Rain and Stars

(Month 1)

I've realised that I haven't shared (not even ONCE) about the star blocks I've been making this year.

At work, The Country Yard, we have had The Scrappy Star Quilt Adventure happening since February.

(Month 2)

Each month we receive some light coloured background fabric, four smaller pieces of coloured fabric and a set of instructions for a star block. The instructions give different block sizes and ideas for variations.

(Month 3)

I like the sort of sewalong/quiltalong where there is a sense of freedom; using guidelines and inspiration to create our own versions of a quilt. I'm not so keen on having my finished quilt identical to several others. So this style of BOM suits me well.

(Month 4)

I've decided to make all my blocks different sizes. I'll join them into sets/larger units and hopefully, one day, will have enough of those units to join to make a lovely big quilt!

(Month 5)

The photos below are the blocks in their size groups. Laying them out like this - all mixed up - gives me confidence that all those scrappy stars are going to mix in well with each other in the final quilt!

Three inch blocks - I need 6 of these for each 'unit' so I'd better get sewing more of these —

Six inch blocks —

Nine inch blocks —

12 inch blocks —

We had lunch out with the MOML's parents the other day. It was a beautiful day; I was a bit unsure when we were seated outside but it was warm and a lovely outlook!

And then we had this gorgeous sky yesterday morning —

But you know the adage "Red Sky at Night, Shepherds' Delight; Red Sky in the Morning, Shepherds' Warning", and with a forecast that predicted a LOT of rain we spent the morning making sure all the animals were high and dry. Making mud is not ideal for growing grass, nor is mud a good place for calves to be born!

We brought this one in after she went AWOL not long after being born. She had wandered until she found a cosy hedge or long grass to sleep in. We couldn't find her - about 9pm that night though she let everyone know where she was, bellowing for mum and a decent feed. She was very belligerent at first but calmed down once I got a few litres of warm colostrum into her. The photo doesn't show you how she was stamping her feet nor give any indication of the noise she was making!

With the rain forecast I thought I'd better freshen up my "baby" chickens' cage too. I haven't talked about them for a while...they started in a big box in a warm room downstairs, then moved to a Fort Knox cage in a big shed by the chookhouse and are now in a Safehouse within the chicken run. I've just worked out they're 3 months old. Next week I'm planning on amalgamating them with the rest of the chooks and hopefully it won't be long and they'll be laying! 

You can see here they are nearly as big as the older chooks —

In the end there wasn't as much rain as was forecast. Some heavy showers. The kids enjoyed getting the umbrella out —

And enjoyed meeting the calves. (Well, Lily did, George was more interested in opening and closing all the gate catches!) —

Time to be off, if I'm lucky I might squeeze in one more star block before 'cowtime' this afternoon!

'til next time,

happy stitches,