A Farm Visit and A New Vintage Quilt

 The sun is shining and the birds are singing. It is going to be another beautiful day.  Would you like to go out to the pig barn with me as I go check the bees? Aaw come on. I sure would love the company plus I will bring a new quilt that we can sit on afterwards. 

Let's go! 😀

Eeeh! Look who is here to greet us. Right at the gate! "Scooch over kiddos we are coming through."

These calves are as thick as thieves and are always together. 

"Now don't give us the evil eye, little fellas and gals". Aren't they the cutest? They are as gentle as lambs. 

 

Oooh, before we head up on the hill. Let me show you #49. Her light brown eyes are amazing!

Alright we will visit with the bovines later , lets see what the buzzers are doing. 

It is pretty hot . Isn't it? The bees  think so too. Look they are bearding which  means they are gathering on the outside of the hive in order to keep the hive ventilated. 

Right now we have 9 hives - all have been captured in the wild. 

Now let me show you my newest thrifty find that Mr. Pinker bought for me while we were out camping. 

I am calling it Big Red or Feedsack 81 Patch. Swoon! 🤗❤❤❤You know me and my love affair with the color red. 

It is composed of eighteen-81 patches alternated with large  red square blocks. 

The fabrics are feedsacks and are so colorful and whimsical. Each patch  or square measures around 1 1/2" finished. 

 Some 81 patches contain a modge podge of feedsack and shirting fabrics.

And some 81 patches are simply  composed of 2 different fabrics. 

The quilt is hand pieced and hand  quilted in  1/2 inch to 1 inch rows.  

Oh so pretty! I can just imagine a grandmother sitting on the back porch quilting away on this beauty. 

And look at the backing! Just gorgeous- well at least in my eyes.  

The backing print. 

So what do you think?  A pretty good find. Right?  I think this would be a fun one to reproduce. 

Let's spread it out in the shade , relax and watch the gals graze for a minute. Shall we?

Ooops I see where a little repair work was done. 🤗

I find it endearing. ❤

There is sweet Ginger.  

Don't mind Edna today. She is not a morning gal. Hee! Hee! 

Edna did not want to socialize today. Bless her heart. 

I guess I better stop chatting. It looks like it is nap time for the babes. 

Thank you so much for keeping me company at the farm today and for taking the time to see my latest thrifty find. 

Ginger and many of the calves will be moved to another section of the farm soon. But Edna will still be in this section with a cow or two. Soon it will be time to bale hay here. 

Have a sun shiny day, Sweetness. 

Yesterday's new start is Heart in Hand Needleart's Imprints Love and Heart, in memory of my sis. This darling chart and the gorgeous needleminder was sent to me from my sweet friend, Karen. I will be working on it throughout the week.  Thank you ,  dear Karen. ❤🤗😘

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa 

"Live like someone left the gate wide open.  "- unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who loved  the farm  and all of the animals. 

 I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮

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 I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needleworkers to meet. 

Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday  Wait Loss- Wednesday

Denise at For the Love of Geese for Put Your Foot Down- Thursday

Nina at Creations, Quilts, Art , Whatever by Nina for Off the Wall Friday

Alycia's of Alycia's Quilts for Finished of Not Friday

Michelle  at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauty Pageant - Friday

Joy at Days Filled with Joy for Home Matters

Mending A Quilt Top

Last year , I shared a post about a beautiful vintage quilt top that I purchased in Texas 2024 that I named "Whitney Lake Stars" . It is a sweet reminder of our vacation in the area. 

The quilt has so many beautiful vintage fabrics. One block however has deteriorated  . 

It is time to patch this quilt up! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Two star rays need to be replaced. 

So I searched through my stash and found a vintage reproduction print that I purchased about 15 years ago to repair the block. Did you notice the fabric has Little  Red Riding Hood , the wolf and Grandma's House on it-? Too cute!!! 

I chose this darling reproduction fabric for patching. 

After much thought, I decided not to take the block apart, but to applique over the damaged star points.  I began by working with a large piece of the chosen fabric .  I pinned one side in place  and slowly cut away the fabric as I needleturn appliqued. 

One side is stitched down. 

Two sides stitched . Fixing to turn the corner. 

Slowly but surely I am finishing the applique on one of the rays. 

The applique was not perfect, but I tried my best to follow the lines and points of the "rays of the star" the best I could. One  more "ray " to go. 

One ray appliqued over . Time to applique over the 2nd damaged ray. 

And here is the Four Star block complete. After working, I noticed "DNA"  ( a blood stain) on the quilt top probably made from the quiltmaker. LOL. This is a vintage quilt so there is no telling how old that stain is. I tried to get it out with Dawn, but it is set in. So there it will stay. It doesn't bother me though. 

Do you see the quiltmaker's DNA ( blood stain) in the peach border? It's there to stay. 

After patching the block , I took it outside for a photo shoot. I think the patch blends in alright. What do you think?  Oh bother, I do need to take an iron to this quilt. 

Whitney Lake Stars is now mended. It is ready for a good pressing-. 

It looks like a stained glass window with the sun shining through. 

This quilt top was hand and machine pieced. Today, I will press and then dethread the back. Lots of threads need to be snipped. 

Whitney Lake Stars was hand and machine pieced. 

Hopefully, by evening's end, I will be marking the quilt for hand quilting. That's my grand plan at least. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars. " - Les Brown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy- a sweet star in my eyes. ⭐💖. Love and miss you, Amo. 

From the Heart Needleart's- "Mini Celebration Sampler" and a peek of my Mini Bunny Sampler

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet.

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Home Again, Home Again

 Well hello there , Sweetness and Happy Monday. The ole' truck and camper roared into the driveway just a few shorts days ago . This was one of our longest vacations that Mr. Pinker and I have been fortunate enough to enjoy. Really, we were just trying to escape the cold weather . And WOWZER did we ever ! Sunshine and warm days made our winter days glorious! Most of the time you could find me lounging in my  pink chair in the wide, wild yonder stitching away. 

Working on a little bit of patriotic stitching. An Annie Beez Folkart piece. 

 If I was not stitching, then I was working on  my Christmas Fans blocks - appliqueing away. I went to town on them and came home with only 4 more blocks to applique.  I must admit, I did give myself a pat on the back for making progress on those blocks. 

I used the desert floor as a "design wall". 

And tried out different layouts. 

Hmmm which will I choose come time to piece them all together? We shall see. Hee! Hee! 

Of course we saw many cacti on our trip. 

And yes, I did get pricked a time or two . Ouch! 

Each day we were welcomed by hummingbirds, a fluffy rabbit or two quirky quail at our campsite. They certainly made the day bright and cheerful. 

Not far from one campsite, I found this little rock creation. I teared up. It was my sign from my sweet sis. ❤❤❤ 

All and all it was a wonderful trip filled with adventure, relaxation and nooooo snowflakes. Hee! Hee! 

I terribly missed visiting y'all though. Please do forgive me for being way behind on my emails. And though I was not able to comment like I wanted, I was certainly visiting my blogging buddies watching all of the sewing and stitching fun you have been having. Oh my ! Y'all have been busy, busy bees! 

I also want to apologize for my March 3rd post. Boy , was that a jumbled up mess with no direction. LOL But in my defense we were booking it down the road, and I did not realize I had posted it . Just call me Miss Scatterbrain. Hee! Hee! 🥴🤪Anywhooo... I have gone back and tried to make the posts make sense now. 🙄😁

Well Sweeties, I guess I have jabbered away. I hope to get back into the swing of things in the days to come. Thank you for sticking with me as I have been off grid. 

I wish you the most delightful start to your week and...

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"Home is the heart's nesting place. " 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

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In the evenings , we would sit outside and marvel at the beautiful sunsets. 

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet.

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday