The Great Big Blue Jean Quilt

For the last several weeks I have been cutting jeans into squares and strips.

There are 256 squares that will make up the middle of this quilt.

A funny thing happened with the squares.

I stacked them in piles of tens and hundreds as I cut them.

When I finished I counted my stacks.

I thought I needed one more. So I cut up one more pair of jeans for that one square.

Connor helped me lay all of them out in this grid. 

Some of the rows may have gotten a little askew in the process.

Well, after straightening out the rows and counting

each one, I ended up with one too many.

Murphy's Law.

I may stick the extra one in the border for something different.

Everything is getting white sashing/border (whatever it's called).

I'm excited about this quilt because it's frugal and fun.

I've used fabric from my stash and recycled jeans.

I shouldn't have to buy anything except the backing and maybe the batting.

I haven't decided whether or not I'm using batting with this.

It depends on how heavy it gets.

There's also going to be jean strips all around as well.

My goal is king size. My estimate now is somewhere around 93 - 96 inch range.

I was really hoping to show an entire finished row.

It would have happened but my sewing machine decided to be dyslexic.

When I hit start it takes one stitch backward and stops.

Not happy.

However, it's still under the extended warranty and they're fixing it for free!

Unfortunately that means I'll be without a sewing machine for a while.

Guess I'll have to tackle other (possibly neglected due-to-quilting) summer projects.

Although I was trying to only quilt when the weather was unpleasant for summer.

At least that's what I tell myself ;).

^^^^^^^^^^

It figures that the sewing machine decided to take a vacation.

I just ordered some fabric for Connor's quilt.

After it gets here I guess I'll cut it up and set it aside too.

Bummer.

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy quilting.

Who would have guessed that?

Certainly not me!

Because We Love Our Ducks

It's no secret that we enjoy our ducks.

They're so much fun.

 

I think this one might be my favorite.

She kept waiting for her peas ever so patiently.

These are the four Indian Runners that we're keeping.

I finally got a picture of all of them together... not all in focus, but all together.

We've also finally got names for all of them.

From left to right: Caramel, Vanilla, Drake (or Solomon), and Bender. 

The three hens.

Bender has the darkest beak and a bent tail.

Caramel has the tan beak and Vanilla has the lightest beak.

These two, Kit & Kat... or I as call them, Kit Kat

(it's not like they know their names), may be my other favorites.

They come up to me almost every time I'm outside.

We try to feed the ducks peas every day.

It's a nice treat for them.

They come when they're called.

Our little rooster likes the peas too!

These four were raised together and always hang out together.

You could say we have three "cliques" among our flock.

One of Indian Runners; one of older chickens; and this one, two ducks and two chickens.

Looks like they're playing basketball!

We still haven't heard Ra crow yet but he has started clucking & cackling loudly.

I didn't know roosters did this until I Googled it.

This rooster is crazy.

He will sit in your lap.

For the most part he is friendly.

Although I wanted to drop kick him the other day for pecking my back and pulling my skin.

I had a red mark for a while.

He reaffirmed my dislike of being pecked by a chicken.

Now I don't trust him.

(There's nothing sharp on a duck but their toes...

so it doesn't hurt if they grab you with their beak.)

An update on Gigantor... who's the same age as the hen next to him.

As you can see, he's substantially bigger!

Thankfully, he's not aggressive at this point.

If he does get mean I'm going to have to find a very large pot!

Before I get to the really exciting part of this post, I have to show this silly bird.

As I mentioned in a previous post, she gets into the yard almost every afternoon.

And she lets herself back out every evening.

And Pepper leaves her alone.

Good dog.

Lest you think Pepper's gone soft, she has killed two rabbits in the yard in the last two days.

Here's the really exciting thing that happened this week.

Our ducks started laying eggs!

We couldn't be more excited.

Aren't they beautiful!

They're even better looking in omelet form.

Connor hadn't had an omelet in six months.

He said it was the best one ever!

Duck egg pancakes.

Eggless pancakes just don't rise like they should.

Connor's making a list of all the things he wants to eat now that we have eggs again.

It warms this mom's heart to be able to feed him "normal" food again.

Happy Birthday

So this guy turned 14 on the first.

He really, really wanted a CO2 pellet/BB revolver.

So like good parents we got him one.

Whatever it takes to get them outside more!

(I am somewhat jealous. Dwayne has a CO2 BB pistol and

I wanted one for Mother's day. Maybe Christmas...)

We spent this afternoon shooting cans in the back yard.

They let me take turns shooting their guns.

Nolan is super excited to have his cool revolver.

Quite the little bonfire.

Nolan wanted a trifle cake.

He told me what he wanted for the layers:

chocolate pudding, strawberries, Oreos, and cool whip.

Yummy!

Enjoying the last of his birthday cake the next day.

A growing boy's gotta eat!

He's 5' 3-3/4" tall.

He frequently reminds me that he's taller than me.

Keep on growin'!