Thursday, January 31, 2019

Herding Cows to the Calving Barns...


The cows will begin calving in 3 weeks...



It is time to trail them down river to the

calving barns...




4 miles of gravel roads ahead of us...





I am driving the hay wagon ahead of the cattle...

you can see them following me 

in the side view mirror.





We have made it out onto the main gravel road...

the older cows know right where they are going,

they have made this trip many times.





Traffic slows up the drive,

but we work the cattle around them

and keep on going.





We have made it off the road and into

the cow pasture...




The cows all stop for a drink,

before moving on over the hill to the cow barns

to meet up with the rest of the mama cow herd.




It was a beautiful day today here in 

Western Oregon.

We have done this same cattle drive in the past

in very snowy conditions.




This is the main cow barn....aka the Silo.

There is a 2nd cow barn down below.

The new spring calves will be born here.






Please enjoy the video below

of our trip along the gravel road

herding the mama cows to their calving grounds:


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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Barn Lot Quilts....DONE


The hanging sleeves and labels 

have been stitched on...

time for a photo shoot!



Hand Dyed Backing Fabric





While we had a break in the rain 
in this Western Oregon weather, 
we set up the photo stand and put the 
first quilt up to be photographed.



The working name for these quilts has always been 
the Barn Lot quilt series.

They now have a formal name:

100 Years' Gatherin's


Quilt Number 1........The Relics





These are just a few of the old relics

that now live in our barn lot.

They have done a lot of work for us 
over the years...




We hauled hay, transported livestock, pulled farm machinery and even 4H animals to the fair with these old relics...









Some of the first miles I ever drove as a teenager, were behind the wheel of the rusty, yellow, 
1970 Ford in the bottom right corner above...






Quilt Number 2......Implements





These images represent a few of the farm implements in our barn lot... 
Hay rakes, plows, balers, hay mowers.





This quilt has some of my favorite 
rust dyed fabrics sewn into it...





The bottom left corner....that round circle is from a rusty brake drum I found in the barn lot that I used to rust dye that piece of fabric...















Quilt Number 3.....Maintaining





Maintenance is a big part of farming...

everything around here requires

 a lot of attention from our

maintenance main......The Cowboy




The Cowboy works on the tractors, implements, fences, all of our vehicles, and most everything on this place...





Tools of the Trade...





I used an arc ruler to machine quilt the lines...





This last image is our beloved boxer, Gunnr.

We lost him nearly 3 years ago...

the farm has never been the same without him.


These quilts will be on exhibit soon:




February 1-2, 2019



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts



May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi



Sunday, January 20, 2019

Barn Lot Quilts....Quilting and Binding


I completed the machine quilting on 

3 of the Barn Lot Quilts



Trying to keep the quilting design masculine

is tough for me......I am a feather girl all the way.





I threw a few triangles in with the wavy lines

and finished up the quilting on Thursday...



I started the binding work on Friday:


I cobbled bindings together with leftover

border strips...




I like the way the 

quilting stands out in the borders

and blends in with the images 

and rust dyed fabric







As always, the quilting shows up

nicely on the backing fabric:


Today is Sunday...

I am hand stitching 2 more bindings

and 3 hanging sleeves.

I feel like I am coming into the home stretch!




You can watch Jamie Wallen in action with 


the flying geese rulers....CLICK HERE



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts



May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Barn Lot Quilts...Under the Needle


As soon as the cattle are fed in the morning...

I race back home to the Thread Shed

and get to stitching on the Barn Lot Quilts




I am quilting them on the Sweet Sixteen





I am using long arm rulers...






Arc ruler and Ditch ruler





I do love feather quilting,

but this quilt needs simple, masculine lines.




I don't want the quilting to 

over-power the images






The dark gold Glide thread 

blends with the images nicely












I completed the first quilt...

lots more to go.....eek!





All of the bindings are done...





I rolled the binding up on a cereal box...

all ready to go!




I have 5 quilts...

I will be lucky to get 3 of them quilted before

the January 26 deadline......eek!


CLICK HERE to view all Barn Lot posts



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts



May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi