Feb 16. A little of this and that …AGAIN

January has kept Leona ,grandchildren and I busy watching new life come alive. Remember the egg I showed a few weeks back.

Showing healthy signs of life.
As day 21 of setting the eggs came closer,my phone was kept busy with …MomMom ,are the chicky-peeps hatching yet, with the promise I would FaceTime them as soon as I saw anything happening ,…that was good for a few hours.😄
On day 21 , I saw signs of a tiny hole,and you could hear the bitties peeping.

It took about 45 minutes from starting to cracking out.

And here they are, all fluffy and healthy.

Also Leona was surprised with some ducks,and she is so enjoy watching them waddle around,they didn’t stay inside very long as a wet duck is a HAPPY duck.

And talking about wet..
We have had lots of rain ,look at these osprey nests(top pictures were taken with summer) ,they will give you a good idea just how high the river is right now at the camp site. We were there yesterday to check on the camper,and grounds.

And to think we would sit under the little cedar tree in chairs drinking coffee in Nov….now the water is about three feet deep.

There will be some clean up of plastic bottles that have come a shore..as you can see.

How ever the little flower bulbs I planted are thriving with the wet.

I finished the crocheted blanket for baby.

Have a lovely week!

Feb.2…..Hand quilt along update….

It’s time again to see how far I’ve come on my quilting projects.
Here’s where I was three weeks ago on the log cabin….

I was on the second to last row working on the bottom half of blocks with three of those blocks half finished.
Today I’m on the last row with three of the blocks half done out of the six left, …..a finish maybe next time around?!

A close up of work…

I didn’t get much done on this oldie just one row of fans.

Here’s the back

I did more crocheting in my spare time as warm,(hot) weather isn’t a good time for crocheting ,the yarn doesn’t slip through the fingers very well. I really want this one done before that happens.

This it’s for me😊
Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Susan, Nanette, Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Bella, Daisy and Connie

Jan.25…. a big mistake? 🧐

I had a few feed sack scraps that I wanted to use up in a wall hanging. I picked out a gray fabric that I had laying around. I liked it when I laid the little feed sack fabrics against it, but somehow when sewing it together… it started to look nothing of what I thought it would.

Eeeek…..😱
On the point of ripping out the gray,when daughter walking by said, that mom would be perfect in my house.
Me .. really?! You like it!
Sure do was her reply..
So I continued.

Then it hit me that black would really pop those blocks out as they all just ran into each other. Here is the finished top, that I’m much happier with.

Daughter is thrilled with it, so I happy .

I have some exciting news!

Our youngest son and his wife are expecting their first little one.
That means I get to make a blanket,which will be crocheted.
Baby’s arrival will be in Aug.

The ducks eggs didn’t do for me, so when I was in Virginia spending time with daughter and her family ,I brought back with me a few of her chicken eggs. They are showing signs of a bitty growing. Leona is excited!!

I really don’t need any more chickens ,as my hens are doing well and will soon be laying. The tarp isn’t very appealing but the dark adds heat to the hen house which has been nice for its been cold the last week.

Camellias are blooming!

Have a lovely week.

Jan.12….Hand quilt along update….

Harriet Powers was born under slavery in Athens ,Ga ,she learned to sew by others around her and that it may have also included her mistress. This quilt she made is call the Bible quilt.

For today’s update…. here’s where I was…

In the last block of the row with 12 more blocks to go.

Today I finished that row ,rolled the top ,working for right to left in the third block down leaving me 9 and a half blocks to finish.

Leona had a bad cold that had me close by her side again ,so I pulled out this quilt top to work on in the lap hoop.

Quilting baptist fans on it ..about 1/3 of the way done. It’s a throw
size quilt.

These are all old vintage scrap pieces that I used.
That’s it for me.
Check out the others! the purpose of this group is to share our hand quilting adventures and to encourage each other. New members are always welcome, any type of hand quilting is acceptable. That could be piecing, quilting, embellishing, applique and finishing.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Susan, Nanette, Edith, Sharon,
Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Bella, Daisy and Connie

Dec.22…Hand quilt along update

A little history..

Gambeson… a quilted protective jacket that was worn under a metal armor ,or just as it was if one could not afford the metal armor.

Look at all quilting on done on this one.

