yes, that's the best excuse I can come up with today), I really must make a barn quilt using Eleanor Burns book, so I began buying fabrics for the barn quilt and I got the book. I am very inspired now, and may just have to figure out what other fabrics I might want...er, I mean need....

And, I should probably start by working on my BOM from the LQS that I haven't started yet, and I get the last month, oh, I don't know, like next week! :) It's an Aunt Grace, so I'm bound to love all of those wonderful 30's repros. I have to admit the *real* reason I have to get this one started....I am signing up for another BOM at my LQS, it's just too cute to say no. You'll have to stay tuned for that one....coming soon!! I guess that's about it for now....

Here's hoping you're deep in stitches,
QuiltingCheri

Longarm quilting!

2011-04-13T19:04:00.002-05:00

Long time, no blog! :( I've been very busy learning how to use Tin Lizzie Ansley and Shirley Stitcher II. I am very happy to announce, that we're getting there....and I'm quilting on a real live quilt! My sample books are all finished, although I certainly will add more to them as time goes on....and now I'm quilting my stack of quilt tops....fun, fun, fun! I started with a very simple charm quilt, figuring it would be a good way to do a block by block design. I thought about an all-over meander, but how boring is that! I actually ended up deciding to do a star meander at the top and bottom of the quilt...and putting an 8 point star in each of those little charm squares. Whoa! I had no idea how much work that would be...lots of starting and stopping...but I love the way it's looking. Pretty cool, huh??!!??

Once I get this quilt done...I get to move on to the next quilt! Could life be any better than this?? I think not!

As the sign in my living room says: Be Happy With What You Have....

and the other sign says: A Day Spent Quilting is a Good Day!

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

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

2010-12-11T16:39:00.002-06:00

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

2010-12-03T20:36:00.004-06:00

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!

2010-12-02T21:04:00.002-06:00

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

2010-12-01T13:58:00.004-06:00

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 :)

2010-11-29T15:04:00.004-06:00

.....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....

2010-11-18T19:13:00.002-06:00

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!!

2010-11-18T19:03:00.004-06:00

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

2010-10-31T14:48:00.005-05:00

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!!!

2010-10-31T13:23:00.007-05:00

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!!

2010-07-05T11:18:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-06-28T21:00:00.005-05:00

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

A vist from Robbie Sweetheart (my grandson!)

2009-03-30T22:10:00.004-05:00

Here's Robbie (3-1/2), our handsome grandson, fondly called "Robbie Sweetheart".....it's a long story~but in a previous blog..... Robbie, his momma (daughter Amanda), his daddy (son-in-law Jim), and his sister (Kayleigh, 21 months) came for a visit this weekend and we had a great time. Robbie was entranced with the egg operation, as was his daddy....I like these guys, they think like we do!! So Robbie had to come down and "help" and let me tell you, this little guy is great help! Pappy (my husband Wes) showed Robbie how to put the eggs on the rack 1 time and he got it right....for a comparison, Wes had to show me 2 times! :) LOL.... Here's Robbie waiting for the egg to come down the conveyor belt....

And Robbie has got the egg!! He announced excitedly, Pappy! I got an EGG! LOL....to which Pappy, of course, had to stop and admire Robbie's egg! :) LOL....Pappy is at the table next to Robbie...you can see him if you look really closely behind the BIG egg rack in the background....

And the eggie goes into the egg rack. Robbie eventually ran out of eggs...oh no!! He started cheering the hens on at that point, chanting, "More eggs! More eggs! More eggs!" in his sweet little voice....Pappy and I were laughing so hard we could hardly work ourselves...what a fun time it was!!
Here's Robbie after the eggs stopped coming down the conveyor belt with hand on hip and tapping his fingers....every once in a while he would bend way down and peek down the conveyor belt to see if there were any more eggies coming....every time he saw a new egg, he would squeal with delight..... "Grandma Sweetheart, I got another egg, it's almost here!" LOL..... Working in the egg room will never be the same again....we will be telling Robbie Sweetheart stories every time we walk through the doors!

Kayleigh went down to the egg room with her daddy (son-in-law, Jim)...but didn't last too long...she thought it was one cool place to be...and she really loved throwing all of those balls (eggs!)...OOPS! Actually, she didn't get to throw any of the eggs, she just really, really wanted to...but she got to go and hang out in the house with her mama instead! :)

What a wonderful weekend....we hope to repeat it again really soon!!

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

EGGS ...oh, and new flooring!!

2009-03-24T21:54:00.006-05:00

WE'VE GOT EGGS!!
Did I mention the egg business is a fun thing to do??? I'm so glad we put these poultry houses up, this is the most fun I've had working in a really, really long time. I want to do it full time.....but not yet, Wes has to get the rest of the farm going and generating good income first....wait, wait, wait...I hate waiting! I want to be the official egg lady! LOL....

Here's your upfront view of this very cool egg business....READY?

These are eggs heading to the hatchery.....beautiful....lots of them...this is only 1/2 of the cart by the way, there's another side!!

The egg rolling down and then off the conveyor belt....

Grading the eggs...this one is a medium/large....then into the yellow egg tray...

These are all cull eggs...the big ones are double yolks (which sometimes make their way up into my refrigerator!)....and the little ones are too small to grade, so they are boxed....

Boxes of cull eggs....lots of them the first week. We had to be up to 15% of production before we kept eggs at all....we're there now, though!!

This is the storage racks I got for the egg room at Sam's! They're just perfect for holding all of the tools and supplies we use in the egg room.....and in the houses, actually.

Stay tuned...I'm going to be quilting soon, I'm having MAJOR withdrawal!!

FLOORING!!

We just got some new flooring for our house, though, wanna see it, too?? Okay, but only if you PROMISE not to look too closely at my house...I have furniture stuffed everywhere. We had to clean out the great room in order to put the new flooring in (which isn't wood, it's called Earthscapes....a really thick, heavy vinyl flooring).....I'm getting it all back in place....slowly!

Isn't that a GREAT place for the quilting frame? LOL...it's blocking the walkway that goes between the fireplace and the kitchen (there's a hallway behind it, it's blocking that, too!).....the quilting frame normally "lives" in the great room, so out it had to come....I've found an even better location in the great room, now, though, it will be a lot more accessible, so I might even use the darling frame!! :)

Well, I'd better get back to putting things away...either that or sleeping, I might need to do that sometime tonight, too.....LOL...

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

The chickens have ARRIVED!!!!!

2009-03-03T19:30:00.005-06:00

YaHoo! The birds have landed.....and in BIG numbers...

There's my hunk-of-a-cowboy husband out there moving the birds up in the house....the ladies are less than cooperative, they're thinking this is a nice area to hang out.....

Looky, we found food!! Two very independent chickens find the feeders in record time!!

In these "sexy" boots is my cowboy husband waiting to help unload the birds...it's quite the amazing process.....

No, this is not my husband...this is the truck driver, who was more than a little bit amused at our EXCITEMENT with chickie arrivals..... who was directing "traffic" while the other truck driver drove the forklift in with each load of birds.....see all the birds, they're everywhere, they're everywhere!!

All Aboard....or should I say all OFF board? LOL...unloading the birds

This process went on....and on....and on....until the houses are full to the brim!!

Shesh! I'm exhausted....I might need to go quilt!! :)

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Next phase....waiting for chickens...impatiently!

