Thursday, March 23, 2023

Autumn Leaf Panel....Borders

 

24 Leaf Blocks have been pieced...


I am running low on the 

yellow background fabric...





I have enough yellow to complete the

leaf border on the right...

Not enough for the outside border

that goes around all of the leaves.

This is fabric purchased 9 years ago...

I was lucky to find more online...

Now, we wait for it to arrive in the mail.



We are still in the middle of calving season

here @ the Kessi Ranch


We have been averaging about 7 calves a week

since we started in February...




Over 40 calves on the ground so far...

I never tire of watching them play !


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Favor...

I am spending the day machine quilting... 


I work on a Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen






This isn't my quilt...

I am doing this machine quilting as a favor.






The maker of this quilt top chose the fabrics

from my fabric cupboard,

then asked me to cut it into squares...





She put the squares up on the design wall

and arranged them to her liking...





She sat down at her sewing machine

and stitched the squares together.





I helped her measure for the borders.

I cut them and she stitched on the borders 

and completed the quilt top.

Christmas Break was over and she went home.


Before she left she asked me...

"Would you do me a favor and quilt this?"


I asked her what she planned to do 

with this quilt top?

She replied, "I'm giving it to my mama 

for her birthday."


The maker of this quilt top is 8 years of age

and doesn't know how to machine quilt.....yet.



Yes, I am machine quilting if for her:


The machine quilting is complete

and my favorite part is to cut off the rough edges.












It is now ready for a binding...





The binding is cut, pressed and ready

to stitch down to the quilt...





The coffee can goes between my feet

on the floor and the binding feeds out of it

beautifully as I stitch it on...





I use binding clips every inch to hold the 

binding in place as I stitch it down...





That beautiful binding that comes to

a perfect point on each corner

is so satisfying...





This is the back side of the 

machine-sewn binding...

just as pretty as the front side.




This will be packed up tomorrow and

shipped out to the maker of the quilt top...

her mama's birthday is just a few days away

and she is counting on me to do the favor.


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Feeding the Yearling Cattle...

 

When you step out our front door...

this is the view:


Just beyond the yard fence

are the yearling cattle...





The calves are weaned each November,

then we bring them here to our home place.

We like to keep them close by so 

we can keep an eye on them.





They are fed each morning

and I enjoy watching them eat...





These are two yearling heifers...

Golden Delicious and Abigail

They will become replacement heifers

 for our herd next year.


Enjoy the Video:



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Monday, March 20, 2023

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

Sunday, March 19, 2023

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

Saturday, March 18, 2023

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