Now for my update… here’s where I was three weeks ago working on the last bottom block ,now I’m working in the last block on the top , almost ready to turn. Then I will only have 8 blocks left!

Last block on the left bottom

Last top right block.
I did finish two quilt tops for CAM, nothing fancy ..just will be warm when finished.

Second one

Happy sewing and Merry Christmas!🎁
Check out the other post!
This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan, Nanette, Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Bella, Daisy and Connie

Dec. 8… Fall,Flowers and Failure…

Three F’s … if I was in school ,I don’t think I would have gone home to Mom. 😳 Today though those three F’s are all positive even if one of those words are failure.

I’ll start with fall first. I know that up north a lot of y’all are having snow and cold temps,here in the south we are just getting through the fall that was surprisingly pretty for the south. I’ll show you then let you decide… just promise not to compare it to the New England States.😀

It is also time for Camellias to start blooming..

The hard frost didn’t kill the Gerber daisies up against the house

Of course a confederate rose can’t be left out even though they all died in the first hard frost. I photoed these the day before it frosted.

Now on to the failure…
It is often a challenge to keep Leona’s mind busy ,as she is very limited to want she can do. We got her a iPad so she can do puzzles with her nose,(she has no control over her hands),she can watch movies ,only I limit them as I feel there’s more to life than movies. … The new challenge…

Yep… to hatch some duck eggs!
Leona thinks it would be fun to add ducks to the farm. I agreed ,and that it would be fun to hatch them.
Amazon shopping soon started,looking for an incubator. That was the easy part!
Shopping for duck eggs this time of year was more of a challenge. EBay was the place we settled on ,purchasing 6 ducks.
I researched YouTube and google for information on how to hatch duck eggs,learning all I could on this subject.
The day arrived when the eggs came in the mail,of course the incubator was up and running according to the advice from my search. Seven eggs were placed inside,and the waiting began.
The family was all here on Thanksgiving day,excitement was high on candling the eggs that day. The grandchildren gathered around in the dark bathroom ,one holding the flashlight for me as I chose an egg…. sad to say our excitement went to disappointment! No signs of life in any of the eggs.😢 we were all a sorry group walking out of that bathroom. The grands sat in the living room for awhile with sad faces then I heard Reagan say, “ MomMom are you going to try again, you aren’t going to stop now are you?” Well, that snap me out of that sorry mood! Of course, I’m going to try again! We wouldn’t have baby ducklings for Christmas but we will shortly after New Years.(Maybe! 😁) so with promises to post them photos of what’s going on in the incubator,everyone was back to normal.
I ordered more eggs that have arrived and are in the incubator on day two!

So what went wrong? First when I did the research I should have typed in hatching SHIPPED eggs.
Shipping eggs is hard on eggs,often dislodging the air sack so that it floats around . First problem
With that problem one needs hatch the eggs in a paper carton with the egg point down so the air sack stays in the top where it should be. Second thing I did wrong..
The third mistake…..is that one needs to gently hand turn the eggs after seven days of sitting still in the incubator,even with the turning it’s different than with normal hatching.
So cross your fingers along with me so that on day seven I can carefully candle to see if there is life! It was mention not to candle often shipping eggs until day seven as to not disturb the air sack any more than needed.
The failure really hasn’t been a failure for Leona and I are learning this together and it has been enjoyable ,even with that first shock of all dead eggs!
So what kind of duck are we trying to hatch…
The Silver Appleyard duck.
Have a great week!

Dec 1 …..Hand quilt along update….

The quilt covers 11,390 square feet, a faithful reproduction of the state of North Dakota with every county a different color. Volunteers from 53 North Dakota counties helped stitch the quilt. It was the largest in the world until the AIDS quilt came along; now it’s known as the world’s largest historical quilt.

Leona Tennyson was responsible for putting it together with a measurement 85 ft. by 134 ft.

Now for the update on the lovely old log cabin…

Here is where I was last time ….

I had just rolled working on the first block to your right. I am a very short armed person so with the roll getting larger that I have to put my arm under while working with the other arm on top , I can no longer work a whole block. I just did the lower half all the way across , reaching the last block on this set of blocks.

last block that I’m working on

I did get a quilt that I had finished quilting in 2015 bond!😱

looks nice on my bed.

That’s it for me this round! Hope all enjoyed their Thanksgiving day.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Susan, Nanette, Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Bella, Daisy and Connie