Life On The Farm

I walked down to the mailbox yesterday afternoon and on the way back up the hill I hear buzzing. I looked up in the tree and there is a big ole swarm of bees. So I put the walk into overdrive and called son in law Mike. He and Crystal have bees on their farm also.  They came over to capture the swarm and put them into a new hive.

Mike usually gets stung a few times while working with the bees but I don't think he did this time.  One trip up the ladder results in a bin full of bees.

He think he captured the queen because of how the bees are on the outside of the box.  He made another trip up the ladder to get more of the bees.. Unreal to me how many bees are there!

 Corbin and Leland got a little bored staying back and out of the way. Is there anything cuter than 2 little boys resting in the grass!!  We think all is good so the family heads home.

A few hours later Ernie comes home from work and I'm telling him of the great bee adventure. He goes to check on them and those darn bees are back in the tree. That means the queen wasn't captured and the drones are back protecting her. He's surprised the swarm is still in the tree.

So up the ladder he goes to get the bees again. He goes up twice but isn't convinced the queen is in the hive.  He comes to the house to get his little saw and up the ladder he goes again to cut off the branch with the remaining bees. They are also delivered to the hive.

After another hour or so, he goes back down and the bees are still in the hive. That's a good thing.  I'll check on them in a while to see if they are flying in and out. I will not open the lid. I'm not that brave!

Live on our farm is never dull.  Thanks Mike and Crystal, Leland and Corbin for helping me out. Cross your fingers for us.....this beekeeping is challenging work sometimes.

Design Wall Monday

 I finished the Framed 9 Patch top I showed last week . My original plan was to make it 4 x 5 and decided to go 5 x 5 instead. I added 2" and 5" borders.  54 inch square quilt is a nice sized cuddly quilt. Covers both mom and baby. Now it's time to piece the back, make the binding and get this quilted.

I decided to work on a UFO from last year. This is the 2014 BOM from The Hexi Blog.  When I opened the bin, only 2 blocks were completed. All the background fabric squares were cut and waiting for applique.  Including this sun, I now have 3 more blocks ready to applique.

My plans for the week were interrupted by the flu bug. 2 sick days and another to recoup put me way behind. Good thing I had the hexies ready to work.

I'm just going to copy the goal list from last week and keep working on it. It's nice to have at least one thing marked off the list.

This week I continue the list from last week: 

• Finish this baby quilt.  Done
• Make a second baby quilt.
• Pin baste both of the baby quilts.
• Finish cutting strips for retreat swap.
• Piece batting for the next big quilt. (My roll is gone so now I must use up what I have stored away in boxes.)
• Baste the 2 baby quilts and the next big quilt.

See what Blogland friends are working on this week at Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

April Quilt Finishes

My second Scrappy Sister's Choice.

Fun with Batiks.

The Elk Quilt for Hunting Club.

Being ready for the hunting club picnic early feels good.

Not near as good as crossing 2 more UFOs off my list.

Next!

Design Wall Monday

A while back, I participated in a bright and white 9 patch swap with an internet group. I swapped 6 sets of 10 blocks so I have a very nice variety of 9 patches.  I think I only got one of my own back. That's a lot of block swapping!!!

It's so nice to have something on my design wall......it's been a while. I love simple framed blocks. These will finish at 8 inches so I am thinking a 4 x 5 setting with 2 borders will make a nice size crib quilt.

I quilted 2 quilts this week. They are finished-complete with labels.  I kept thinking Sunday would have been a good day to take them outside for pictures but kept getting sidetracked.  Today will be another sunny day so I'll make sure to get photos before the rain returns to the Pacific Northwest.

My goals for last week were surpassed. I surprised myself. A good audio book helped keep me at the machine.

This week I would like to:

• Finish this baby quilt.
• Make a second baby quilt.
• Pin baste both of the baby quilts.
• Finish cutting strips for retreat swap.
• Piece batting for the next big quilt. (My roll is gone so now I must use up what I have stored away in boxes.)
• Baste the 2 baby quilts and the next big quilt.

This should keep me out of trouble.

See what others have on their design walls at Patchwork Times.

Pantry/Freezer Challenge-The Results

Oh my, the aroma in my house yesterday and overnight was amazing. It smelled like garden fresh tomatoes. Which is exactly what the tomatoes that I showed yesterday were when they went into my freezer.

My original plan was to make one crockpot full of tomato sauce and one of pizza sauce and to can them. I guess I didn't think my plan through enough because there is a ratio of tomatoes to lemon juice for canning tomato sauce and I didn't follow a recipe for that.  So, better to be safe than sorry, to the freezer these go! From the bulk food section of Winco, I had bought a pizza seasoning mix so I started dumping it in until it tasted good.

I ended up with 18 of these half pint Ball containers for the freezer. The perfect amount for one pizza on my home made crust. But first I'm going to go grab 1 of them out and make some pepperoni rolls and use it for dipping sauce. Mmmmm.

