Quilt Quack 10

It's time for the Quilt Quack Chronicles.

I'm going to update on the current quilt projects and the ducklings.

I know you can hardly wait!

So much has happened in our little duck world I'm not sure where to start.

Our adult Khaki Campbell hen with the broken wing healed enough to go back with the flock.
She seems to be doing great.

We put our younger KC ducks outside as they had almost all of their feathers.
A few days later the hen ended up with some leg issues.
We brought her back inside and doctored her as best as we knew how.
Sadly, we had to cull her because she was getting worse.
So now we have one adult KC hen and one 8 week old KC drake.
This gives us the option of hatching some KCs next year.

That left us with four ducklings in the house.
Have I mentioned that they grow fast?
Have I mentioned that Pekins grow faster?

They were 4 weeks old in this picture.
The Pekin is quite a bit larger than the Runners.
It's hard to believe they all hatched on the same day!

Same ducklings at 5 1/2 weeks old.

Like I said, they grow fast!

Around four weeks of age the hens usually start quacking.
Drakes don't quack, they mumble.
We ended up with two of each.
We decided to take the two drakes outside. Our plan is to re-home them.
Too many drakes to hens can be a problem.
The hens will stay inside for a little while longer hoping
to prevent whatever it was that happened to the KC hen.
The hens quack a lot and they're LOUD! Can't hear the radio or TV loud.
I'm not sure how much longer we'll keep them inside...


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I have three (OK four) quilt projects I am actively working on.

One of the projects is a secret one so I won't share too much.
I am in the process of adding photos of my fabric to my quilting software.
This will enable me to design it with the fabrics I have.
It helps me to visualize it.
It also estimates how much I need of each fabric.


Next up is my forever project. The hexagon table runner that I've decided to name Confetti.

For a while I had a falling out with this quilt.

It can get monotonous doing the same thing over and over without fast results.

However, I finally finished sewing the last of the individual rows.

Woo hoo! Progress!

Now all I have to do is add rows.

This seems to have sparked some motivation to work on it more.

That and I managed to hurt my lower back again.

Not much to do (or should do) but sit and quilt.

So this is the state of the confetti table runner.
Not including the current row, I have nine more to go!


The Village quilt is the third official project.
I know I keep saying it but I love this one.

 I have 80 houses so far.
The top three houses in this photo have doors from a door swap I participated in.
It's like each house has its own personality.
I can't wait to have this one done.
It's going to be so cool and crazy!

My pieces for this week's 8 houses all ready for sewing.
If my back cooperates I might do this today.


The other project I'm working on is a "leader and ender" project.
You can read about it here.
I forget to update it because it's done as I sew other things.

I'm making these wonky log cabin blocks.

No measuring or squaring up until it reaches a certain size.

Then I square it to the size I want and put it in a box.

I have ten finished blocks so far.

I've got fourteen I'm currently sewing.

Eventually I'll have enough for a quilt.

It's kind like making two quilts at once.

Thirteen

Like a good mom, I forgot to make a birthday post for Connor.

I guess I was a little distracted.

Better late than never!

So we officially have two teenagers in the house.

We need another fridge. 

To my surprise he requested an ice cream cake.

That's quite the bonfire.

Quick, blow them out before it melts! 

It was hard work...

but eventually he got them all.

The kid loves to build things with his Legos.

This is the latest creation, complete with a scope!

Oh and one other thing, he was inducted into the Junior High National Honor Society.

Not bad for just turning thirteen.

Number Nineteen

This is the post where I show a ridiculous amount of quilt pictures.

There's some animal pictures too.

They were curious as to what I was doing.

OK they were probably expecting peas but that's beside the point.

This is another charity quilt.

This one is going to be donated in memory of the baby Dwayne and I lost years ago.

I really wanted to finish this in March which is when we lost that baby.

I ended up sick and finished it in early April.

The chickens wasted no time in coming over.

They will follow me all over the yard expecting a treat.

Sorry, no peas.

At first the ducks were scared of the quilt on their fence.

It might have something to do with the wind blowing the quilt around.

Once I got the quilt secured enough the ducks got curious and ventured over.

It's hard to believe but this is my 19th quilt!

stats for #19:

39" x 39 1/2"

machine pieced and quilted

It Is Well With My Soul

I have always liked that hymn. In light of my dad's death I have a hard time getting through that song. (OK a lot of songs but that's one of the toughest.) I am choosing to write about grief in this post. I'm writing because I know I'm not the only one going through grief, or some other rough patch for that matter. Sometimes there are things that happen that take me by surprise. This is one of them but I know this will pass too. It has been a little over two and a half years since my dad's murder. It takes time to heal. Sometimes it takes a long time. That's OK. Most of the time I'm good. I can talk about my dad, see a truck, even pass a truck stop and it won't bother me one bit. Then there are times where something sparks a memory and it brings about some sadness. Usually it is brief and I choose not to dwell there as I cannot change what happened. This time, however, it came completely out of the blue and shook me. At first it was a shock. Then it sank in a gripped me. Not fun. I don't like being there.

The other day we were sharing some good news about one of the boys. I was mentally going through the people we called and making sure we covered everyone. That's when it happened. I absently minded thought to call my dad so he could know too. I wasn't even thinking about him. Nor was I thinking that he would have liked to have known, if he was alive. I haven't had a spontaneous urge to call my dad in a long time. It brought up such pain and sorrow. Not to mention that I get frustrated by the sadness. When I get to these seasons, everything seems to set it off. It was also frustrating because it's not like I was dwelling on it or trying to hang on to something I can't have. It was totally out of the blue. So for this short season the tears will come. And it's OK.

I know it's temporary. I also know that God is here with me as each tear falls. He's here with every sob that comes from deep within. I take comfort in the fact that God never changes. God isn't some hopeful idea. He is real. God does not forget His promises. There is an eternity in heaven for those who believe that Jesus died in our place for our sins and rose from the grave. It's so simple. Christ alone. Nothing else. Don't take my word for it. The Bible said it, not me.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 3:16-18

Upon belief every believer is sealed with a permanent seal. Nothing can separate you from God. Nothing. And someday, one day, there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more sorrow. Sin in any form causes pain. Someday there will be  no more sin. Someday there will be no more death. How awesome that will be!

It is well with my soul because it's not condemned any longer. I believe that Jesus died in my place to pay for my sin. He paid the penalty in my place. I did absolutely nothing to deserve it. It was a free gift and all I had to do was believe.

When my dad woke up that fateful morning of August 27, 2015 he had no idea it was his last morning on earth. To the best of my knowledge, he was a believer. So it was well with his soul when he met God that day.

You have no idea when your last breath will be. It could be today or it could be years from now. I must ask, is it well with your soul?

The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail;

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Outside

We have moved our two oldest ducklings outside.

They are almost completely feathered out.

All prepared for the great outdoors.

Good thing because it got really cold their first night.

They have gotten along pretty well with the flock...
I should say the flock hasn't bullied them too much.

We do enjoy having them inside but the duck yuck as they get older is quite potent!

Not to mention that one of them was quacking.

So that leaves us with these four ducklings.

They are 3 weeks old now.

Although they are the same age, the Pekin is quite a bit larger than the others.

Pekins grow quicker because they are a meat bird.

They don't hold still very well for pictures.

They are rapidly approaching the ugly duckling stage.

Two of them seem to be noisier than the others.

We're pretty sure they might be hens.

We're really hoping the other two start making more noise too.

Only time will tell.