Play Day.....Machine Quilting

I am taking a day to.....PLAY

I have been itchin' to do some

Free Motion stitchin'

I am stitching at the Quilt Palace today

with Ralph the Quilting Kitty

It is good just to play...

This is a one yard hand dye

I am covering with free motion work

I am also playing around with some

long arm rulers

I use the rulers to create a shape,

then I fill it in with free motion work

Lots of FUN!

Great Practice!

Every now and then I do experience

a little cat drag on the fabric...

Today, Ralph spent most of his time

under the quilt sandwich, so that helped.

Remember...

Give yourself time to.....Play!

Happy Holidays

from Ralph and LuAnn

p.s.  I am stitching on my domestic Bernina 
with a  #72 ruler foot

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

This is how I spent my day...

Farm Fun Doll Panel 

by Stacy Iest Hsu 

for Moda Fabrics

This panel makes 4 stuffed dolls

Pig, Sheep, Chicken, Cow

They cut out and stitch together rather quickly...

Now to get them stuffed...

How darling are the chicks in the front pocket...

The babies can be taken 

in and out of the pocket...

These little cuties will be going

under the Christmas Tree!

I attended a Quilters Holiday Luncheon today...

Everyone brought a dish to share at lunch

and we had Show 'n Tell....FUN!

Happy Holidays

from all of us at Kessi Farms

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Bottle Calves.....Update

Our journey with the bottle calves began last

March during calving season...

Here we are 9 months later.

The calves are weaned off the bottle 

and now weigh 500 lbs.

Today was their first day of freedom.

We turned them out in the field with

the rest of the herd:

I think it was harder on me than it was on them.

The orphaned calf number 25 is on the left.

The dairy calf is on the right.

They will graze on 50 acres here at home.

Here they are meeting up with 

some of the other weaned calves...

The dairy calf is on the left with the white tail,

he was afraid of the other calves.

They grazed along the river bank most of the day.

I very well expected the bottle calves to join up

with the rest of the calf herd and well, 

behave like cattle...

By 4pm they were back to the barn bawling 

to come back in!

Yes, of course, I let them in 

and fed them grain and hay.

I guess freedom wasn't all 

they thought it would be!

It has been a week now,

they come back to the barn each night.

Maybe one night they will stay out with the herd

and they won't come back to the barn?

Being a cow mama isn't always easy for me.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Weaning Heifer Calves...

We are weaning calves again...

This time it is the heifer calves,

the calves are now 6 months old...

We will sort the heifers from 

their calves in the corral.

My Golden Girl is the first heifer 

through the chute...

Her fly ear tags will be removed,

She will be vaccinated and wormed.

Golden Girl is bred and will have her

first calf next June 2018.

The calves have been sorted and

we will run them through the chute next:

These are heifer calves,

which means they weren't born until June,

so they are only 6 months of age.

After all of the calves have been worked,

it is time to load them in the trailer

and haul them up river to the goat barn...

This is the goat barn:

The goats will share half of their barn

with the newly weaned calves...

This is part of the Boer goat herd.

These are the newly weaned kid goats.

Unloading the calves at the goat barn:

How cute is this curious little kid goat?

He wanted to chew on my camera so badly.

The calves will remain in the barn for about

10 days, then we will haul them down river

to our place, where they will be fed for the winter

with 50 other weaned calves.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi