Design Wall Monday

The guy I am making the farm quilt for asked me to add a tom and hen turkey. They began raising them this summer and he wanted them in the quilt. I am in the process of appliqueing them. The hen is finished. Tom is still in progress. I will add small black buttons for eyes after the quilting is finished.

Tom is from here...
I made my own design for the hen as I could not find one anywhere.

I attended a small local quilt show over the weekend. I saw some lovely quilts and they had some nice vendors.

These are my favorites from the show...
I love snowmen.

 I drove a Beetle in my younger days so this one really caught my attention..

Nice use of rick-rack. It is bright red, although it doesn't appear that color in the close-up photo.

 I like the scrappy look of this one...

... and this one.

I love the bright colors of this hexie quilt. I started a bright hexie quilt years ago and threw it away because my friends thought it was too bright. I wish I had kept it.

I am not getting nearly the sewing done that I need to be. Being back to work at school is wearing me out. It has been very hot. These brick building really hold the heat once they get hot. I am not ready for winter, but I sure would like some cooler temperatures.

Kindergarten students wear me out, too! We are starting to get a little settled into routines so that is improving. We have teacher out to a conference for 2 days this week and her students were wild today. Add the full moon on Friday into that mix and the last few days have been a little crazy. I don't know what it is about the full moon, but it definitely affects young children.

Design Wall Monday

On my wall is the latest Quilter's Exchange block.
This is my block. I like to finish my block as soon as I get the bag. That way it is finished if something happens between now and the next meeting that prevents me from finishing.

There are 16 people in the exchange this time so we are just over half way finished. Each month we exchange bags and look at all the blocks for each participant. It is so much fun to see what each of us does with other members fabrics.

This is the second exchange I have participated in. Sadly, I have not put together my blocks from the last exchange. I seem to fill my time working on projects for other people.

I am still working on the farm quilt. Now that school has started and I have gone back to work I find that my quilting time has slowed down. Kindergarten makes me tired! The first few weeks always seem rough what with everyone learning new faces and new routines. I have a completely new schedule this year with some new duties added in. Several of the students this year did not go to any type of preschool or day care and they are struggling with the routines and rules. One young man has cried for a good part of each day. He says he just wants to go home and watch TV. The first day another young man refused to get on the bus. He wanted to go home. We explained the bus would be taking him home. One teacher even said he would ride with him. Nope, not getting on that bus! Dad was called and he came to get him. He had a stern talk with the student and there has not been a problem since!

Now I am off the get as much sewing done as I can - before I get to go bale hay... again. I spent yesterday afternoon baling, too. And, the yard needs mowed again. That will be one nice thing about cooler weather - no more hay or mowing of the yard.

What I Am Working On

I've made the trees and the pigs.
Here are the hens and one chick.

Since I am not sure of a layout yet I am not adding more side pieces.
Next up is the barn.

I have also been working on the 365 Challenge.

These are the blocks for March 7-17.

I really had planned to do 2 blocks a day thinking that would help me get caught up. That isn't happening. What I end up doing is working on several in a day and then skip a few days. I guess it really doesn't matter much at this point. I am keeping up with printing each day's pattern so at least I have them when I get around to them.

I have found it is helpful for me to spend a few hours cutting several blocks so they are ready to piece when I have time. For most of the blocks the actual piecing doesn't take that long.

I will go back to work on Thursday for Teacher's Institute day and students return on Friday. I am hoping to have a few minutes every morning to get some piecing done before heading out the door for work. I know, for a while at least, that I will probably not feel like doing much when I get home.
And, my husband has already informed me that there will probably be some hay baling after work in my future. It has rained so much the last week and a half that it has been too wet to get it done this week, which was his plan. Hay season will be over soon and then he will start harvesting corn and soybeans.

I cannot believe the summer is over already. I had a list of things I wanted to get done, but didn't. This happens to me every year so I shouldn't be surprised.

I did get one more quilt shop trip in with my quilt friends. They are all retired and wanted me to have one more day of fun before work started up again. And, we did have fun. We visited 4 quilt shops, 3 I had not been to before, and had a nice lunch. We are such a great group of people. We all get along well and help each other find just the right fabric for our projects. I will miss getting to make a quilt shop trip on the spur of the moment, but I am sure we will make plans for some on some of the long weekends.

Check out what other quilters are doing at Judy's page.

What I'm Working On...

I went on a little trip with my quilt friends this weekend.

We visited a quilt shop that will be closing this fall. Everything was at least 30% off. Besides some fabric to finish up my Civil War Sampler I got a kit for an appliqued tea towel.

Fastest finish I have ever had. It was hanging on my oven door the next day.

I have taken a little break from the farm quilt to work on some mending over the weekend, but plan to start working on the eleven hens and 1 chick today. A good day to stay inside and sew since it is a rainy day here. There will be no hay to bale since it isn't even cut yet.

To see what other quilters are doing go to Judy's page.