Friday, October 24, 2014

Finishes

Haven't had a lot of finishes when it comes to quilting. Looks like that may be a thing of the past.  :)  The other day I stitched out a sample embroidery ( in preparation for a new quilting project) and then decided to embellish it with swarovski crystals using my new "toy". Loved the way it turned out! Instead of putting it aside to collect dust I actually did something with it. It's been sandwiched, lightly quilted, and framed. It will make a wonderful gift for my mother.


This afternoon I finished putting together the quilt top that I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. The photo isn't the best but it allows you to see the size of the top (about 80" x 95"). Now to dig through my fabric stash for a backing. I'm thinking scrappy....large scrappy. Would be a great way to use some of those pieces I have absolutely no idea what to do with but can't seem to part with. The binding will be the same as the inner border so no worries about fabric clashes....which is always a good thing.  :)

I'll end this post with a photo of Moose. He turned 3 months old yesterday. It's hard to get a nice photo of him these days. If he's not sleeping he is constantly in motion. This was taken seconds before he pounced on one of the weenies. He's getting to be a big boy.  :) He's nearly housebroken and listens pretty well....when he's not "talking" back to you. He's pretty verbal.  :)




Saturday, October 18, 2014

Quilt Show Saturday!

Today was a wonderful day. Started off with breakfast out...which is always a nice treat. Browsed the Bead Stampede. It's exactly what it sounds like.....a bead show. There were beads of every color, shape, and almost every size. I say almost every size because the one size I was looking for wasn't to be found. The vendor was either sold out or simply didn't carry it. Oh well. I know my local bead shop will have what I'm looking for. It's a nice excuse for spending the day in town shopping.  :)

After the Bead Stampede we went to the quilt show. This is the largest show in the local area. It's hosted by what is probably the largest guild in the area (something like 500 members strong). There are about 500 quilts in the show itself with many, many, many more to be seen....vendor displays, special exhibits ( like the Hoffman Challenge quilts), and quilts for sale. There is a large selection of vendors to visit. The show is held at the fairgrounds and fills 3 bays of the main building. It's big! For our local area anyway. My hubby and I like to break up the viewing of the entered quilts by browsing a few of the vendors. Makes for a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.  :)

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the entered quilts. I opted to leave my camera behind this year. I did manage to take one or two before my iPhone died.  :) You have to be careful of what you photograph. Some of the vendors get really upset if you photograph a display. In fact it got so bad that now you aren't allowed to take any photos by the vendors and have to be careful of exactly where and what you photograph. It's kinda silly but it is what it is. 

The show itself was am-a-zing!!! Lots and lots of beautiful quilts to see. Lots of inspiration. Lots of "Oh my gosh! That's stunning!" Made me want to come and spend the rest of the day in my sewing room....which I will be doing. :)

We did make the rounds of the vendors...twice. Didn't find any fabric for the quilt I'm currently working on ( pictured below). I guess I will have to break down and spend a day in town visiting quilt shops. Sounds awful!  :)

I did bring home two new wool applique patterns....and pre-ordered two more. They will be mailed to me when they are released. I'm a sucker for anything with sheep, sunflowers, or snowmen. The patterns I pre-ordered are sheep and snowmen.

My hubby spoiled me with a new toy. It's a little soldering iron used to affix Swarovski crystals to quilts and various other things. He got me the beginners kit which came with the iron, various tips, container to hold the crystals and a package of crystals. Then he got a little wire brush for cleaning the iron and a few more packages of crystals. That was from one vendor. He bought a few more packages of crystals from another vendor. I can't wait to try it out. Looked really easy to do and will definitely add another dimension to my quilts and embroidery.

A sheepy note:  My ewe, Gracie, lambed late Thursday night. She is the proud momma of a beautiful little ewe lamb which I named Hope. 





Wednesday, October 15, 2014

On the Wheel

On the Sonata is a Shetland/alpaca blend - (Shetland fiber compliments of Boogie)

Which will be used for this...(swatches for a new scarf design)

On the Haldane Orkney.....hand combed Shetland (compliments of Trixie)

Sample skein

Not sure what this will eventually become. Her fleece is very soft and is spinning up fine. I'm separating the outer coat from the inner and then combing the inner coat. I find that I end up with cleaner fiber as opposed to running it through the drum carder. 








Friday, October 10, 2014

Baby Photos

Took my iPad out this morning in an attempt to get a few baby pictures. Not the easiest thing to do. The lambs are active and kept hiding....either behind mama or in the shade. The lambs are dark colored....two moorits and one black.

Here are all 3 lambs together. The ram lambs are the large moorit and the black. The other moorit is my ewe lamb, JuneBug.


JuneBug

Her twin...

The twins together.

I even managed to get a "lamb bump" photo of a ewe "in waiting". This is Willow. She should be lambing soon....or at least she has all the signs of lambing soon.

That's a large "lamb bump"!

While not the best photos at least it shows what is in the barnyard right now. I'm sure there will be cuter photos as the lambs get older. All 3 lambs were born September 30th....in the wee hours of the morning.


Edited to add an update on Willow:

Two days after this post was published Willow lambed. She had a very difficult time. Both lambs were lost in the process. 😪










Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Friday's Cowl with Matching Hat

It's been awhile since my last post. Things have been busy here with the arrival of new lambs. One of my ewes was a first timer and lost both of her lambs (one was still born and the other died shortly after it was born). It was a really rough few days with her. She was despondent and had simply given up. I'm sure it didn't help her any hearing the cries of the newborn lambs. While I was taking care of her two of my older, more experienced ewes lambed. One had a very big ram lamb. The other had twins...a ram lamb and a ewe lamb. All 3 lambs are doing very well. As for the ewe who lost hers....she, too, is doing well. With lots of TLC she came out of her despondent state, started eating, drinking, and interacting with the other ewes. She did spend a couple of days calling for her lost lambs but is now content just being with the other ewes. Still have a few more ewes who are due to lamb hopefully soon. Once all the lambs are here and things quiet down then I will spend time outside taking photos.

During all this I had released my latest pattern. It's a cowl/hat set. It was inspired by this lovely skein of blue Polwarth I had spun on my Haldane Orkney. 

The cowl turned out so pretty that I simply had to make a hat to go with (blue hat). 

Loved the way the two looked together that I just had to see what it would look like done in the same yarn (the first photo shows the cowl wrapped doubled).

Shameless plug:  the pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry, Craftsy, and my etsy shop. If you purchase through Ravelry it is half off until the end of the month.