Pantry/Freezer Challenge

I am on a mission to empty out 1 old chest freezer.

It needs to be gone and replaced with a new upright.

I like having 2 freezers because you know I hate to shop.

I want my freezers and my pantry full.

Just in case.

Today's mission is to get all of the frozen whole tomatoes into the crockpot.

Did you know if you freeze them whole? 

They take up a lot of real estate.

When you thaw them, the skins come right off.

This will be really good tomato sauce.

Probably tomorrow.

It takes a long time in the crockpot.

Lesson learned...don't freeze any more tomatoes.

I figured what the heck and pulled out all the cut up tomatoes too.

The second crockpot will be full of those.

I think I will make this pizza sauce.

I'm not sure how much sauce I'll get out of all these.

I'd rather have it in jars than in the freezer.

I'll look up the pressure cooking time to see if it's the same as for canning dry beans.

Can't run the pressure cooker half full.

Too be continued.

Design Wall Monday

I have nothing on my design wall.

It will be a week full of quilting.

I had a very successful week of reaching my goals from last week's Design Wall Monday post.

So successful that I was able to start quilting this quilt Saturday afternoon 

after basting it and another in the morning. 

Why not baste 2, the tables were already set up 

and Jersey Boys was on tv.

The elk quilt for hunting club is finished!!! 

(I need to hang it up to take a full picture.)

Yeah-2 months ahead of time.

Monday afternoon I sewed the binding on and started to stitch it down that night.

Then a bit more on Tuesday.

Wednesday I took it go Binding Friends group

and left there with it finished!!!  

Great help from Marian and Granddaughter Taylor 

(who is now officially a Binding Friend since this was her first binding.)

Thank you so much ladies!

Next up I finished the Della Wallets from Swoon Patterns.

I delivered them to Taylor and Lacey.

They both loved them. 

Friday afternoon I made backs for the next 2 quilts.

Goals for this week are pretty simple:

• Finish the batik boxy quilt.
• Start quilting the 2nd Sister's Choice.

Finishes

Goal number 2 has been marked off my list. The top wallet was made for camo and Duck Dynasty loving Taylor.  The bright pink was made for Lacey.  I delivered them this morning and they both love them.

This afternoon I made the backs for the two quilts I want to baste tomorrow.  Everything is ready to start bright and early. I'm crossing my fingers that I can be quilting by afternoon.

Meeting Goals

I'm working hard to meet the weekly goals I set for myself.

First up is to finish the elk quilt.

Monday morning, bright and early, I set up my table and trimmed the quilt.

While the table was set up, 

 I cut out 2 Della Wallets.

Why not keep cutting, I have a retreat in a few weeks.

I took out a bin that said bright 2 1/2" strips to cut a new quilt.

When I opened the bin I found that I already had a plan for those strips.

I decided to go with that plan and cut and made kits for several blocks.

This will be a baby quilt when it is finished.

I even have the pretty pink flannel for the back.

May as well get the batting and binding ready too.

Where did that plan come from??? 

After dinner, I sewed the binding on and started stitching it down.

My goal was to stitch and watch The Voice.

I made it through the first hour before my eyes gave up.

This quilt will be finished soon.

I am going to start basting this quilt in a few minutes.

Yes, I am a bright and early person.

On a farm related note, 

I forgot to write about the new babies.

Friday, April 3rd, 12 baby chicks followed me home.

5 Buff Orpingtons

2 Black Australorps

and 5 Golden Sexlinks

Sadly one didn't make it but 11 are growing like baby chicks do. 

Today is going to be a busy day.

But first, I need another cup of coffee!

Design Wall Monday

I'm happy to say the elk quilt for the hunting club is quilted. Today I will trim it and sew on the binding.  I will be happy to mark this project off my list for another year. This quilt measures about 72 x 94. Whoever wins it will be quite cozy bundled up with the flannel backing. I did a medium meander for the quilting. I think Quilt Inspector Polly approves.

I didn't do very well with my goal list from last week.  I now need to make 2 Swoon Della Wallets.  I decided to have the gals pick their own fabrics. Once you've made one, they go really fast. I love using mine. I've bought several of the Swoon patterns and have been real happy with the ones I have made.

I did work on a couple Pineapple Crazy Blocks but I put them away again. I have the next quilt ready to pin baste and I hope I have enough pins to baste another one while I have the tables set up.  I think it takes longer for me to set up the tables and get started than it does to pin the quilt.

I'm quite excited about the next 2 quilts. I can't wait to start quilting them.  I like that I already know how I want to quilt each of them.

My goals for this week are short and sweet.

• Finish the elk quilt
• Sew 2 Della Wallets
• Pin baste 2 quilts

See what everyone is working on at Patchwork Times.