2009-03-03T19:23:00.005-06:00

Roper and Rodeo Sweetheart are waiting impatiently, too...."helping" farmer "DAD" put the numbers on the feeders, preparing for the chicken arrival..... I think the Aussie "kids" might just be trying to herd "dad" somewhere else? LOL....gotta love this pic!

This would be my cowboy husband putting up the numbers on the feeders....so the feed truck drivers know which feeder needs more food for our little darlings...you know, the chickens!

I backed up a bit to get a better shot...farmer husband at work...with his trust truck at his side....where are those dogs??

Isn't this cool!! I have absolutely NO idea what this is...looks like a tank of sorts, huh!!?? Actually, I have been educated now (I went and asked Wes, my darling, intelligent husband!)...it's a water tank.... These chickens drink a lot of water!!!

Here's the entrace to the egg room, which is smack dab in the middle of the building....the building is 840 feet x 40 feet, so yep, its a big'un! :)

Still waiting on chickens....pending arrival......actually they're late now.....

Until we chat again (which will be in another minute or two, I have to catch up!!).....

Quiltingcheri

FINISHED chicken houses....

2009-03-03T19:08:00.007-06:00

Those are actually the egg tables up in the air above the head of my husband...who is hard at work! NO, he's not a munchkin...the table is up really high in the air....the reason for that is because the belts are all hooked up to the nests, which are high up in the air until it's time for the girls to get down to business and lay some eggs!!

This cool looking thing is the computer system that will get us up in the middle of the night if the environment isn't perfect for our little devils...I mean angels...the chickens! Seriously, this is one extremely well organized system....the birds lay better under certain environmental conditions, and this computer is set up to tell us (via a telephone call to our home number, cell numbers, etc.) if the conditions are not optimal. Eggs=money, we're all for excellent laying conditions!

And...this is the house all ready for the chickens....those red things in the air are actually rooster feeders. The hens (girls) arrive first....and 1 week later, we get the roosters. The hens will start laying eggs in a few weeks after that. Once the roosters have arrived, down come the rooster feeders to keep the guys happy and hearty!!

This is one impressive chicken house...and it ought to be for what it costs! OUCH! At the end of the house are tunnel fans and a big garage door opener to get in and out of the house with forklifts for delivery of chickens....and tractors after the chickens are done and we need to clean out the place. Yes, for you yankee gals, that is RED DIRT!! :) LOL....it was new to me, too, growing up in northern Illinois where the dirt is black...it's not black here!! :)

And this is another closeup pic of the nice clean bedding on the floor of the chicken house.....you can see the nests high up in the air right now. The nests will be brought down for laying time in a few weeks, and will go right on the white flooring you can see....pretty cool, huh!

That's one long chicken house...and it's less than 1/2 of it!! SERIOUSLY!!

Here's a nice shot from the end.....it attempts to show just how long this is....840 feet x 40 feet....

And from a distance....you can see almost 1/2 of the chicken house with the feeders in place....

This is the generator shed with the diesel tank next to it....along with the entrace to the chicken house....welcome to farmland U.S.A.!

The houses are done.....and soon the birds will be arriving......(okay, they're already here, but I have to build up the excitement....you'll have to wait for the next blog!! Which is coming right up....

Until we chat again (in a few minutes!)....

Quiltingcheri

Updated chicken house, interior pics

2009-01-14T19:44:00.002-06:00

Brand new pics!! These look a little bit messier because we are not putting in the belts for the eggs and all of the more intricate stuff. You can see the little doors that the conveyor belts go into, which is how the eggs are transported to the egg room for processing. The red feeders are the rooster feeders, and we're just getting ready to put those in, too. All-in-all, this is one cool operation!! I could spent hours just wandering around and looking at everything!

Hope y'all are enjoying this as much as I am taking the pics and all...I have done NO quilting in ages, I really need to refocus my attentions, huh??? :)

'Till we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Inside the chicken house construction AND Grandbaby pics...

2008-12-28T13:17:00.005-06:00

It's becoming a reality! The top pic is of waterers and feeders on one end of the HUGE chicken house, which is actually a double house, placed end-to-end. The next two pics show the other end of the chicken house, with the nesting boxes going together...the LONG part of the process. The last pic is the egg room, which is under construction, clearly. The room you see is the refrigerated room. They have a lot of work to do in this room yet! :) That red stuff you see on the floors....that would be red dirt for all of you northerners who have only seen the black stuff or sand...LOL. It was new for me, too!! :)

And now.....Christmas grandbaby pics.....yep, they're adorable!!!! :)

Mr. Robbie (3) and Miss Kayleigh (18 months) were such fun to see at Christmas.... The last pic we call Kayleigh's got his (Robbie's) truck! :) Doesn't she just look charming, too!! :)

When I arrived at my parents home (8+ hour drive!), the first words out of my mouth were "where are my babies?" LOL....well, when Robbie (3) arrived a few minutes later, the first words out of his mouth was, "where's Grandma Sweetheart?" (his pet name for me, which I adore!)....great minds think alike, you know! :) LOL! Anyway, I heard the babies come in (with mommy & daddy, of course)....and ran upstairs to see them....Robbie, as soon as he saw me, squealed, "Grandma Sweetheart!" and ran to give me a BIG bear hug! Did I mention I just adore these children!!??!! LOL!! What a welcome home for the holidays!!

Hope y'all are enjoying the season as much as I am....are snuggly warm with your family and filled to the brim with blessings and thanksgiving....life is so good.....

'Till we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T19:45:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas and welcome to our home. This is our tree this year, which was a FUN family project...the guys got to haul everything in for me and move things around so I could put the tree in the front great room window...wasn't that fun! :) Then Cody (my 14 y/o son still at home) helped put the tree together (I'm so glad he's so big and strong now, this tree weighs a TON!).....and he helped me put on lights, garland, decorations, bows and candy canes....it seems so simple, but whew, it took quite a while....

Anyway....we celebrated Christmas today with our sons (Cody & David). David moved to southern Missouri almost 2 months ago now, and we're so glad he's here!! He got a really good job and is enjoying himself, settling in and making friends. So...he came over today and we had our gift exchange, watched a movie...and had some family time. We'll be celebrating with family tomorrow, too....the weather changed our plans just a bit from our "normal" Christmas, but it's all good.....

Hope you are enjoying wonderful time with family and friends...celebrating the wonder of the season...the birth of Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Chicken House Construction, phase 3

2008-12-17T11:54:00.004-06:00

The chicken house is really coming along, almost all closed in. The egg room in the middle is going to be really cool. I didn't take a pic, but beside where I was standing to take the photos is the generator shed. We should have chickens as soon as the equipment is all installed, which will still take a while.

As a side note, and a down point, our neighbors are still trying to make us miserable and creating trouble where it isn't......it's hard to believe that anyone has so little to do that they find the ridiculous need to keep making telephone calls and sending officials out to our house for STUPID complaints. At this point, they have sent so many different state agencies to our house, I probably could charge them with harassment, but I hate doing something like that...and it's Christmas! SHESH! Today, we had a state official out because the other day, when the winds were over 40 miles per hour, some plastic was in his pasture. Can you believe it?? One piece of plastic blew into his pasture! I'm appalled at the childishness and ridiculous nature of the behavior of these "supposed" adults...leaves me beyond words frustrated a lot. With so many REAL problems going on in the U.S. today....people who are dying for our country....the economy that has taken a major hit....so many people who are downsized out of their jobs....states running out of unemployment money to pay folks who have been downsized out of their jobs.....children who are hungry and without having their needs met....and the time of year that it is. With the way the neighbors act, one would think we have done something to them.....well, we haven't. Our chicken house isn't in front of their house...it's beside our house with nothing but pasture behind it. We never say anything about what they do with their property...we never complain when he's out making all kinds of noise early on the weekend mornings with his chainsaw or other equipment....we never complain about their dogs who run loose all the time and truly are a nuisance to the neighbors (tearing up trash bags, constantly going into neighbors yards, running up and down the road in front of vehicles, and ganging up on other dogs--they have several loose dogs).... I guess they just don't have happy lives, so they want everyone else to be miserable just like they are.....so sad! Maybe I just need to pray for them!

Okay, enough negativity....the chicken house project has been a LONG time in coming and I am going to savor every moment of the construction. Time to look on the bright side and the blessing: Wes will be producing eggs in no time!! YIPPEE, he will no longer be downsized out of a job and unemployed (since March of this year!!), and this is going to be soooo good for him!! God has richly blessed us, answered our prayers, and we are thankful!!

Hope y'all are snuggled cozy and warm with your families, enjoying the beauty of the season.....sipping on some hot cocoa....and enjoying all of the blessings of the season.

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Chicken House Construction, phase 2

2008-11-20T20:54:00.003-06:00

Isn't it huge!! We are growing so excited watching this amazing crew do their work. It's almost changing from day to day...I feel like a new mom again, noticing all of the subtle changes in my children from day to day. LOL! We are projected to have chickens in this house by the end of December/early January if we are able to stay on our construction schedule. Once the outside is upcompletely, the weather shouldn't really impact any further, which will be just wonderful. The crew is great, hard-working and very attentive to detail. We have been very blessed...and soon, my darling husband will be busy at work again....YIPPEE.

For those who don't know, Wes was downsized out of a job, more or less, in March of this year. He has worked consistently in the past 20 years in middle management at beef/poultry plants....and when this happened, we were in the decision making process for becoming growers for one of the local poultry producers. The rest is history, as they say......

I have a new job that I just LOVE it...the new company is awesome, and I don't remember saying that in the recent past. I have liked jobs OR liked people I worked with....but rarely have positive things to say all the way around...job, people AND employer....that has all changed! The company I am working with not only offers me the VERY best job in the world IMHO, at least for me..... (Worker's Comp nurse case management).....but in a pretty nice location, for a nice salary with great benefits...I am finally happy with employment. When I went to the home office last week for training (near St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN), I also discovered that this company also promotes telecommuting! MY DREAM!!! I am so thrilled to be working at a job I love, for a company that is amazing.....AND potentially having the opportunity to work out of a home office again.... I am feeling very blessed with employment for the first time in a very long time!! :)

So....all is going well in southern Missouri.....we have new puppies that are posted on our website at:

http://www.flyingwaussies.com/

So...we're busy and happy all at the same time....hope everything is wonderful for each of you as the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons approach.

'Till we chat again,

quiltingcheri

Beginning our chicken houses!!

2008-11-07T19:19:00.002-06:00

It has been a long time since I've posted any blogs or pics! I decided to get these pics up of our beginning chicken house(s). We're actually only putting up 1 house, although it is equivalent to house what 2 houses previously held. This is my husband, the farmer's, full-time job now...and he couldn't be more thrilled.

Did I mention we're famous? Maybe that should be infamous! :) One of the local papers, The Joplin Globe, decided to cover the "story" of our neighbor's distaste with our choice of what to do with our land...hmm....I won't get into it all, I promise...but if you want to read all about it, just go to The Joplin Globe and search "Church farm" and you'll undoubtedly find out far more than you EVER wanted to know! :(

It's sad that our neighbors are trying so hard to stop our farming enterprise....this is a small farm NOT A CAFO (commerical operation), so there's really no reason....and there are chicken houses literally everywhere here....but to each their own. I believe in freedom of speech, so I guess I'll just have to ignore those comments that make no sense or are ridiculous. By the way, everything the Globe says I said...I did! :) I did find some errors in the article, but they were very few and nothing major as far as I could see....other than the last comment by our neighbor who states that our chicken house will smell worse than his HOUSES...did I mention he has SIX houses and we have 1?????? Well, the information he provided isn't accurate, go figure! When one raises broilers, the goal is to fatten up the birds and ship them out...therefore (logically), if one is trying to put weight on the birds, there will be a hotter litter under those birds than a breeder (egg layer) house....again 1!!!.....since the goal with egg layers is to maintain weight. Yes, they are here longer, but did I mention that broiler houses don't clean their houses out but once a year!!! They change birds a lot, but don't change litter! Can you just say ICK!

Okay, I'm done whining for now....more pics this weekend, I hope.....

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Juki and a Quilting Frame

2008-09-06T08:35:00.004-05:00

Ever been almost afraid to try something new? I get so excited about getting my quilt tops finished and then I go and look at this setup....and I think I'm panicking, does that sound bizarre? It's like I just don't know where to start and I'm afraid of doing something wrong. I really have to get this perfectionist thing put behind me....I am sure I am going to love quilting with this.....

Here's some history....I got this at a fantastic price when we lived in Illinois at Hancock Fabrics; the store had a display model that I fell in love with and just had to have. I saved my pennies (LOL) and bought it finally. I paid $50 for these 2 wonderful college kids to come over and put it together for me, and they did an awesome job....but I didn't know anything about how it went together, how to use it...you know the drill, right! So.....fast forward a couple of months...we get relocated to Missouri (with employment), and the movers take this frame apart....into little bitty pieces....ARRGGGHH!! Well, it took literally forever to move into our house totally (still haven't done that fully), with us both working full time and having less space from the house change (2400 sq ft with a full basement to 2600 square feet with no basement....that's HUGE, trust me!). Anyway, I finally got this stupid (now I'm calling it stupid, not a good thing) frame together a while ago and I just look at it (by the way I would have gladly paid $100 to have it put together again, where are those college kids when you need them??). Have I used it much? Nope!

This is a wonderful setup and I wonder why it intimidates me so much! :) I have used this so little, more for straightening quilts or for displaying quilts...I don't think that's what it's intended for. So today....I have some assignments to do for my online class (went back to school to complete the BSN-MSN degree I've put off for so long)....and then the day is mine. Now I just have to talk myself into getting out there and actually PLAYING with my toys. Maybe if I look at it like that, I'll actually give it a try. Wish me good luck!!

Until we chat again,
Quiltingcheri

Started a new nursing job....and dead on my feet!

2008-08-30T16:29:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone out there in blog land. I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I would change that today. I started a new job about 2 weeks ago, which is why I've been so quiet. I *thought* I would love to go back to obstetrics as a nurse, working in the well-baby and level II nursery, sometimes on the postpartum floor doing couplet care (mom and new well baby)....and while it sounds really good, whew, I'm beat!! :(

I have quickly discovered that the new job, working 12-hour shifts (something I'm no longer used to doing) is quite an undertaking, and I'm not totally sure that I am up to it! I feel like I work in a baby factory....because of the huge volume of babies delivered and just trying to keep up with all of the work. I have yet to get a break in the 4 days I have been at the hospital in clinical orientation....and without that break to refresh, it's just too hard to keep up. I am hoping I will learn to keep the pace, but I'm not overly optimistic...I think I am too old for this type of schedule/workload, and I didn't think I would EVER hear myself saying that. Truthfully, I have a pretty high energy level and can accomplish an amazing amount in a day, but I feel like a failure at work because I have yet to keep up well.....I get everything done by the end of the shift, but it's like a mad race to the finish line on a daily basis..... I am off today, simply exhausted...too tired to even think about quilting, and that's just TOO tired! :(

Until we chat again,
quiltingcheri

Our Australian shepherd website is updated!

2008-08-14T15:32:00.003-05:00

Good news!! Y'all probably won't have to look at many more dog pics...I'll get back to posting quilting stuff now! :) LOL. We raise Australian shepherds, which is pretty obvious by now...and I have been working to update and rebuild our doggie website, so I've been taking all kinds of pictures and transferring pics from the notebook computer (where I download them from my Kodak digital camera) to the mainframe computer...I know, it's complicated, but it works for me...lol! So....here's the link just in case anyone wants to see the furkids. I had a great time, and included some pics just for fun, too..... I'm sure the website isn't done...probably never will be completely finished....but it's such a wonderful relief to have this much done. Next step, you ask? I have to figure out how to put the pedigrees up, now won't that be fun...NOT! :)

Here's the link:

http://www.flyingwaussies.com/

Enjoy browsing and meeting our furkids....make sure to let me know if you have any comments or suggestions....they're always welcome! :)

Until we chat again,
quiltingcheri

Cody's FINISHED planet quilt....

2008-08-10T17:54:00.001-05:00

Well, it's done and it's one wacky quilt....very bright and colorful. Cody helped me choose some of the colors for this quilt quite a while ago...hope he doesn't change his mind when he sees the finished product. I just need to get the quilting done on it (and several others)....I was waiting to finish this one up before I started machine quilting the myriad of quilts I have stock-piled....so no more excuses.....Juki machine here I come! :)

Enjoy the pics....and let me know what y'all think....

'Till we chat again,

quiltingcheri

Cody's "planet" themed quilt is STARTED!

2008-08-10T14:13:00.003-05:00

This is a quilt I finally got started for my youngest son, Cody. Cody just turned 14 on July 2nd, so this quilt is right up his alley. LOL! It's bright...and in case you can't tell, the fabric in the center is of planets. It is on a king-sized bed right now, so I have to decide how many more rows to add onto the quilt (I'm making ANOTHER of those roosting robin quilts, they are soooo addictive and quick to make!)...... I think the quilt will need some purple added in...and then maybe a big row of the big planet fabric (center square) to finish it off. I have 2 sizes of "planet" fabric prints that coordinate in this quilt, and it's a good thing, I need all of the fabric for this one. I'm a little bit worried about how bright this quilt is turning out, it's not very restful....lol. After I get it done, I'm sure we will be painting his walls because it's going to be way too much with what he has in there...can you say CLASH! :) Oh, well, they needed done anyway.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.....it's raining and cool here, we're loving it, especially after our 105-115 heat indexes earlier this week....happy to see those gone! :) I was out getting groceries yesterday and got poured on at least 3 times...and I loved every minute of walking through the rain...it was nice and 80-ish...terrific! Today it's almost cool in the upper 70's...what a blessed relief, our a/c unit is getting a well-deserved rest. Because of the humidity (a rare thing here), our a/c unit was having a terrible time keeping the house above 81 degrees....which is just a few degrees warmer than I usually keep it....I prefer about 75 degrees, so it seemed very hot indoors to me. Did I mention that I'm NOT from the south and don't like the heat?? LOL!

We spent the hot part of the week out and about finishing up the FSA paperwork for our commerical chicken houses that are scheduled to start going up very soon. As far as I know the only thing we need now is a permit.... It's pretty amusing, actually. Here in MO, we apparently don't need a building permit to put up the chicken houses, we need a "land disturbance permit." Strangest thing I have ever heard of....if you own the land and want to build on it, and will be tearing up more than 1 acre, you have to go and get this permit (that costs $300) in order to "disturb" the land. Wild! :)

Have a great rest of the weekend. 'Till we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Isis

2008-08-05T10:06:00.002-05:00

This is Isis. Isis is a blue merle female with brown eyes. She was one of our bred puppies....she is now almost 5. Isis reminds me so much of her mom, Sapphire.....so beautiful with all of her dark spots and perfect merling. She's a total sweetheart, too, which certainly adds to her beauty.

Isis just loves everyone and is a pleasure to be around. She gets along with all of the other dogs...and cats (you can see our male cat's tail in the pic right above this)...... Our dogs and cat(s) have always gotten along pretty well....it doesn't hurt that the cat isn't afraid of anything...lol!

That's it for now....until we chat again,
quiltingcheri

Rodeo Sweetheart

2008-08-04T17:46:00.006-05:00

That top pic is an Aussie smile!! Rodeo Sweetheart is a wonderful red tri female Australian shepherd that we have had since she was a puppy....now 5-1/2 years ago. She is a red tri (deep red, copper and a full white collar) with beautiful, loving amber eyes. She's simply beautiful. She is bred out of the #1 Hall of Fame Australian shepherd kennel lines, Las Rocosa, and she looks it. She is the mother of our beloved blue-eyed black bi boy that we bred about 3 years ago...actually she bred 2 black bi/tris with blue eyes in that litter. That may seem like a simple feat, but it was unexpected when we got it, and very highly sought after, so a good thing!

Rodeo is my husband's dog, something you will hear out of me a lot. Our Aussie females, for the most part, all claim Wes as their personal property. Like the other ladies, Rodeo "tolerates" me most of the time, and is my friend whenever Wes isn't available....lol. That's okay, I'm honored to be a part of her life...she's a beauty, so very loyal....a total keeper.

We're taking new pics for our website, so you're all going to see LOTS of pics of our Australian shepherds....and let me tell you in advance, they are all just amazing animals. I know all breeders will tell you that their breed is the best...well, Australian shepherds ARE the best, undoubtedly! :)

'Till we chat again,
Quiltingcheri

Introducing Texas Twister, Australian shepherd

2008-08-04T16:02:00.006-05:00

This is our BIG boy Australian shepherd that we just added from a very dear friend and breeder from Kentucky. His name is Texas Twister, call name Tex. He's a complete sweetheart for such a BIG, big guy! He is seen in these pics with our new baby kitty (orange) and his daddy (big orange cat), Garfield. The kitties think Tex is just awesome...and they're right, he is. Texas is technically a blue merle with 2 crystal clear blue eyes.....he is what is known of as a cryptic merle or phantom merle, since he looks almost entirely like a black tri with his merling only around his full, thick furry neck. He's just gorgeous. As he becomes more comfy with us, I'll try to get better pics of him....

Tex is a laid back guy who loves nothing more than hanging around with us....and herding! He herded our horse today, a new experience for her. None of our other Australian shepherds would *dare* attempt to herd the horse. Tex has been here for a matter of days and has already successfully herded the horse! The horse is a pet, too, and was attempting to help Wes clean out the water buckets for the dogs today. We bleach them out everyday to keep fresh water available all the time for the doggies.... Anyway, the horse attempted to come on over to the part of the pasture that Wes was working in when Tex spotted her...he moved her right on back to the other side of the pasture, real quick and in a hurry! :) Wes, I'm sure, about lost it, nearly dying of laughter...lol. I'm sure the horse was SHOCKED! Just another day at the office for Tex! We're thinking he is going to be awesome with the cattle, his instincts are just awesome...

AND...we have a new baby kitty. That's pretty good for a family with only a male cat! :) We're guessing that our Garfield went a-visiting. When he came home this time, it wasn't empty handed...one of his baby kitties followed him right on home. We're assuming it's a little girl...and she's the spitting image of her dad, as you can see in the pics above. We couldn't be more thrilled. She's a tame little munchkin...and typical of kitties, she will choose her own home and family, thank you very much! I've been feeding her moist food over the course of the past 3-4 days, since she looks to be freshly weaned, about 4-5 weeks old. She's sleeping in the garage (attached to the house), and hangs out in the backyard (see pics) during the day..... We've got to come up with a name for her, though...hmmmmm! :)

That's about it for now.....till we chat again!

Quiltingcheri

Australian shepherd puppy is here....His name is Roper!

2008-08-02T12:16:00.005-05:00

Roper is a total charmer.....when he is awake, and just as sweet when sleeping. He's only 10 weeks old, so we understand the cycle.....play, eat, drink, pet the puppy, potty the puppy and nap time. He will occasionally pose and show off in the middle of play time, but I haven't yet gotten an action pic. We are very pleased with our new little one. He looks similar to Miss Spy...a black tri (black, copper and white) with two beautiful BLUE eyes..... He again has a wonderful pedigree, and we are feeling quite blessed to have him!!

We also added a BIG boy, his name is Tex, short for Texas Tornado. He's a big boy, full-grown, and just a teddy bear. I didn't take any pics of him just yet, he's still warming up and bonding with us. I'll definitely post pics soon, though, he's postively gorgeous. Tex is technically a blue merle, although he only has merling around his collar...he appears just like a black tri, again with 2 clear BLUE eyes.....and that minimal amount of merling to complete the pic. He's called a cryptic or phantom merle, and we LOVE him!! His pedigree is very impressive...we're thrilled he's here with us forever.

I did start working on Cody's quilt with a "space" theme. I'll post pics soon of that...it's turning out rather bright, but interesting....and Cody loves it, which is all that matters. And I have a new job! I'm so excited!! I interviewed for several jobs, nursing and QA/medical editing.....and have accepted the QA/medical editing job. I think it makes the most sense for now....of course, I may just change my mind tomorrow....lol! I start the new job on Monday, 8/4/08....and this time I work NO weekends and NO holidays, a Monday-Friday, 9 am - 5 pm job. I don't remember the last time I had a job those days/hours that I liked...had several I didn't like that I took for the work schedule, though. LOL!

Hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend......

Until we chat again,
Quiltingcheri

It's FINISHED.....the Cowboy quilt top

2008-07-23T13:52:00.002-05:00

Yes, it is finally finished....at least the top of it. I still have to quilt this monster, and I do mean monster, it's just huge. I haven't measured it yet, and I don't think I will until AFTER I have it quilted! :) No sense in depressing myself before I get started.

I had intended to add 2 more rows to it, but just plain ran out of room. The corners touch the floor now, so that's it. I think I will put the chocolate brown dust ruffle on the bed before I add this quit...the creamy one doesn't do anything special for this quilt, but I think the chocolate brown will be perfect.

So....now I have to decide which quilt to start next....decisions, decisions.....hmmm....I think I will start on Cody's quilt. I will probably just go ahead and load this quilt onto the Grace frame and let Miss Juki do her thing...lol..... I really need to get into the actual 'quilting' frame of mind (no pun intended!)....since I've got so many quilt tops here....it would be nice to clear off those "to finish" quilt racks and start refilling them all over again........ Hopefully this one will motivate me to get moving.

Well, this is my 2nd blog for today, so I'm signing off now, before y'all think I'm a novelist...wannabe! :)

Until we chat again,

Quiltingcheri

Our New Aussie addition.....Spy

2008-07-23T10:58:00.004-05:00

She's here and we love her. Please join us in welcoming Spy to our little Aussie Ranch! :) Spy is a gorgeous black tri female Australian shepherd with 2 gorgeous blue eyes. Her pedigree takes her back to my all-time favorite Australian shepherd ever, Ghosteyes, "Indy"....who is a solid black Australian shepherd with 2 piercing blue eyes. He was and IS an awesome man. We are adding another puppy, probably next week, directly from the breeder of "Indy"....pet-named Hoss. I'll definitely post more pics of him.

While getting nearly full size, Spy is still most definitely a puppy! No one told her that she's a big girl now, so she constantly tries to climb into my husband, Wes', lap...lol. She sleeps on the floor next to his side of the bed, and she has attached herself to him. Right now, he went to Lowe's to pick up some more parts...and she is sitting at the garage door fussing for him! :) She comes in to see me every now and again for a petting and to let me know that "dad" isn't back yet! :) ROFLOL! She's quite the little comic.

She has been introduced to the cattle and horse....and so far, so good. She loves to work....which translates to helping us do anything we're doing at this point. We're so very happy to have her here.....

'Till we chat again,

quiltingcheri

Cowboy quilt nearly finished!!

2008-07-14T18:10:00.003-05:00

This quilt is nearly completion!! YIPPEE! What a feeling. It's getting way too big to mess with much these days, and I'm ready to start a new project, so it's time to get the quilt top finished....then comes the quilting, yee haw! lol...sorry, that just seemed like the right thing to say, since it's a cowboy themed quilt. It is an oversized king quilt right now, and I think I'll add another row or two on to finish it up. I have some lovely blue that I think would look nice, or I can add some more of the border strip between the piano keyboard border and the wide lighter yellow/cowboys....we'll just have to wait and see what tickles my fancy! :)

Otherwise, things are going very well. I think I'll start Cody's quilt next...he's my 14-year-old son. I have some really nice planet themed fabric that I think would make a great quilt for his room. We really need to redecorate/redo his room into more of a "teenager" theme, since he's getting sooo old! :) LOL....... It does really need to be painted, that's for sure. The previous owners had a "Spongebob" color scheme in there, and that's what Cody used when we first moved in....but he's outgrown it now, and we need to update it for him. I am thinking of doing the quilt first and then choosing paint based on the quilt...a bit backwards, I know, but I already have the fabrics!! :) I think a nice, light-colored paint would be awesome, we'll just have to figure out how to cover the paint that's already there......

Well, that's it for now. I need to figure out what I'm making for supper and get moving. Hope y'all are having a wonderful week......

Till we chat again,
quiltingcheri

More Cowboy roostin robin pics....and more! :)

2008-07-10T21:20:00.004-05:00

Wow, it's been busy around the farm. This is such a fun time of the year, but woo hoo, we're just swamped. I have managed to find some time to add a couple of borders to my cowboy roosting robin quilt, though. It's on our bed in this pic, so I'm just about maxed out as far as how many borders I can add....boo hoo! :) I have really enjoyed making this quilt, I'm really liking the whole roosting robin quilt approach, so easy, so fun and they really turn out well.

Right now, I'm sewing together more of the piano key borders, like I did earlier in the quilt....all of the colors side by side...I think it will just make the quilt burst (a friend called it "pop" and that's a great term, and a huge compliment from her!)..... I'm thinking at this point I will just add the 2nd piano key border to 3 sides, since the quilt is centered on the bed right now, and I don't have much more space at the top of the quilt before I run out of bed...ha ha ha....who'd have thunk it? lol.....all that bed and I'm outta space for quilt borders.....

