Time flies

Wow how time flies. It has been a long time since I have posted so it's time to put one up. I have been busy getting crops planted and now they are all harvested, the cattle moved out to pasture and back in from the pasture to wean their babies. Finally some time to take a breather. That is until time for the cows to have their babies again and the cycle starts all over again....There are just way to many thing that need to be done on the ranch. We are so thankful that God looks out for us.

I did get a little work done on the old school house which is now my quilt studio and I found this cool photo on line of an old out building with a few quilt blocks painted on it and I am thinking a big block on the old school would be so cool... what do you think? Well I like it anyway.

Until next time, may our awesome God watch over each and everyone of you!

Almost a year later...

If you read my first post you will see that I started this blog about one year ago and I am now getting back to posting my second blog... What the heck happened to my year?

Well here goes my second post... I have belonged to a face book group called Quilt Block Swap, and I have been able to do a few swaps and what a great bunch of blocks I have gotten back. I love doing this swap, they only swap about 1 time every 2 months or so... It's been a few months since I have had time to check in but tonight I was visiting and found a link to... "the bloggers quilt festival for the fall 2011" here is the link... http://amyscreativeside.com/2011/10/28/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2011/ Anyway I decided to enter a quilt as I have never done this on line before but thought it might be kind of cool. So here it is...

My quilt story:

The quilt I am going to post has quite a story behind it, or should I say behind "them"! What you will be looking at is a photo of a quilt I made for a man who lost his wife. I actually made 6 quilts for him to give to his children. Each quilt was made from his wife’s clothing. Six memory quilts. The quilt photo I am posting is quilt #5. I finished doing the hand binding last night around 2 a.m. but as I stitched I could not help but think about this woman.

I had never met her and never knew she existed before I met her husband and he made his request for me to preserve her memory. I wondered what she looked like and if she was in heaven and if she knew what I was doing to her clothing.

Would it make her happy or mad? I wondered about her children and about her life. I know she passed away from a cancer. I hate that word... I wonder if she knows that?

I wonder if she liked the idea her husband had to give one quilt to each of the children? I bet she misses them. Does she know that he can not just give her clothes away to charity? Was she smart or just average like me? I wondered if she liked chocolate or if she sewed at all. Her husband is a farmer/rancher like we are and I was wondering if she drove tractors, worked cattle, rode horse, put in a garden or quilted like I do?

I'll probably never know the answers to my questions but one thing I know. I made 6 quilts that will wrap about children who lost their mother and I made each one of them with the same kind of love I'm sure their mother would have made them with...

I hope she is resting in Peace.

In the Beginning...

Christmas is over and New Years is just a few hours away, so as a challenge to myself I have decided to create my own Blog. As a new blogger I hope my readers will bare with me as I learn how to set things up and keep you entertained and informed. My main topic of discussion will be covering the topic of Quilting! Get it? "Covering"... Anyway I will also cover topics on South Dakota living and ranching on the Dakota Prairies, along with some humor, cooking and what ever strikes me at the time.

In the beginning we are all given some sort of a talent. Most of us don’t realize it or use it until way late in life and yet others are full steam ahead, showing their talents at such young ages it is shocking.... Watching the videos posted these days on the internet are a testament to this. I believe some of our talents are acquired by our life experiences. Like mine!

I think my talents came from my early years. Growing up and learning from my great grandparents. I can remember digging threw the fabric scraps at my great grandma’s house and making doll clothes and baby doll quilts. Not that I didn’t learn from my parents and grand parents, because I learned from everyone that I was around. But I have the best and fondest memories of my great grandma and grandpa Barclay. I don’t remember much about my Great Great Grandma Howlett but I have photos of me with her and she was a grand lady.

I always liked to sing and still do today, (when no one is around to listen that is). I have done pretty fair at turning out a good meal. One of those "stick to your ribs" kind of a meal. And I have been told over and over that I need to write books but I just haven't gotten to it. I am hoping this Blogging thing will stir something deep inside of me that will speak to me about that.

I just love to use fabric and other items to create. From my red and white painted quilt on the south side of my quilting cabin, to the huge collection of pin cushions. I just can't help myself from making different things all the time. Having said that, I will confess that making quilts is by far my favorite thing to do. My hubby tells me often that he doesn't understand why anyone would take perfectly good fabric and cut it into a gazillion pieces and sew it back together again... I know he see's the real picture and the final art and beauty and functionality of the quilts I make but he just has to say it anyway... Has to be a guy thing! Story about huddy and my quilting to come later!

My latest creation was a Block of the month, or BOM called Rambling Rose meets James Town. Doesn’t the title or name of this quilt just sound majestic? It is gorgeous and went together really fast.

When I tell you that I am a quilter you need to realize that many people have many ideas as to just what that means. Some would say a quilter pieces all the parts of a quilt together by hand and then quilts it by hand. Others would say they piece the quilt top by machine and tie the quilt together and still others would say that a quilter would be someone who pieces the blocks by hand or machine but then they have a professional long arm quilter do the quilting on it... So, as you can see there are differences’ of opinion as to "What, How or Who" a quilter is!

I am a quilter and I piece quilt blocks by hand and by machine. Sometimes I do both on the same block. That might sound weird to some quilters but I have never personally met any "REAL" quilt police who have told me I can't. As far as finishing a quilt, well it depends on the quilt and who it is going to or the purpose of the quilt... I like to tie baby quilts or use my home machine and quilt them. It's fast, easy and very affordable. I also send some of my quilts to a professional long arm quilter. Usually these are the larger ones and I want them back right away for a gift or something special. I have hand quilted one large quilt. It was for a very special person and I made a big mistakes with it. I'll tell you about that later! I hand quilt some of my baby quilts and smaller items that are special to me and will stay in the family. Other than that I let my credit card do my quilting and most larger quilts machine quilted by my friends who have long arm machines.

I would have to say as far as my taste goes in style it would be traditional. I love the idea of using what I have and traditional, "tried and true" quilt patterns. I love the log cabin block. Just saying the words, "Log Cabin", makes me feel all warm and safe inside. And the fact that I have always wanted to own and live in a log cabin might have something to do with it also. There are way to many blocks to tell you about right now but as this blog goes on, you will hear more about the blocks I truly enjoy making...

"TIPS", are one of the things in the "quilting world" that I enjoy the most. As in anything, I seem to learn by doing and that means "learning the hard way" for me! I swear that I have done everything you can do wrong, when it comes to quilting. As a result I have also learned to do things right!

I will close this post with these words of wisdom. My "TIP", for anyone who reads my blog is; “ if you decide to do anything, quilting or not, do it with the idea in mind that it is a new experience, a learning process and above all it's an adventure“...

Always in Stitches, Bren