“Chopper” Quilt

Life …

I love the way Carolyn likes to work in the kitchen. She made some delicious white chocolate chip cookies.

…and oven baked BBQ chicken.

… as a Quilter

I have so much enjoyed my sister Emily living close by for a little while. She took a picture of a silage chopper they use in Texas to harvest corn.

She decided to make a small fiber art quilt using this picture for inspiration.

Here you can see her work in progress.

And this is her finished piece. Great job!

Detail

And now her husband doesn’t want her to sell it.

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Dana has finish three (actually it’s four now) blocks for her quilt and …

… Emily has started two more projects.

Emily, Dana, and Carolyn Make Quilts

Life …

I captured this picture over the catfish pond on our way to Quintens house for supper.

… as a Quilter

This has been a fun week, almost like a mini sewing retreat.

Emily needed something to do while her husband Perry helped with field work.

Dana continues to work on her blocks.

Carolyn is here for a week with us. I got her interested in making wonky log-cabin-like blocks for a small quilt or throw similar to what Dana is making and Gina made here.

She is intent on getting the edges cut straight.

… in progress …

And now she has all nine blocks finished and is ready to sash them together.

Farming, Traveling West, and Emily’s Cow

Life …

Since it rained and the weather turned warm we went to the field to “hear” the corn grow.

Paul showed us how to strip the leaves down and dig inside the stalk to check the ears.

Just a tiny little cob, only 1/2” long.

And Gabriel claimed it had 18 rows of corn!

Gabriel in his hog barn outfit ready to do the chores.

We had our family in for pizza to visit with my family who came to pick me up for our trip West. The four oldest grands enjoyed their cake and ice cream while I sipped my decaf. coffee.

I had lots of help in the kitchen cleaning up after our pizza supper.

And then the house buzzed with talking and laughter until past bedtime.

Sunrise on The Spirit of St. Oren.  See my sister Polly's update here.

There are 8 of us traveling today. Ashton was sad to see me leave so he and Paul joined our group for a picture.

Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye.  Safe travels for us and I wish you all well at home.

…as a Quilter

Remember the small art quilt that Emily started here? Well, here she is working on it.

She cut out her silhouette and fused it to the background then sewed around the edges.

I’m guessing the size to be 16”X 12” and made mostly from cottons.

Detail

Wheat and Lilies

Life …

The men started cutting wheat today.

Ashton found this little critter yesterday on the weather boarding of the house. Later he hopped over to the front door and looked as if he wanted in. Today I saw his tiny fingers curled around the ledge of the dumpster. His beady popped eyes were peering at me over the ledge.

… as a Quilter

Remember the art quilt I started on Memorial Day? I decided to put some kind of a lily on it.

I quilted the background with a serpentine stitch from side to side.

Then using the Carolina Lily block pattern for inspiration I designed a bouquet, sitting in grass, framed with lily petals.

After I had fused the grass down and looked at it a while, I decided I didn’t like the grass. So, I heated it up again and pulled it off.

Then I cut out some more lily parts like the top and sides …

… and added them to the bottom and I liked that much better.

Then I stitched all the silhouette down.

I couldn’t think of a good name so I just call it plain “Lily.”

And then I thought, well, why not get a picture of ‘Lily’ with real lilies!

Here I can visualize the real lilies making the shadows on the quilt.

And Emily was with me for a day. She started this quilt around lunch and finished it up just after supper. I’m anxious to show you her finished project, but I must wait.

See other inspiration at Off the Wall Friday and Amanda's Finish it up Friday.

Emily’s Art, Family Life

I talked my sister Emily into making a small art quilt. She took a picture of their farm truck’s license plate and created this piece “painting” it with thread. I wish you could see it up close. She did a marvelous job!

I love Georgi’s pose and Kirby’s gentle smile.

It was hard to get a smile from these two cousins.

I know Ashton is enjoying this ride with Uncle Quinten.

And I know this is a pretty sunset, but somehow my heart was all fluttery and scared.

Cousins, Gabriel and Dustin

Practicing songs for a Sunday evening program.

My cousin Ruthie’s son Kevin came for a visit.

Me and my girls had a day out thrifting and fabric shopping. We stopped at …

… a coffee shop for a treat.

Since Amy couldn’t be with us, the next day we had lunch with her at Mi Ranchitos.