I had planned on adding another light cowboy fabrics, surrounded by brown...and I have this gorgeous dark blue fabric that needs to be in this quilt for the furthest outside border...and then I will back and bind it in the chocolate brown "main" fabric....and I think it will be done. That's when the hard part begins, and when I start WHINING.....when it comes time to quilt this monster....lol. I really have to stop making such BIG quilts...either that or start paying someone to quilt them.... naw, I wouldn't do that, couldn't part with the quilt long enough to send it out to a quilter. Besides, I need to be saving up some moolah for that Gammill long arm quilter, can't be spending it when I have a very nice Juki that CAN quilt with my Grace frame..I'm really quite spoiled when it comes to quilting, I know it and I love it! :)

Oh, I have to share a Robbie story today! Robbie is my 3 year old grandson, who I went to see last week. He is the sweetest little boy I have ever seen, sugar sweet...and that's more than just this grandma talking, he's a true sweetheart. Well, go figure, I called him Robbie Sweetheart (like that is his middle name or something) the entire visit....so today he sees a silver Malibu (which is what we drove when we went visiting in Illinois....can't afford to drive the Durango or the big truck anymore!).....anyway, when he sees the silver Malibu, he says in his adorably sweet voice, "Hi Grandma Sweetheart!" My daughter, Amanda, just had to call me to see if I had called Robbie Sweetheart...and to share his story.....I'm so in love with this little guy, he's awesome!! I love all 3 of my grandchildren...and I love sharing stories, I'm sure y'all will hear WAY more stories than you care to hear, but I really need to get these stories down in print, so I can preserve them forever...these are the times I never want to forget!! :)

Well, enjoy your cup of java....and we'll chat later!

quiltingcheri

Cowboy quilt continued...new pics!!

2008-06-30T01:00:00.003-05:00

I really have to stop working so late....or is it early? Since I'm in central time, it's officially late! :) lol...it would be 1 am, and I'm just now posting pics of this quilt. I have to admit I am growing very fond of this quilt, and it's a good thing, given that it will be on my bed when it's finished up. Right now, the pics are taken on our king-sized bed...and it covers the entire top of it, and laps over the edges just a little bit.....so I am going to have to figure out which borders/additions I want to add the most. I don't think I'm going to get to add everything I wanted...boo hoo! :)

I have it laying on my bed right now, waiting for my darling Wes to go and look at it...he has to admire my work!! I had to work today, and all I could think of was this quilt all day long. I work out of home, so it took a tremendous amount of concentration and self control to keep working instead of just walking out of the office and heading for the sewing machine! :) While I love working out of home, doing medical editing, this is definitely one of the challenges...lol. Plus, it is Sunday and I really don't like to work week-ends....but I do...had to compromise to get to work out of home again, and let me tell y'all....it's soooo worth it!! :)

My husband is watching Major Payne AGAIN today...lol...and I have to say it is a funny movie, but the most politcally incorrect movie I have seen in forever... I can see why Wes likes it, though...it's a right-up-his-alley tough-guy movie. Gotta love those tough guys.....

Oh, well, back to the quilt. I'm thinking I will add another piano key border as the next step...and then maybe a border of the chocolate brown I am using to pull it all together, since I've been using that consistently, and I have yards and yards of it...I should easily be able to back this quilt in that, also, which is wonderful. I could probably even make some valences for my bedroom to go over the blinds...that'd be cool!! :) Shesh, I'm planning a ton of work for myself!! :) LOL...and I love it.

We're going on a well-deserved visit to see the kiddos and grandbabies tomorrow, and I can hardly wait....probably why I'm still so wide-awake right now. My daughter and son-in-law are moving into a "real" house with a "real" backyard for the kiddos to play in, and we're taking them their puppy we picked up last Tuesday. She's a black and white shih tzu that is almost 8 weeks old now, she's so tiny and such a cutie pie.... It should be a fun trip! :)

Take care and we'll chat again soon....

quiltingcheri

Cowboy quilt for my husband....

2008-06-27T23:05:00.004-05:00

The next border is added....and I do believe it is livening up this quilt a little bit...lol. I was struggling just a bit to decide what colors to add that I actually wanted in the master bedroom, since that's where this quilt will go. I have enough fabric to probably do 3 of these, no kidding...and I just might. I also have a bunch of pillow panels to make pillows to put on the bed, that will exactly match the quilt. My poor cowboy husband has to put up with me decorating with pillows and girlie things, the least I can do is decorate with themes he likes...he's a keeper! :)

I have so many ideas that I want to add onto this quilt, I just don't know if I'll get it all in one quilt....it's likely to be more huge than I want even for a king-sized bed..lol. The good news is that I do want it big...lol..... I commented one time to a co-worker when I worked at Tyson that all of my quilts end up huge, at least over-sized queen size....she quickly told me that when it comes to quilts, bigger is definitely better!! I have to say I agree with her reasoning....a quilt that's too small for a bed is not a good thing....is there really too big? Hmmmm, I'll let you know when I actually get to quilting this if it's too big...but I think I will know well ahead of that, while still sewing borders on...lol. When it takes me 1 hour to sew a side on, I'll know it might just be a little bit bigger than I want, what do you think? lol!

Well, that's it for tonight....it's getting late, and while the music is good, I think I'll sign off..... (I have YouTube playing in the background, my C-O-U-N-T-R-Y playlist...I think it has 90 songs or so on it...lol). Have a great day/evening/weekend!

Till we chat again,
quiltingcheri

Cowboy themed quilt started

2008-06-26T21:13:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally got a new quilt started for the master bedroom....it has taken me FOREVER to start this one. I wanted it to be just perfect, had tons of fabrics that are pretty well coordinated, but just couldn't decide how I wanted to make it. The fabric is so gorgeous, I didn't want to blow it! :( I like it so far, that's a cheater panel in the center, I did NOT make that, but I love the way it looks so far.

Here's a pic for you to see:

And another......

And a side view......

I pulled a bunch of fabrics that will coordinate this quilt well out of my stash this weekend (I have so many cowboy themed fabrics, it's a fettish of mine, I guess).....and showed them to my husband with my plans for the quilt. Wes actually got excited and told me how well he thinks this quilt is going to look. That's awesome for the cowboy I married....he usually just "tolerates" my quilt chatter....although he is amazingly supportive.

We're thinking about buying a Gammill, did I tell y'all that? We have been toying with the idea for quite some time, and now, since the commercial poultry farm is becoming a fact (rather than a BIG dream), we should have the funds to pay for it. It won't happen anytime in the REAL near future, but Wes is plotting and planning....with his pages and pages of numbers and how he's going to successfully run our farm (he's an awesome businessman!!).....so I am finally a believer that it's going to happen.

I have always been a believer in God...well it seems like always (LOL)....and I am a very firm believer in my husband's various abilities.....but this dream was one of those that I wanted in the worst way, so I didn't want to get my hopes up too high....guess I can reach for that mountaintop, and I'm just bubbling..... God is so good to bless us in ways that leave us in awe....and this is another one of those moments.

Till we chat again,

quiltingcheri

Birthdays....lots of them!!

2008-06-20T22:14:00.002-05:00

Today is my darling husband, Wes', birthday. We have had a stay-at-home day, which was wonderful. The grown-up kiddos, Amanda and David, just called and wished him a happy b-day....which is wonderful. All I need now is for them to move here and come to visit everyday, then the world would be a perfect place. Guess I'll have to wait a little while longer on that one...lol...

We have a lot of birthdays in the month of June....2 grandbabies...Matthew turned 1 on the 14th; Kayleigh turned 1 on the 15th....Wes is today (6/20)...my b-day is tomorrow (6/21)....and in about 2 weeks, our youngest child, Cody has a birthday on 7/2. I didn't make any cake today, but I did make brownies. I thought we would save the cake for Cody's birthday in a couple of weeks, otherwise, with all of these b-days, we get SICK of cake! :) lol.....

