Weaning Calves....

 

It must be October...

we are weaning calves

It took a few days to round up 

all of the cow and calf pairs,

sort them out and load up the calves

in livestock trailers and haul

them to the weaning barn...

The calves are 6 to 8 months of age...

The calves are in the barn for

the next 2 weeks...

Most of the mama cows are a few miles

away at different locations,  but there

are a few that live in the pasture behind

the weaning barn, so they come up to the

barn and bawl at their calves...

Inside the weaning barn, the Cowboy

has set up bale feeders, a watering trough,

protein lick tubs and salt blocks

and a whole lot of wheat straw bedding

to keep the calves comfortable.

The mama cows are not very happy

with this arrangement...

Every morning when we come to 

feed the calves and bed the barn with straw,

we get the stare down from the mama cows...

The mama cows are expecting babies in February

so they need a break before their 

new calves are born.

October also brings gourds...

lots of tiny, cute ones !

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 

Heart Brooches.....In Progress

In between weaning calves

I continue to stitch the

Heart Brooches

A few minutes here...

a few minutes there...

I am making progress on finishing up

the crazy quilt heart brooches.

The table is set for FUN !

Once the crazy quilt squares are done,

it is time to add the trims...

I made 2 dozen of these squares,

now it is time to turn them into

Heart Brooches...

Pink and Red Heart Brooches...

I think adding the trims is my favorite

part of the process...

A few Close-Up images:

How FUN are the tiny buttons...

Lots more to do,

but I am making progress a few minutes

of stitching at a time...

Calf Weaning Barn:

It's that time of the year...

Calf Weaning

It is noisy around here!

Calves bawling inside the barn...

Mamas bawling outside the barn !

The Mama Cows are usually over it

in 3 or 4 days...

takes a bit longer for the babies. 

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CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 

Heart Brooches....Progress

Heart Brooches 

I received a heart brooch years ago and

wore it pinned to my jackets for several years,

I loved it...

I pulled out my scrap bin and sorted red and pink

fabric scraps.  I stitched them down to small 

squares of batting...

It was great FUN and I couldn't stop making

those crazy quilted squares...

I made 2 dozen of them in pink and red

I made a heart template

cut out from a manila folder

and traced the heart shape onto the squares...

I stitched small trims by machine

and fabric flowers by hand

on top of the crazy patchwork squares...

The heart template helped determine

the best place to trace out the heart shape

onto the crazy patchwork squares...

Once all of the squares have been

decorated with trim,  I will add backing

fabrics and cut them out...

I will share the rest of the process soon !

Get your fabric and batting scraps out

and have some FUN !

Autumn has found us here in

Western Oregon...

We are feeding cattle across the river

from our home place...

All of the red maple trees in the yard

are putting on a show !

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 

Vintage Quilt Blocks...

I found these vintage

Grandmothers Flower Garden Blocks

in an antique mall 20 years ago...

 

The fabrics are 

Depression Era 30's and 40's...

I found them in an antique mall

They are all cut and pieced by hand...

There are only ten quilt blocks...

They are traditional with the yellow center,

solid fabric surrounding the center,

followed by a floral outer border...

They are lovely...

It is time to get them out of storage and

put them out where they can be enjoyed...

I cut a square of thin batting and

a square of backing fabric...

I layered all three pieced together

and pinned them to keep them from shifting...

I stitched all the way around the outside edge

then trimmed the seam allowance...

Then I cut and trimmed off the corners...

I slit open the back side

and turned the block right sides out...

I applied fusible web to a piece of leftover backing

cut it into narrow strips and heat set it

over the slit (no pic of that)...

Then I top stitched and quilted around

the hexagons...

Close-up View of quilting stitches...

They look so happy without the raw edges...

They will have a new life as

Candle Mats...

These fabrics were produced nearly 90 years ago

and they are finally out in the world

where they can be enjoyed...

Just in time for candle burning weather.

View my Instagram feed HERE

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi