Hexagons and Dandelions

I was all geared up to start hand quilting my improv quilt and then I realized that all of my safety pins are on the hexagon baby quilt. I am not prepared to thread baste so I just stopped procrastinating and started quilting the hexagons.

I'm doing a basic stippling pattern again, still working on my FMQ skills.

Stippling is so fun!

There are tonnes of dandelions blooming in the yard and today I went around and picked a bowl of them for an experimental batch of dandelion wine.

David helped me and we pretended that the flowers were gold doubloons.

The little chickens are so funny, they won't let us pet them but if we wander out into the yard, they follow along behind us, just to see what's up. Still no eggs yet but we had our first rooster crow this week!

Here is David down by the lake, where the goaties live. The goat pasture was fenced in long before the goats arrived, and it was not originally intended for animals. Luckily there are established nut trees, oaks, and rhododendrons, all of which the goats avoid. There are too many tannins in the oak and nut trees and the rhodos are poisonous.

Individual goats have different tastes and food preferences.

But there are certainly many plants for them to eat. I rescued some tea roses and flowering currants, and here is Firefly eating a flowering Spirea. Oddly last year and the year before that, the goats didn't touch the Spirea. I want to save it so it is slated for removal and will be transplanted into the main yard where it can grow. On the upside, the goats are doing a great job mowing the lawn.

I've been looking for a source for cheese-making supplies. I want to try making homemade Havarti. The first place I stayed on the West Coast was a dairy goat farm and the ladies there made amazing dill Havarti cheese.

David studiously filling up the tub

Finally, the cast iron bathtub is ready to go!! After working all day it is so great to sit in a hot outdoor bath, listening to the birds sing and breathing in the scent of flowering fruit trees.

I keep meaning to get a photo of myself in there with my toes hanging out and the fire going underneath it, but you get the idea. The water can stay hot for hours as long as I keep the fire stoked. I always find it a little bit ironic when doing things the old country way is actually more luxurious than the modern, more convenient version.

Then there is wee David who is content just to get soaked with the cold hose.

Hope you all saw some sunshine today.

I'm linking up with Stitch by Stitch's 'Anything Goes' Monday. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Quilting and Recycling

The batting is cut to size because I'm planning on binding with the back.

I'm making this little quilt to test out a pattern I drafted for a hexagon quilt that is sown in strips. Mostly I made the top out of articles of clothing. A few pretty tops and a brown skirt and this blue vintage sheet, plus some scraps of plaid. The batting is an airplane blanket.

I love to recycle and re-purpose fabric into quilt projects. I often drool over designer collections and I do buy fabric sometimes, but mostly I find lines of fabric to be pure inspiration for how to pair fabrics in my own stash. So much fabric is readily available in the way of clothes and cotton sheets, so much of it in perfect condition aside from minor flaws that can be discarded when choosing quilt pieces. It is like a puzzle, trying to decide what to use. 

Especially for a project like this one, which is a practice piece. I have it basted and ready to go, just as soon as I decide how to quilt it.

I am inspired to finish up this quilt because I was telling my BC quilting friend Caroline Heinrichs at Good Earth Quilting about my interest in recycling and I won her giveaway! I am so excited not only to win some beautiful fabric but to have made a connection with another quilter who enjoys the economical and environmentally friendly practice of re-purposing fabric.

We have so much surplus in this age when things are made to be thrown away.

Also I just have to bring to light that clothing manufacture is often outsourced to factories where people are paid poorly and have no rights. Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy, Levi's, Victoria's Secret, etc etc... it is shocking to do some research and investigate how many popular stores and brand names get their clothes from third-world countries with the cheapest labor.  For me, using these like-new but discarded items is a way to honor the people who made them, who might work in a sweat shop, while we in the developed world might buy something and never even wear it.

The age of consumerism is soiling our planet. I love new fabric and I do buy it with pleasure, however I also want to advocate for reducing waste, reusing materials, and recycling products whenever possible. For thrift of course but also for the Earth and for our oceans.

Okay, now I will get off my recycling soap box, promise!

Up close and personal with a baby goat's breakfast

At home I am counting my blessings, and among them my three milking goats and the bounty of milk and poo for the garden that they give us. Animals always pick up on my mood and every morning they offer me a reminder to have gratitude for the abundance in my life and to live in the present moment. The goats love having a routine, and they give me a reason to maintain stability in my life.

I might be in danger of becoming a crazy hippie goat lady.

I can always count on these two to help make the milk disappear.

It is my sweet boy's birthday today.

We had a pirate party and he had a wonderful time, greeting every guest at the door with a big "Happy Birthday!!"

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my rambles!

On this Work In Progress Wednesday I am linking up with Lee at her blog, Freshly Pieced.

Have a beautiful week out there.

Works In Progress Wednesday

I'm working on a baby quilt.

The quilt is super simple, with a vertical stripe of patches that are made mostly from baby girl dresses.

I started this quilt with the intention to donate it. I've wanted to make a quilt for Project Linus ever since I got a blanket from them when my son was born, but I am also considering donating this one to the annual Spring Fling school fundraising auction. 

 I made a wonky star (emphasis on the wonky) to be appliqued onto the blanket after I quilt it. 

Yes, I see the wrinkles. Maybe every WIP Wednesday I should just post pictures of wrinkled fabric and say, "I NEED TO IRON THIS!! AND THIS!" There is no end to the ironing to be done. I should really put a couple of tablespoons of corn starch in my spray bottle to stiffen things up!

I have been sick lately, first with a head cold and then with a bronchial illness and a barking cough. I am so lucky that I am living in a house built by a Finnish man. We have a sauna and I have been lighting it almost every day to warm up and breathe steam with eucalyptus and 100 Flowers oil.

Thankfully all of the animals are well. This is Bessie tandem nursing her twin does, who had to be bottle fed for their first four days. They are now big and healthy and Bessie is doing a good job caring for them.

Time for a cup of steaming ginger tea.

Thanks for reading!