Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

, I'm doing the free BOM  Cozy Afternoon  from Jacquelynne Steves  which she started this month I decide to do mine in embroidery work. I'm going to make it for my mom who is basically disabled cannot get up and about very much so I thought it would be a perfect little lap quilt for her. Now my mom, she taught me how to do embroidery work, she did beautifully embroidery work herself. So I figured in honor of her I would do embroidery. Now I need to decide on color. I thought about the 30's fabrics.... I have such a large collection and they are bright and cheery, I think she would like that. The other thing I'm working on today if prepping my ruby garden blocks that I have embroidered by washing out the markings. Some only need a spray of water and a few needed to soak for a minute Then dry and press them to be ready to be  trimmed up to the proper size I love my Tucker Trimmer, this is the large one It is so eay to line up my wor

I have raised small flocks of chickens for over 30 years now & every now and then I'll get an egg that is not perfect.  I had one of those eggs recently. One good thing is that I had only one egg and not a series of eggs. I take that as a sign of no major infection concerns. I could be wrong but I see no signs of illness. This egg is wrinkled or  Corrugated shell ( I believe more the latter) From what I can find out... that is most likly a stress related cause by being an overly large egg (which it is) or having two yolks release by the ovary relately close together. For more imformation to can go here  that is a PDF of 20 common egg shell problems and here  at Backyard Chickens website on  Common egg quality problems. I hope this helps anyone who on occasion come across an egg that is not perfect.  I know it helps me.  Another good resource is "The Chicken Encyclopedia" by Gail Damerow. Its a good general information resource to h

What's up on my wall is what I was working on yesterday and that is the Thangles buck-a-block from a few years ago. I was trying to decide on which border to use, and decided to go with what I used as the alternate blocks  But it's a small quilt not very big, 38x52 and I want to make it big enough to at least be used as a lap quilt. So I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to add a small strip a dark brown to break up the border and blocks. I'll make the border 6 inches and the inside strip an inch and a half so that will give me an additional 15 inches around... making it 53x 67. I think that will be doable. I had thought about using the leftover strip - but I don't believe I will have enough - I haven't measured yet. Prior to working on this, I decided to take my walk this morning while we were having a gentle summer rain. I haven't deliberately done this in years.  You know if you ever get a chance and don'

Sunday is my favorite day of the week for many reasons. First and foremost it is the Sabbath, which brings a sense of calmness for me.  I try to do as little work as I can get away with here on the farm but unfortunately the animals do not know what day it is. Once they are taken care of... I will enjoy the slowness of the day. I worked a little on the lap quilt up on the wall. Have the blocks together but now it's deciding on the border.  While sewing I listen to Ulysses, I'm on Chapter 2 only 7% of the book. No way I'll have it completed on Tuesday. Then I've been appliqueing my "Words of Wisdom" blocks using the bottom hole stitch. I just finished this block And have started on this one   Last year while at my daughter's she turned me on to Passion Ice Tea ... well this year she upped it a notch by introducing me to her version of Starbucks Passion Lemonade. I have a new love now. So refreshing and easy

Have you read Ulysses by James Joyce? I never had and have wanted to for some time now and this year I am going to finally do it.  If you follow me you know that I listen more often than read a book... Guess what  I'll be listening. I have wanted to read this book and now I will so I can finally understand whats Bloomsday is all about. Heard on NPR about Bloomsday  coming up ... June 16.... this Tuesday. I have 3 day to listen to this book which is 30hrs. Seriously I do not see myself able to complete it by Tuesday but I'm going to give it a good try. I can listen while sewing and gardening. Wish me luck For those like me who haven't read it - here is a description Publisher's Summary Joyce’s experimental masterpiece set a new standard for modernist fiction, pushing the English language past all previous thresholds in its quest to capture a day in the life of an Everyman in turn-of-the-century Dublin. Obliquely borrowing characters and situa

I had a Eye doctor appointment this morning so I was unable to work out in the vegetable garden at all today.  Oh bummer - I sure miss that heat and humidity. By the time I got home it was already afternoon and so I decided that I was just going to work and some sewing with some of my household chores. It worked out really well... I had another good day. I finished the piece blocks that I needed to do for that lap quilt that I have on my wall.  Now I need to cut out the filling blocks and start assembling  Hooray!!!  I finished my appliqué my block. Thanks for the encouragement Chooky Also Mama asked me how I made my sauerkraut, well here is the link to the post I wrote a couple years back on how I make my sauerkraut.  I hope this helps anyone who might be interested

Yesterday morning I was bound and determined to get some sewing in this afternoon. What I did is I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish today and then I inserted sewing in between my afternoon tasks . I am a "to do list" person …. I have to have a to do list otherwise I feel I am lost and do not get anything accomplished. Seeing how it was supposed to be stinking hot and humid I gave myself just a couple hours in the morning to work outside. I watered the seeds I planted,  tended to the chickens and was going to work on cleaning up my back porch. Well I was sitting there trimming Boston ferns and sweating like crazy, I decided my time was up and this was shortly before 9:00. Then I came in and cleaned up and tended to the things on my list. And I'm happy to say I was able to get some sewing in. I was able to finish one block and halfway complete another block.  In addition I was also able to make some sauerkraut from the ca