Sunning Quilts
By Effie Smith Ely
Out from their scented chests I draw
And hang my bright quilts in the sun,
Fashioned by deft and patient hands
Whose work-days now are done.
This Irish Chain in vivid rose
Was Great-Aunt Phoebe's hope and pride -
Dear little girl, who died too young
To be a happy bride.
These colors, with fair stitches joined
to form a bold True-Lovers' Knot,
Were lame Aunt Miriam's - in their glow
Her dull days she forgot.
My strong grandmother, unto whom
Life brought most bitter grief and smart,
Piecing this flower basket learned
To mend a broken heart.
Dead kinsfolk, who have left to me
These quilts you made in vanished springs,
Would that I had your fortitude
Your joy in simple things!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Haying
This past Friday and Saturday, I went down to the farm to help with haying. It was spur of the moment; in fact, they asked me on Wednesday to come down. But that's the way haying is, because it all depends on the weather. So, we started Friday afternoon around 3 and finished around 7. We did two large fields.
This is what haying involves: someone had pre-baled the hay, so the bales were waiting for us in the fields. So, one person drives the tractor and wagon. Half the people are on the ground grabbing the bales and tossing them on the wagon as it drives by. The other half are on the wagon, stacking the bales that are tossed to them. Then the wagon must be unload into the barn.
It doesn't seem too hard, right? Well, it wouldn't be, except for the fact that the bales are anywhere between 40-60 pounds. It is hard, hard work. I started on the ground, then switched and stacked the bales on the wagon. Once I was too tired to do either of those jobs, I got a crash course in driving. Yup, I drove the tractor! It was fun, and not very hard at all. Although, I almost knocked their son Ben off the wagon a couple of times with my unintentionally sudden stops. My arm were trembling on Saturday morning. Also, my arms look like they have be attacked by a ferocious animal; hay is very harsh on skin.
Yesterday was Ben's graduation party, so we spent all morning and afternoon preparing food. It was quite enjoyable. Once guests started arriving, we played volleyball. Throughout the entire evening, we played 7 games of volleyball. Now my arms and hands REALLY hurt!! We had a huge bonfire when it got dark, and played hide-and-seek and sardines, and then made smores.
This is the bonfire:
Overall, it was a very fun and educational two days!
This is what haying involves: someone had pre-baled the hay, so the bales were waiting for us in the fields. So, one person drives the tractor and wagon. Half the people are on the ground grabbing the bales and tossing them on the wagon as it drives by. The other half are on the wagon, stacking the bales that are tossed to them. Then the wagon must be unload into the barn.
It doesn't seem too hard, right? Well, it wouldn't be, except for the fact that the bales are anywhere between 40-60 pounds. It is hard, hard work. I started on the ground, then switched and stacked the bales on the wagon. Once I was too tired to do either of those jobs, I got a crash course in driving. Yup, I drove the tractor! It was fun, and not very hard at all. Although, I almost knocked their son Ben off the wagon a couple of times with my unintentionally sudden stops. My arm were trembling on Saturday morning. Also, my arms look like they have be attacked by a ferocious animal; hay is very harsh on skin.
Yesterday was Ben's graduation party, so we spent all morning and afternoon preparing food. It was quite enjoyable. Once guests started arriving, we played volleyball. Throughout the entire evening, we played 7 games of volleyball. Now my arms and hands REALLY hurt!! We had a huge bonfire when it got dark, and played hide-and-seek and sardines, and then made smores.
This is the bonfire:
Overall, it was a very fun and educational two days!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
No Good Name
I know....it has been way too long since my last post. But this time I have some exciting stuff.
First, I finished mom's quilt! YAY!!!!!! She named it "When I Grow Too Old To Dream". I didn't bother to take another picture of it, because it looks pretty much the same as before. I am now working on a quilt named "Fireworks", and one that has no name.
Next, two days ago Cati and I spent the whole day together. Here are some of the highlights.
I officially LOVE meerkats; they are just so adorable!!!!
And we learned that elephants can be trained just like dogs.
Finally, goat show stuff. Two Sundays ago a helped out with a goat show at the Monroe County Fair. It was rather small compared to the last one, but still fun. And this time, two of the goats I showed got first place!
Also, for anyone curious, this is what happens at a goat show. You walk the goats around, the judge studies them, then he places them in their final order, and then talks about why the goats placed the way the did.
I have a couple of busy days coming up. Tonight is girl's Bible study; tomorrow is library and soccer game. Saturday is a cousin's graduation party; Sunday is church, babysitting, and English Country dancing. It should be exciting!!
First, I finished mom's quilt! YAY!!!!!! She named it "When I Grow Too Old To Dream". I didn't bother to take another picture of it, because it looks pretty much the same as before. I am now working on a quilt named "Fireworks", and one that has no name.
Next, two days ago Cati and I spent the whole day together. Here are some of the highlights.
I officially LOVE meerkats; they are just so adorable!!!!
And we learned that elephants can be trained just like dogs.
Finally, goat show stuff. Two Sundays ago a helped out with a goat show at the Monroe County Fair. It was rather small compared to the last one, but still fun. And this time, two of the goats I showed got first place!
Also, for anyone curious, this is what happens at a goat show. You walk the goats around, the judge studies them, then he places them in their final order, and then talks about why the goats placed the way the did.I have a couple of busy days coming up. Tonight is girl's Bible study; tomorrow is library and soccer game. Saturday is a cousin's graduation party; Sunday is church, babysitting, and English Country dancing. It should be exciting!!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sewing Projects
School's done, and now I am spending more time sewing. Here are pictures from recent sewing projects.
This is quilt I am making for my mom. She had tons of dresses in the back of my closet, most of which she sewed herself many years ago. She never wears them any more, though, and instead of getting rid of them, I offered to make them into a quilt.
