What Else is New?

We don't let any grass grow beneath our feet.   Remember that old saying?    Well, it pretty much describes our life here on the farm.  If we're not outside working with our critters, we're probably inside the house....or another building.....doing some kind of minor repairs/remodeling construction type of work.   Or if we're really lucky, we're busy with some kind of hobby.

In my case, I'm usually in my studio happily sewing away......making things like this mug rug.   I've been making seasonal mug rugs for my computer desk so I don't mar the desk surface with my drinks.    This rooster mug rug was so much fun to make and the cheerful blue and white theme brings a welcome shot of color to the dreary winter months.

During the cooler months, I tend to have some sort of hand work sitting next to my chair to occupy my hands while we watch tv in the evenings.    You know, things such as knitting or embroidery.   I almost always have a pair of socks on the needles and currently I have 3 sweaters in various stages of completion.  

I've even done a bit of rug hooking....only I put my own personal twist on the "rug".   The twin beds on the sleeping porch are really high with the trundle bed beneath the iron bed.  So I found an old, sturdy step stool that was just right to help someone safely hop up onto the top bed.   But it seemed lacking in the "cuteness" department.   Ta-da.....let's cover it with something interesting!    And this is the result......a mama hen and her chicks.....in rug hooking....with a fun embellishment(of course) of fringe.

Can you tell I had a lot of fun creating this  one of a kind step stool?   And I feel it fits right in with our new farm lifestyle.

One of my goals for the time spent inside during these colder months is to continue to improve my skills on the longarm quilting machine we purchased over a year ago.   Thanks to another quilter who generously shared her expertise with me, I now feel the tension and settings are functioning as they should be and the quilt stitches look "pretty" both on the top and bottom of the quilts I have been working on.

One of my sweet friends, Kathy, gave her latest quilt to me and asked to be my very first customer!   Her house quilt is adorable and I was honored that she entrusted her lovely quilt to me......gulp.....and then I had to actually quilt it.   What if I made a mistake?   What if she didn't like the quilt pattern I stitched into her quilt?   What if the color of thread wasn't to her liking?  

At the suggestion of another friend, I used a soft pink thread for the quilting and then I choose an all over swirly design that I felt would soften all the right angles of the house blocks.   I love how it turned out and Kathy called me to say she was over the moon.   Yippee!    My confidence is growing with each quilt I finish on the longarm machine.   At last count I have also quilted 6 quilts for Quilts of Valor....an organization that presents quilts to veterans who have been affected by war and to honor their service to our country.  

And just what in the world is a longarm machine, you ask?   It's this beauty in the pic above.   It's over 10' long and takes up a considerable amount of real estate in my studio but it's worth every bit of space it occupies.   I have longed(no pun intended!) to have a longarm machine for many years and having this one is a dream come true for me.   My hope is to build a business right here in my studio by quilting quilts for others.   And to that end, I finally got brave enough to hand out my business cards at the last meeting of our local quilt guild.   So we'll see if/how the business grows over the next couple of years.

Ah, yes, and there is one more thing we have been busy with this last week.   We pulled the RV out of the RV garage, aired up the tires and brought it closer to the house.   We emptied all of our personal belongings into bins and trudged them into the house where they all got sorted, cleaned and put into bins for long term storage.  

Joel and I have loved RV-ing for almost 2 decades.   When we brought our trailer up here 3 years ago we thought we'd be going to local parks and investigating the surrounding area in the RV.   Hmmm, it seems we have been so happy "parked" here on the farm that we haven't used the RV once since moving here.   We finally figured out that when we lived in Florida taking trips with the RV provided an escape from work and other obligations.   It was our respite.   But now we already live in a place where we are completely relaxed....and have no need to sneak away for a few days to unwind.   And so we have dropped the RV off in Chattanooga and have consigned it for sale.

Well, that about wraps up our recent activities.   Next week we are going to have to corral Beef Cake, the steer, and get him into the stock trailer.   We have an appointment with the slaughter house on Friday and need to be prompt in getting him there as they are booked solid for months and we don't want to miss our day to drop him off.  Wrangling him into the trailer should make for an interesting afternoon, don't you think?    Ha!  What could possibly go wrong?  

Stay tuned,
Deb