I have to work tomorrow on my b-day, but I think when I get the chance (if the workload is low) or when the day is over, I will go ahead and start the new quilt for my bedroom. Since I work out of home, I don't usually mind working....but I'm ready for a break. I've been wanting to make it forever and it's way past time. I have a baby quilt to make for Matthew, Kayleigh's baby quilt to quilt (already pieced that one)....and a new baby quilt to make for Ewan Michael....goody, I love to make baby quilts. If I didn't think about them for so long, they'd be done WAY ahead of when I finally get them done.....oh, well, I'm a quilter, I'm supposed to be late finishing up the quilt. It's a personalized gift, I get longer, right?!!? lol...

Well, I don't have any wonderful insights today, I'm just tired and ready to sleep, so I guess this will be it for tonight......

Till we chat again,
quiltingcheri

Yesterday Was a GREAT day....

2008-06-18T10:51:00.004-05:00

I got my roosting robin done!! What a fun, fun quilt. I am so happy with it. It surprised me how fast and easy it was, having never done anything like this before. I'm still not sure my quiltmaking abilities are good enough for a round robin....lots of mistakes in this quilt, lemme tell ya......but I did have a blast. I found myself thinking a lot about this quilt, which was a huge part of the thrill. I don't think this will deter me from making up quilt kits and blocks of the month (BOMs), because I still love those....and I don't think it will stop ANY of the mindless quilting I do, since that seems to be my big stress reducer....but it has added a new dimension and certainly stretched me well beyond comfort....a really good thing, I think!

That wasn't the biggest thing that happened yesterday, though, just the icing on the cake. We *finally* got the formal approval to put up commercial chicken houses here. We have been working diligently on this for more than 3 years, with a lot of "no's" under our belts....when we were ready to bite the bullet and buy another farm, voila! an integrator comes in and will put commercial poultry houses right where we wanted them in the first place, is that just amazing. It's one of those "wow" moments that God surprises us all with....and puts the "awe" in awesome. The wheel is rolling now, and I will have to keep y'all updated on the progress of these houses from pasture land to commercial poultry operation. I don't think I have ever seen Wes more thrilled.

It's funny, he never answers the telephone. This morning, in his wonderful good mood...he was awakened from sleep (expecting a call from the dirt-work guy who is coming over today)....the phone rings, Wes JUMPS out of bed to answer it (which he NEVER does) and it was a telephone soliciter with the wrong number. He very politely told her she had the wrong number and hung up.....and then turned to me and laughed about it. Apparently, she had a lovely accent, probably a Georgia accent from his joking demonstration......and he was thrilled to be awakened....thrilled for her to have the wrong number.....and happy to share the whole thing with me with a positive twist. Just happy...this is so awesome, and just what he needed.

I also got a telephone call from my daughter, who took darling granddaughter Kayleigh into the doctor for her 1 year examination...which turned out wonderfully. They have been telling me that Kayleigh is a "porker" because she loves to eat, a great thing with a baby in my book, by the way, a good indication that she's healthy. As it turns out, Kayleigh weighs 19 lbs and is 26-27 inches tall now. I quickly told Amanda that 19 lbs at 1 year is definitely NOT porker level, she's perfect! Do I sound like a grammy or what? lol..... Amanda is a very blessed mom, she has 2 beautiful children who are happy, healthy and a blast to be around....guess that makes me a very blessed grammy! :) I am hoping with this new commerical poultry business we will have a lot more $$ and I can do a lot more traveling to see grandbabies. It is still my dream, of course, to have them living here, visiting everyday......but until and unless that happens, I will just have to visit a lot more often than we have been. We do have a fun visit planned in a couple of weeks.

Well, that's all for now....

quiltingcheri

Quilts as Therapy?

2008-06-13T12:54:00.007-05:00

Yes, there are more quilt tops I actually need to quilt. Do you see a pattern of procrastination with the quilting process here? There's a really good reason for this....my husband is planning on buying a Gammill longarm quilter for me....and I'm really excited about it. I have no reason not to quilt now, too, though....I do have a Juki and a Grace frame....but alas, I haven't yet! :)

This quilt is one of my all-time favorites. I thought about making a red, white and black quilt for the longest time before I actually did it....just couldn't come up with anything that "grabbed" me enough...lol. I could have done the typical Turning 20 and it would have been cute.....or I could have done the Yellow Brick Road, and I would have loved it.....but I wanted something just a little bit more intricate. I went to a LQS when we lived in northwestern Illinois, and I saw the quilt, right there, hanging on the wall....and wouldn't you just know it, they were having a class. The sample quilt was done in Civil War repros...which I really like, but didn't care for in this particular quilt...lol....but I was sure it would work for what I had in mind. I signed up for the class (which was a total blast) and bought my fabrics. Once again, what I planned to be a small quilt turned out BIG....that seems to be a pattern with me, too. I don't know why!! :) I went back 3 times to buy more fabrics for this quilt, because I wanted to make it bigger and bigger....when I got it done....I bought more red, white and black to make another one! :) I call this organized crazy quilting, and it's an awesome pattern.

I think this is the pattern (hope I can put this on here, I'm not sure!):

http://store.starwoodpatterncompany.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=TKQ003

I know this is is the designer of the pattern....I bought almost all of the patterns because I love them so much! The one I did is a freezer paper stack and whack type quilt, very easy, very quick and very fun!! I love the way it turned out. What do you think??

This quilt is a mindless project I started when my husband and I were planning our move to Missouri. All of my immediate family (including my 2 adult children) lives in Illinois...and I was having some trouble adjusting to the thought of moving so far away. I had seen my children almost every day of their lives, even after they moved out of my house......and my daughter had a baby...my first grandchild, Robbie. I knew I used quilting as therapy, so I went into the quilting room and pulled purple charms and fabrics from my stash, my daughter's favorite color....and just randomly sewed them together....with one exception. I used one "charm" (had yards and yards of the fabric) throughout the quilt consistently....all the rest were hap-hazardly placed. I don't know if I will ever use this quilt, but I probably will finish it up one day.

I have been swapping fabric "charms" with friends for years and years. I have quite a "stash" of charms...lol. I hadn't used them much, other than occasionally cutting them out for dresden plates.....or hexagons for GFG quilts. This was a day I actually began using those charms. I don't think I've done another "charm" quilt since this one.....at least not yet....and I suppose that's a good thing....lol!

This is my "original" therapy quilt. I had several charms cut (for swaps) I was involved in with friends, and these were the fabrics that I had purchased. Whenever I did swaps, I made it a practice to buy a yard or even 2 yards of the fabric, and cut it all up into the swap size, whether 5 inch squares, 6 inch squares or even 6.5 inch squares....so I always had TONS leftover. I didn't know why I did that, other than to build up my charm "stash" I suppose. I had these fabrics sitting on my cutting board, having just swapped pastels with one of the Yahoo groups I'm involved in.....when I got the call from my mom.... My cousin, Norman, who is 11 months older than I am (and I'm not THAT old), died of a heart attack, in his early 40's. I went through quite a myriad of emotions....first shock, then grief....and then the part that surprised even me, a reality check. This cousin is ONLY 11 months older than I am, and I am too young to die! I just randomly started sewing blocks together....I don't even remember starting the quilt....I didn't plan it with my conscious mind, I was sewing strips of 6.5 inch charms together, with absolutely no plans whatsoever.