Here is Woody, who always loves it when I spread quilts out on the living room floor to pin them
This is the quilt back, pieced from the dresses.
I recently started attending English Country Dance classes. Think Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. They put on "performances", and to be a part you must have a dress. So, my mom and I took this stuff.....
And turned it into this dress for me!
The back of the dress.....
My big project for the summer is to turn the huge stack of fabric into three quilts by the beginning of September! Wish me luck!
This is quilt I am making for my mom. She had tons of dresses in the back of my closet, most of which she sewed herself many years ago. She never wears them any more, though, and instead of getting rid of them, I offered to make them into a quilt.
Here is Woody, who always loves it when I spread quilts out on the living room floor to pin them
This is the quilt back, pieced from the dresses.
I recently started attending English Country Dance classes. Think Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. They put on "performances", and to be a part you must have a dress. So, my mom and I took this stuff.....
And turned it into this dress for me!
The back of the dress.....
My big project for the summer is to turn the huge stack of fabric into three quilts by the beginning of September! Wish me luck!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Ziggy Can't Drive
Weird name, I know. At church today, one of the snacks we had was Scrabble cheese crackers. Each cracker has a letter on it. So, some of us were making words with them. The first sentence we made was "Pigs can't dive", but it evolved into many different things, ending with "Toads drive cars". "Ziggy can't drive" was our favorite though! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. Well, I really have nothing important to report, but I have nothing to do today, so I thought I might as well write something. Last Friday, I started the dissections for biology. We did an earth worm and a crayfish. My partner did the earth worm; I didn't like that one. It was brown and squishy and just looked gross. So, I did the crayfish. It was kind of weird when I took it out of the bag, and I had an irrational fear that it was going to jump at me. But once I started cutting the "shell", I was reassured that it was dead and I actually found it very fascinating. We even named it Sebastian! So next Friday we are doing a frog and a perch, and then I'll be done with biology! YAY!!!! In other news, I have finally figured out what to do with all my fabric scraps: make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I have a pattern for it in one of my books, and I tried it yesterday. It is kind of tedious, because it must be dome by hand, and you have to baste each individual piece before you sew them together. But the size of the hexagon is the perfect size to use up scraps. So I will be slowly working on one of those. I guess that's all!
Friday, May 15, 2009
More Random Things
Well, in an attempt to write more frequently, I am now going to post some random pictures. So here we go. This is block number one of the mystery quilt that I mentioned a few posts ago.
Here is a quilt I designed named Desert Waves, because in the Arizona desert, there was the orange/red land , blue sky, and puffs of green plants. It it made of Log Cabin blocks.
This one is named Checkered Roses. Not much to say about it....
These next two are of my adorable kitty, Woody. He always comes into my room and tries to walk around on my table. But when he does, he knocks things over, so I take him off and put him on my lap. The last few times he has just lounged on me, purring and relaxing!
These are the flowers that we planted in the garden. My favorite is the tall purple on the top. It is called Meadow Sage.
Finally, this is a drawing that I just completed today. It is called "Delectable Summer". I got the idea from a picnic I went to, and I figured since people paint fruit bowls all the time, I might as well doing something a little more exciting. After spending time working on it a few days ago, our dinner of pork-chops and scalloped potatoes seemed somewhat bland.
I found a website a few days ago called LibriVox. It has tons of free MP3 audio books. They have mostly classics. So far I have listened to The Phantom of the Opera and Pride and Prejudice. I have read Pride and Prejudice many times, but it was the first time I had ever read (or rather listened to) The Phantom of the Opera. It was really good!
Right, now I am working on a quilt for my mom. She had 17 old dresses in the back of my closest, most of which she made. She never wears them anymore, so she agreed to let me cut them up and make them into a quilt. It's going pretty well. I have 18 of 90 blocks finished.
On June 13th, at 2:30, I have a dance recital. I'm so excited! We are dancing to a piano piece this year....it is a gorgeous song. I also might be going back to the friend's farm in June. It will be an interesting month.
Well, that's all!
Here is a quilt I designed named Desert Waves, because in the Arizona desert, there was the orange/red land , blue sky, and puffs of green plants. It it made of Log Cabin blocks.
This one is named Checkered Roses. Not much to say about it....
These next two are of my adorable kitty, Woody. He always comes into my room and tries to walk around on my table. But when he does, he knocks things over, so I take him off and put him on my lap. The last few times he has just lounged on me, purring and relaxing!
These are the flowers that we planted in the garden. My favorite is the tall purple on the top. It is called Meadow Sage.
Finally, this is a drawing that I just completed today. It is called "Delectable Summer". I got the idea from a picnic I went to, and I figured since people paint fruit bowls all the time, I might as well doing something a little more exciting. After spending time working on it a few days ago, our dinner of pork-chops and scalloped potatoes seemed somewhat bland.
I found a website a few days ago called LibriVox. It has tons of free MP3 audio books. They have mostly classics. So far I have listened to The Phantom of the Opera and Pride and Prejudice. I have read Pride and Prejudice many times, but it was the first time I had ever read (or rather listened to) The Phantom of the Opera. It was really good!
Right, now I am working on a quilt for my mom. She had 17 old dresses in the back of my closest, most of which she made. She never wears them anymore, so she agreed to let me cut them up and make them into a quilt. It's going pretty well. I have 18 of 90 blocks finished.
On June 13th, at 2:30, I have a dance recital. I'm so excited! We are dancing to a piano piece this year....it is a gorgeous song. I also might be going back to the friend's farm in June. It will be an interesting month.
Well, that's all!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Commenting.....
Sorry to everyone who has tried to comment on my posts and not been able to. I think I found problem, and I am pretty sure I have fixed it. If you could try to post a comment to see if it works, that would be great! Thanks!
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