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December 31, 2023
Moose Quilt & Feeding Cattle... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full


I continue to work my way through

the pile of fabric panels

I have collected over the years...

 


Next up on the design wall is this

gorgeous bull moose...





I am auditioning fabrics...

I probably won't dig into this one 

until the New Year.




A few of our mama cows...





They greet us each morning when we

come over the hill with

with the feed wagon...





The mama cows will begin calving in March 2024.


The Cowboy and I are celebrating

our 40th Wedding Anniversary

on New Year's Eve !



Wishing all of you the VERY BEST

in the ...

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December 1, 2023
September to November Wrap Up! from Thread Head

It's been ages! I have finished quite a few things these past few months.

This is quilt that was probably 10 years in the making.
I started sewing EPP hexagons as an easy take along project years ago, and finally had enough to make a decent sized quilt (I kind of missed sewing them and started another English Paper Pieced project).
The hexagons were stitched onto 10" blocks (using 100wt thread for invisible machine appliqué).
The quilt is about 90" square. I used a Hobbs silk batting.
I quilted it on my sewing machine with a blue dot bobbin ...

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Horse Quilt....Borders from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

I have always been fond of Flying Geese...



Such a simple quilt block that creates

such a big impact in our designs...






Flying Geese units add lots of movement 

to this horse quilt panel...






they get along well with the 

rest of the quilt blocks...






I am still in the design phase,

nothing is stitched in place just yet...






The color story is working...






I am stitching holiday gifts right now.

I will stitch them and 

look at this on the design wall.

It will let me know what else it needs.





As for these two little cowgirls...

they were ...

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November 27, 2023
Feeding Cattle in Western Oregon from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full


25 Degrees this morning in Western Oregon



I am driving the feed wagon

while the Cowboy feeds off the back...





We feed each morning in 4 different locations...





We are feeding across the river 

from our home place.

You can see our red barn in the distance...





The square bales can weigh up to 1500 pounds.

They eat one every morning...





These are a few of our young heifers...

Eleanor is looking directly at you.





The Cowboy kicks off the last of the hay...





The cows will consume this hay in 

a couple of hours then graze on pasture

the ...

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October 17, 2023
Shopping and Voting from Romany Quilting

I’ve got a very important quilt to make, so I took a trip to my local quilt shop, Fox’s Cottage.

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My daughter Nicky has a big birthday coming up, but not for a while, so I’ve got plenty of time to think about it.  After I made her a birthday quilt for her 40th birthday, then her 50th, I presumed she would like another when she turns 60.  Yes she would, she replied excitedly.  We had talked colours and designs, and she had sent me several photos she had found on the internet.  Nothing sharp and pointy ...

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September 30, 2023
Candy Corn Zip Cases... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full


I am attending a Quilters Halloween Party

 


Won't this zip case make a great 

Trick or Treat for the Quilters !





First I found the Candy Corn beads

and made some zipper pulls...





Then I found the Candy Corn fabric...





I stitched together enough zip cases

for all of the Quilters...





You guessed it...

I plan to fill them with Candy Corn !





I have been on a zip case stitch-a-thon lately...

not sure how long it will last ?





Each morning we are greeted by these beauties...





They are always glad to see us...

and the hay we bring them.


We ...

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July 15, 2023
Farm & Garden... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

Here it is summer...

and I haven't even posted Spring images !

 


This is in the backyard by the guest house...

Whiskey barrels make great plant stands.





The Wisteria vine really put on a show...





Wisteria blooms...





More whiskey barrels by the grape arbor...





Check out the size of the lime hosta...

We tore out all of the rhodies in front of the house

last fall and are going 

low maintenance flower beds.

I am still looking for landscape rock to fill in

the flower bed with the whiskey barrels.





We removed all of the iris from this flower bed ...

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June 20, 2023
Moda Love Quilts... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full


I've been piecing Moda Love Quilts

 


This is the first Moda Love quilt top

I pieced with 5 inch charm squares...





I had another charm pack in the stash,

so I pieced another one...





I was not happy with this lay out...

I thought the inner star points should be red...



So, I ripped out the center of the quilt and

pieced red star points...


Much better with red star points

and the final red border treatment...



I found a mini 2.5 inch charm pack

in the stash...


You can see from the piece of paper,

that this ...

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May 21, 2023
Is a website still relevant for Creatives? from JustPlainLaine

I had forgotten how much work a website is.  I have test patterns to make, swaps to complete, and a whole lot of dyeing and video making to do.

But….here I sit working on my website.  At least I can sort of do it when the migraine wanes…. I don’t dare put needle to cloth until it is over.

Back in the fall when I decided NOT to have a website anymore (read previous blog for the sad details), I could not really come up with a good reason to put in all of the work. 

Fast forward ...

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May 20, 2023
Mule Deer Quilt... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

We are in need of a quilt to comfort 

a very dear friend...


We found this Mule Deer panel

and auditioned a few fabrics

from my cupboards in the Thread Shed...





I think this grouping should work nicely

and lots of texture !





I found a block to piece into borders

from this book...





Twin Star Quilt Block....12 inches





My work table is all set up and ready

for stitching, when I can sneak in here

and sew for a few minutes here and there...





First block cut out and on the

design board...





As time allowed...

I stitched a ...

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May 18, 2023
Recovery – and the story of my Website from JustPlainLaine

Back in the fall of 2022, I woke up one morning to a website that was no longer there.  It was completely and utterly gone.

I didn’t panic at first, because there is always a backup.  Right?  Always a backup.  Except when there isn’t.

I reachout out to my provider and was informed that my “basic” package did not include automatic backups and how lucky I was that it took 12 years to crash and burn.  Somehow I didn’t feel so lucky.

My blog was more like a memory keeper for me, so I wasn’t really ...

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April 23, 2023
Calves... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 Elsa the Frozen Calf...


loves to make new friends!

After spending the first 2 days of her life

with the Cowboy and I thawing her out...

she has become unusually friendly for a calf.





This is our red barn here at our home place...

we feed the yearling cattle here

(last year's calves, now a year old)






The golden yearling in the center

is Golden Girls calf from last year,

we call her Golden Delicious...





This is Eleanor...she is a yearling.

I absolutely adore her !





This is Buttercup....a yearling

Yes, I adore every inch of her !




Each ...

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March 23, 2023
Autumn Leaf Panel....Borders from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

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 ...

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March 21, 2023
Feeding the Yearling Cattle... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

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

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March 20, 2023
Calving Season...2023 from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

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 ...

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March 19, 2023
The Frozen Calf... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

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 ...

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March 17, 2023
Pillows... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

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 ...

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March 13, 2023
Weekend in the Country from Romany Quilting

Last weekend was spent with fellow caravan club members at a Park over Property (Pop) on a farm just north of Feilding.  This is where owners make their properties available to NZMCA members for a small fee, offering somewhere safe to park up, quite often a grassed or shingle area.  The owners of these properties are also members of NZMCA (NZ Motor Caravan Association). 

P1020315

Early arrivals

There is a toilet available for the use of the campers, and the farmer obviously has a sense of humour.  The attached sign reads “Last Dunny for 240kms”.

P1020321

This way to the loo

Staying ...

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February 18, 2023
Dolly's new baby calf... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 Look what we found this morning when

we went across the river 

to check on the mama cows:



This is Dolly with her newborn calf...

a blocky little bull calf


Enjoy the Video:




CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

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February 15, 2023
First Baby Calf.....Valentine ! from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

 

Our very first calf of the year...

born on Valentines Day!


This sweet little baby was born in the

middle of a snow storm this morning...




Mama and baby are doing just great!

He is a week early, but nobody told him that !


Enjoy the Video of Baby Valentine:



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

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