While I sewed, I remembered all of the good times...and the bad times.... When we were children, my uncle, his wife, and their 2 children (my cousins) lived only about 1-1/2 blocks away from us....and we spent a lot of time together...going to school, playing...and even going on vacations together. We were together for every holiday as a family. This was a very close relationship...almost like a brother during those years. Well, time has a way of changing things...and as we all grew up, we grew apart. Norm began semi-truck driving....and ended up living in Michigan. I was still in Illinois then.....and we didn't really have any contact. When the call came in that he had died, I grieved for him....but also for all of the missed time. He had 2 beautiful little girls that I didn't even know! I had 3 children that he didn't know! That's almost a crime, how did we let that happen?

By the time I left for the funeral, I had the strips all sewn together, and there was a definite pattern to it......guess it was a subconscious thing, because I was most definitely NOT planning a quilt, I was working through a lot of emotion. When we got back from the funeral, I did put the quilt together, but stopped at midpoint. I finished it up after we moved to Missouri, in fact, just last year, several years later. This is another one that I will probably finish. My daughter wants this quilt in the worst way......but I'm still hanging onto it for now....lol....

And last, but definitely not least is my SunBonnet Sue quilt....and it's a cheater quilt! :) Yep, quilter's cheat sometimes...lol. I bought this as a kit, pieces all cut out for me, at a fabric store. I have always adored SunBonnet Sue....but for some unknown reason, I never put it together. Probably afraid of the BIG A word....applique!! :) Toto, we're not in Kansas, anymore....lol....I would have to applique (!!???!!!) this quilt to finish it up. Well.....here I was in Missouri....yep, it's another therapy quilt with a twist....I also wanted to learn to applique. I finally had the bug. My daughter, son-in-law and their little one moved to Missouri when we did, which was a huge blessing. Unfortunately, things didn't work out for them here and they moved back to Illinois. That was really, really hard on me. I understood it was something they needed to do.....but I was being selfish....I needed them here. Couldn't change anything, though.....so I started a quilt. Go figure! :) I really didn't want to cut anything out, definitely wasn't in the mood for that.....was doing a bit of crying off and on, feeling pretty sorry for myself......so I decided that I needed a distraction, and applique could be just that distraction. I went digging and found my SBS (SunBonnet Sue) quilt kit, all pre-cut. I got it out and decided that if other quilters could machine applique, so could I! I played with the stitches on my little Janome MC4800 quilting/sewing machine until I found the blanket stitch. I didn't know what it was called, but I knew what I wanted the blocks to look like.....so off I went....venturing into the world of applique.

Guess what? I love it! :) The fabric in this kit most definitely isn't the best.....the applique on this quilt is most definitely NOT the best.....but it was fun, I did it...and I actually like it. It also isn't quilted!! :) Yep, a definite pattern.

Well, I enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I feel like I could teach a class on the benefits of quilting as therapy....and I've saved my husband thousands of dollars in therapist bills....plus I have some lovely quilts....who could ask for more?

Until next time,

Quiltingcheri

Furbabies

2008-06-12T15:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't told you about our furbabies, how terrible of me!! We are the proud puppy-parents to 3 darling little shih tzus who live indoors with us, and terrorize (I mean romp and play) in our house! LOL. We have Mugsy (aka Chewbaca)--top pic, who is a gorgeous little man and a total snuggle bunny. He thinks that like revolves around sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating.....and occasionally playing. Petting is a big part of his day! :) We also have Amber--top pic who is a gorgeous white with amber spots, thus her name. She is our sweetheart of the bunch....she loves to be involved in anything we are doing...she is happiest when she is "helping" around the house (aka getting under our feet)...lol. The youngest and wildest is Jewel--bottom pic, who is also a little lady. She is simply gorgeous....she's brindle like Mugsy (who is brindle all over with a black mask)....but she also has golden tones and clear silver/gray. Miss Jewel thinks the world revolves around her...she is all that and she knows it! She insists on being petted...she insists on doing things HER way.....and lucky for her, she's just adorable and gets by with it.

We also raise/breed/train Australian shepherds....and that's a story all in itself. They are full of energy 24/7, ready to play ball, frisbee, soccer (yes, we have one little lady who can play soccer, and is amazingly good at it), herding, running, jumping....anything active. I often wonder how I manage to keep a few pounds more than I want on me...oh, wait, I know, I don't spend enough time with the doggies. I need to remedy that! :) LOL.... I will post some pics of them later for you to see, too......

And...yes, there's more....we have an indoor African Gray parrot, a Congo, named Delilah. She's spoiled rotten (like all of the other furbabies at our house, they're family)...talks not-stop, makes every noise/sound imaginable....talks nonstop. She can imitate the alarm clock perfectly, and loves to do that in the middle of the night....she does a great imitation of the beep of the microwave. She can say "hello" exactly like me....yes, her tone is amazing....and she does this every time she hears the telephone ring. She whistles the tune to Adams Family theme song, theme song from Mayberry RFD (for any of y'all who are old enough to remember this)....as well as many, many others. Just a pure joy to have around.....

More later!! ......................quiltingcheri

My First Blog

2008-06-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my little Quilting Around the Corner blog:

Hi! I'm so glad you found my blog (whether I lead you here or not). As you can see above, I'm working on a roosting robin quilt right now for a yahoo group that I am a member of. I had never ventured into the wonderful world of roosting robins or round robins before, and this has been a thrill, to say the least. It's funny, I've been almost afraid to add each row, fearing I will "ruin" the quilt...lol...and with each addition, it keeps working. The quilt is taking on a whole new personality with each row, if that makes sense. I will try to remember to post the pics as I've gone along (yes, I actually remembered, with a little help from my friends, to take pics with most of the steps). It's not done, yet....still more to do, so I'm sure you'll be seeing this little darling coming back again and again until I finally finish her up.

I have some other quilt tops (that I still need to quilt, shame on me!)....here are some of them:

This is Kayleigh's quilt. Kayleigh is my darling granddaughter, who will be 1 this week. I'm a bit slow with getting her quilt done, but it turned out pretty cute...what do you think?

And I have a pretty little Dresden plate quilt that I started in a class several years ago....lol. It's a myriad of errors. I started it out in 30's reproduction fabrics (my all-time favorites!!)....and I wanted a pale yellow background, so I bought the fabric and got going on the quilt. It was a fun, fun, fun class....in fact, I had so much fun during (and after) the class, that I continued to make more and more....and more and more of the dresden plates. When I got to the point of appliquing them all down (yes, I didn't hand piece them, terrible, I know).....I didn't have enough of my pale yellow fabric. Crossroads time! Did I want to make a small quilt or did I want to make a big, bed-sized quilt? Well, bed-sized quilt won out...but what was I going to do about the fabric, I could NOT find a match, trust me, I tried.... So I though and thought about it, took it to a variety of quilt stores, fabric stores, you name it. I finally found the gorgeous yellow and blue floral fabric that I decided would finish it off well...and why not, I added some blue. I didn't count, didn't figure the layout, just went for it....and it all worked out... It took a while to get it placed to sew together, but here's the end results, and I'm pretty pleased....just wish I could take credit! :) LOL....

And of course, there are more!! This quilt was a BOM (block of the month) quilt that Joann's Fabric store did a few years ago....I recently *finally* did it.....and I swear I will never buy another BOM...lol...yea, right, so I'm kidding. Of course I will buy TONS of BOM's, I love them!! LOL...... There are more mistakes in this quilt than you can even count, so no quilt police allowed!! :)

Well, that's it for today.....chat later!! .....................quiltingcheri