Thursday, January 31, 2013

We have a visitor!

Some of you may know that hubby and I have long been "sheep people" - at one time we farmed and had 150+ ewes (before lambing!), and were hoping to expand.  Unfortunately, that didn't work out - so, we sold the flock, sold the farm and moved into town.
Shortly after that, one of our former neighbours offered hubby a job, working on his beef and chicken farm - a job that he's had ever since.  Two or three years ago, hubby asked his boss if he'd be able to rent a bit of land from him, so that we could have a few sheep again - and the answer was "yes".  We purchased 3 ewes, and the 2 lambs that came with them, and settled them into their new home.  Last year, we waited with bated breath, but even though it appeared that a lamb or two might make an appearance, nothing happened.  Then,  on Saturday, hubby came home, beaming, and showed me the camera-phone video of our first set of twins!  All was well....   Then, yesterday morning, the boss phoned to say that we had another set of twins - yippee!  However, there were a few concerns about the one little lamb - she has 2 obvious "defects", and we have no way of knowing if there are others that haven't shown up yet...  Tonight, hubby came home, quite concerned, because mama has decided that she's not going to accept this little girl - won't let her nurse, butts her out of the way, etc. - and with her being on the farm, and us in town, we didn't have a lot of options, aside from bringing her home.  So, she's going to live in a box in our family room for a few days, until we can come up with a better option...   and our cat is having NOTHING to do with it!
In case you've never seen an adorable little lamb, here's a pic:
There's nothing wrong with her lungs!  Hope she'll let us get a bit of sleep tonight!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Placemats!

Our quilt guild meets the 2nd Monday night of the month, so that would make today quilt guild night.  At our last meeting, we were asked to make placemats for our local Meals on Wheels, so they could hand them out to their clients with their Valentine's Day meals.  I managed to make 4 - 2 before the meeting, and finished the other 2 after I came home.  Of course, I forgot to take pics of the first 2, but they were the same (only different) as the 2 pictured here.  I used a "Reunion" charm pack and my Twister tool to make them (first time using the Twister tool)....  I think that 5 charms for one placemat were too many - they were a little wide - so, the next time I make new ones, I'll only use 3 or 4.  I found a red print for the upper and lower borders, and a red-on-cream for the backing and binding.  Of course you want to see them, so here they are:
I just might put up a card or two for my next post - just to keep you on your toes!

Monday, January 7, 2013

...and it's (almost) done!

So, it took a little longer to make my New Year's Day mystery quilt than just one day, but I finally have the top done!  It was actually done on Sat. night, but it wasn't until I took a picture of it this morning, that I realized that I'd sewn the bottom 4 panels on upside-down...  Sew, I got out my trusty stitch ripper, removed the incorrect panels, reattached them correctly, and voila! 


Now to get it layered and quilted - and then add the great striped fabric that I bought for the binding - and then...?  It's rather large, and I didn't really have a recipient in mind.  I'm seriously considering making this again, but I'll make the strips a little shorter (they were all cut at 20"), so the quilt will be a more usable size for donation.
Suggestions for recipients will be gratefully accepted!