New "BFF"

Am quickly finding out that I need a 1/4" presser foot with guide for my sewing machine. It seems (no pun intended) that I can't sew a straight, scant  1/4" seam. I'm having to do a lot of ripping out lately.

Ordered a presser foot yesterday! Always learning!

It's coming together...

Remember the butterfly and moth appliqué project my friend Vicki and I have been working on for the past few months? (See earlier posts for my blocks.) Well, we finally exchanged our blocks this last weekend. I am thrilled with the blocks Vicki chose to give me from those she created. We each pieced and appliquéd 12 blocks and gave the other six. 

Here are my six blocks out along with the ones Vicki made. I think they look awesome together considering this is our first co-op project and we selected fabrics from the cache without sharing what colors and fabrics we were using. The constant in each block is the yellow-green square in the middle.

Next comes the sashing and borders.......

Blessed with treasures and a new project

In addition to all the wonderful fabric I came home with recently, I am the lucky recipient of the following treasures from my friend June. Here are 2 wall hangings pieced from beautiful old fabric. The top one is already quilted and the bottom one I have tacked and am in the process of sewing a binding around it. These will make lovely table toppers ... they are so Fallish!

This is a stunning top that June never completed. Her choice of colors are exquisite and I count myself fortunate to have it. Each block is an intricately pieced star that is different from the next. This photo shows 9 of the 12 blocks.

Here are the remaining 3 blocks and the zig zag border. I will probably take the border off since I don't have the fabric to complete it. The thought of wasting such beautiful work seems almost sacrilegious, but my butterfly and moth friend, Vicki suggested using it on the back. Why didn't I think of that?

Close ups of some of the star blocks:

As if I needed another new project, I have signed up for a block of the month quilt at a local quilt store. The Queen and Her Court by Wing and a Prayer: http://wingandaprayerdesign.com/BOM.htm

The fabric is Moda's Park Avenue collection and the fabrics we are using are from the right side of this palette:

This has to be the most ambitious top I have ever tried to piece. Finding I need to check off on the pattern what I have done and number the stacks of parts and pieces. What have I gotten myself into?

My progress today:

Zipping along...

We visited some good friends in southern Indiana recently. I never dreamed how much fun a zip line could be. We were ready to go again.

Our friend's father and uncle are extremely creative. It's always fun to see what new creations they have added to their adjoining places. Like this anatomically correct buffalo made from pine cones, real cattle horns, etc. 

Smokey the bear's newest friend is also crafted with pine cones and complete with wooden ears and snout.

They not only have a sense of humor, but they are becoming masters of chain saw sculpture. This handsome guy (another of their creations) fresh from the cigar store, is currently residing in the round out-house that they built from an old grain bin. 

The out-house is a handy addition to the nearby shelter where family and friends gather frequently (at the shelter, that is). The door and hardware are even crafted to complete the curve of the building. This is probably the more adorable "out-house" ever .... it looks like something right out of Tolkien's The Hobbit. 

This big fellow is a commission they recently finished.

Isn't it fun having creative friends who enjoy life so much!

Giants on the prairie

Wanted to share some photos from the time spent helping with the harvest of corn and beans this year. I marvel to think how many bushels of corn or soy beans these bins are capable of holding. Could you imagine counting each individual kernel of corn or bean that go into these giants. And there are hundreds and hundreds of these scattered across the county. 

This Aermotor was intact and pumping water for livestock. So many times, all you see are skeletons of these lovely sculptures.

I read at one time, the water windmill numbered over 6 million across the U.S. landscape. The wind turbine seems to be trying to catch up with it smaller cousin. I am in awe over how large these structures are. Here's a quick link comparing sizes: http://www.energy.iastate.edu/renewable/wind/images/howtallareturbines_08.pdf

Couldn't resist stopping to snap photos of this adorable 35 ft. tall creature. He's a "fire breathing" steel dragon located in Vandalia, Illinois. Googling him, I learned he really "breathes" fire when fed tokens you can buy for $1 at a nearby liquor store. Will have to check that out the next time we go that way.

Here are the true giants on the prairie:

Fossils and fabric and buttons, oh my...

As Dorothy said, "there is no place like home". We are done helping with this year's harvesting of corn and beans. It has been a dry year, so the corn yield was down. Seeing friends and former neighbors again was wonderful even though we didn't get to visit everyone we would have liked.

In addition to helping with the harvest, we visited around with friends, helping with various chores and fix-it jobs, like building several wheel chair ramps, fixing a deck, changing a leaking faucet, reupholstering 6 dining chairs and re-gluding their legs, taking photos for a friend for eBay, etc.

Per usual, we came home loaded to the gills with treasures. It wasn't all work, there was some play time, like visiting fabric and quilt stores, a favorite thrift store in addition to Goodwill and our favorite the Half Price Book Store.

The Wabash River bank gave up some interesting fossil rocks to add to my rock collection. One of the books I read this past month was Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures. If you like historical fiction, read her books. Anyhow, one thing mentioned in Remarkable Creatures was the amount of time one can spend walking the beach, constantly looking down, searching for rocks and fossils. I find time spent like this so relaxing and you never know what lovely piece of nature you may discover.

There was a wonderful fabric store in Kalamazoo that had a lovely sale (22% off) on a 100% cotton. This included the wonderful quilt store quality fabrics.

The best of this plunder, is all the lovely cotton fabric, buttons and creative notions June, a very generous friend gave me from her fall cleaning spree. She had a quilt shop in one of her lives, so you know the fabric is awesome. It's all washed now and waiting to be sorted by color. I think some of the fabric will be used to make charity quilt tops for babies and young children. 

What can I say, thank you again, June.

It's harvest time...

We are helping with the fall harvest, so my blog is on the back 40 for a while. Will return soon. Thanks for visiting.