Calving Season...2023

 

This is one of our newborn bull calves...

I call him.....Chip

He's a chip off the old block:

He looks just like his mama !

We have several mama and baby look-a-likes

out in the field....FUN !

The first thing each morning, 

we check on the expectant mama cows.

Then we begin feeding all of the cattle:

We feed in 6 different locations,

several miles apart.

This picture was taken just across the river

from our home place...

You can see our red barn in the distance.

Enjoy the Video:

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Autumn Leaf Panel....Progress

Autumn Leaf Panel on the design wall:

 

I need 6 more maple leaf blocks

to fill in around the border...

Design boards keep me organized

when I am piecing quilt blocks...

It has been FUN using landscape fabrics

to design the maple leaves...

During the dreary, cloudy, gray

winter days, these bright colors

make me happy !

I have enough maple leaf blocks...

I need to add sashing strips between the

leaves and make this whole thing 

fit together.....more to come !

Pretty Heifer Calf

Eloise...a real beauty !

I call this photo....The Babysitter:

The mama cows have all gone out

to graze and left their calves

with the babysitter.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

The Frozen Calf...

 

Here she is...

our little frozen calf

We named her Elsa...

After the Disney Princess from the movie Frozen

Yes, she is all thawed out and...

SUPER CUTE !

Golden Girl is so glad to have Elsa at her side...

Elsa is so happy to be back with her mama...

2 weeks ago Golden Girl gave birth to Elsa.

It was a long, difficult delivery 

and 19 degrees that night.

When we found Elsa the next morning, 

she was frozen to the ground and not moving.

We rushed home with the frozen, newborn calf,

rubbed her down and dried her off 

with a hair dryer

and tubed her with colostrum.

We could not get a reading on the thermometer.

5 hours later she could open her eyes, 

it gave us hope.

By the next morning, 

we heard mooing from the basement !

Elsa is now back out in the pasture 

with her mama, Golden Girl.

Elsa is a very friendly calf.  When she sees us out

in the field, she comes up and sucks our fingers.

I think she knows us, knows our smell...

and maybe she knows we helped her out

when she needed it most.

When you raise livestock, you are just a heart beat

away from death and sorrow...

you must take the bitter with the sweet.

This time it ended sweet.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Autumn Quilt Panel...

A gorgeous autumn quilt panel... 

These panels are so beautiful

and hard to resist when you see them

at the quilt shops...

especially when you already have a big stash

of landscape fabrics in your cupboard at home

that will compliment them:

I cut up a bunch of squares from the

landscape fabrics and started to

build maple leaf blocks...

This is an excellent quilt block reference...

Quick & Easy Block Tool

Directions for quilt blocks in 5 sizes !

It feels good to be using up some

of these stash fabrics !

Here come the leaf blocks:

Here is a maple leaf block on the design board

ready to be stitched together...

Here is is all stitched together...

I put a few of them up on the design wall

to see if they play well with the panel:

The yellow background fabric in the leaf blocks

is a good contrast with the 

dark outer edges of the panel.

I have had this beautiful leaf fabric forever

and I am hoping to use it somewhere in this quilt.

I have about 18 maple leaf blocks

 complete and need 6 more...

I will stitch a few more together, as time allows,

in between checking on the mama cows

and newborn calves.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Moda Love Charm Quilt...

How FUN is a Charm Pack !

 

In one little charm square package,

you get an entire fabric line !

This charm pack is called...Flower Power

This is a FREE pattern from Moda Fabrics

CLICK HERE for the tutorial and pattern

You can make this with layer cakes,

charm squares or mini charm squares.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Pillows...

 

I have been itching to do some

Name Pillows...

A personal pillow to decorate a bed...

These big pillows.....36 x 15

will look great on a bed...

maybe even encourage you to make your bed

each morning!

Do you remember these bottle calves?

This is Big Marv

This is Vern

We raised them on bottles a few years ago...

They were so much FUN!

This year they are turning 6 years...

I see them every morning

when we feed them...

They live with our herd bulls

and are just as big if not bigger than the bulls!

They are still my babies.

Enjoy the Video:

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi