because if we wait until I have enough time to write… it will be 2020!!! So I have an update with pictures and a few words.
The “Girls”
New additions. Chickens in the coop. 6 hens about 5 months old now. Should be laying soon? Hopefully soon some eggs, color from light green to robins egg blue! They are a breed called Cream Legbar, supposed to be calm and friendly. So far, it is true. Will be letting them out to free-range a couple of hours each day. These girls love bugs.
Our Real Estate Agent testing the facilities
When we were looking… for a place. This fellow accompanied our agents. He has his own business cards too. I told him that if we bought the place, he could pick out a chicken and give it a name. He came out in late August, chose his bird and named her Lucy. So 2 have names, Lucy and Ethel. Possibly a 3rd has a name too, Piggy Anne, she is always front and center for kitchen scraps.
The view from the pasture to the house
The pasture, around the pond and the yard are all mowed and short! It looks so neat!!! Just needs a large hoofed creature to make it complete.
The Pond looking better
And last, the pond with about 90% of the cattails cut down or removed. They are hard to kill, but we are working on it.
There is so much more to share… but alas my usual lament. NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY!!! So there you have it… and update in pictures.
Visit blogs that may be new to you or old friends already on the 2019 Quilters Meet and Greet Blog Hop.
Welcome to I Have A Notion stop of the 2019 Online Quilters Meet & Greet. Benita of Victoriana Quilt Designs surprised me with the invitation to join this year, and I am flattered, to say the least! I found the 2018 Quilters Meet and Greet last year and discovered several new to me blogs.
A Little Bit About Me
Beth Hunter
I have been quilting for more than 30 years, and before that, it was garments and craft sewing. My quilting began with hand piecing and hand quilting, but now I do most of my work by machine. Most of what I create are original designs and created most often by’Playing the What If’ game. We have just recently moved from in-town to the country in Kentucky. We have a little 10-acre farm, complete with a barn, a chicken coop, a shop, a house, and a POND! The local cows and cats outnumber the neighbors, which is just what we wanted.
My Favorite Quilt- “today”
Today my favorite quilt is the “Chicken Dance” quilt. I like it because it makes me smile. Making it was so much fun and believe it or not it is a scrap quilt. I started it in 2009… with the chickens, (but moving to South Africa kind of got in the way of quilting!), and eventually finished it in 2013. The most difficult part was finding a setting layout for the chicken blocks, after that the rest was easy! Nobody said quilts had to be made fast. The Chicken Dance is soon to be a pattern! It is almost as much fun on the back as it is on the front. And yes the front is shadowing through… the back. I little miscommunication with the quilter, it should have been a double batt, a cotton batting plus a wool batting.
Chicken Dance Quilt front and back
What is “I Have A Notion™”
“I Have A Notion” is an online sewing notions and tools store. Sourcing quality products to help you create and stitch. I purchased I Have A Notion™ in 2016, from a friend (Kelly Jackson) and moved it from Ohio to Kentucky. The store has undergone several changes and improvements over the last couple of years. Adding new products and creating a new web site. I should complete some web chores that I still need to do… but hey… I like to create with fiber, not just pixels.
Best Products
One of the goals at “I Have A Notion™” is to carry top-notch useful products to support sewing and quilting enthusiasts. Offering the top of the line products and often, a lesser-known brand, if both are good… then probably both are stocked. Before adding new products, I test for features or benefits or if they meet the claims made. If they make the cut, I add them to the stock. Some of the best NEW tools I have found: are the Misting Spray Bottles for using at your pressing station, along with a Wool Pressing Mat. Both will change your quilt pressing routine!
Two of the best pressing aids ever- Fine Misting Spray bottles and Wool Pressing Mat
The Newest Addition
Is the Beam and Read Personal Light in Violet. If you do handwork and need a little better lighting on the project at hand. Then this is the light for you. Originally developed for individuals with vision difficulties it has proven to be one of the best handsfree work lights ever! I have started using one whenever I am doing handwork on the go.
The Beam n Read Personal Hands-Free Lights, Violet or Black
The 2019 Online Quilters Meet & Greet features many other quilters. To win prizes, you will need to go to the main page of the 2019 Quilters Meet and Greet to enter for prizes. Click the button to go.
Click here to enter the contest to win a PRIZE!
While you are hopping about meeting the other bloggers, I hope you leave a comment and share your findings with friends on social media or your own blogs!!! Add your favorites to your blog reader (I use Feedly), so you can keep up with new friends too.
Thanks for stopping by and come back for “more later!” Beth
Tasks -whether they are mundane, ordinary or exciting hide how fast the Time Flies!
It is hard to believe we have been here for nearly 6 weeks. All the rush of packing is over… and now the unpacking takes place. As a result, of all the deadline-based activity time flies?
About July
The month of July was hot and steamy and the pasture was alive with butterflies. Of course, I had to drop everything several days and record with the camera as many as I could. I saw many of the Kentucky butterflies in one field and it is in my backyard! The Swallowtails, Monarchs, Cabbage Whites, Clouded Yellow, Admirals, Sprites, and Skippers feeding on the wildflowers in the field.
A Black Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on Red Clover
Rain
In Kentucky, we are technically in a drought and surface plants are struggling without rain. See time flies even for plants. In addition, the rain has been sporadic and uneven, so the ground has not had a good soaking. As a result, we cut the field short.
Yellow Tiger Swallowtail on Red Clover
August
The middle of August found me in Chicagoland for a week. It was planned more than a year ago, well before the idea to move. I shared some of my quilts with the Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild of Plainfield, IL and the ‘Threadpainting’ process that I use the following day. Sorry, I didn’t take any pictures… because I never remember to get the camera out. I try to focus (pun intended) on assisting and coaching others through the “Threadpainting” process. Once again, times flies!
Gifted a beautiful little pincushion!
I do have one picture. A wonderful little pincushion, with a matching teeny tiny 9 Patch Quilt (which is signed and dated by the maker) Cheryl Parker, was a gift. Cheryl also created a fabulous blog post about the Threadpainting class, and you can see it here. This little pincushion will join the other treasures gifted by friends and family, in the Creative Space. However, setting up the Creative Space up is a very slow process. There is one certainty, many things need to be done… at the same time, and I am having difficulty prioritizing. Again, time flies!
Next week
There will be prizes!!!
I hope I have filled you in… a bit… and forgive me for the lapses in posting. …. I am here even if I am quiet, (which anyone that knows me will say is a feat that does not happen often {enough, maybe?}).
