Birthday Gift from Levi and Seth

Early last week, we received our gift for our 50th birthdays from Levi and Seth. It is an awesome farmhouse table that they made. They told us they wanted to make the table for us and asked us (when we were visiting over the Mother's Day weekend) what style table we wanted. We looked at all the styles to choose from in the shop where Levi works and selected the style we wanted. They used recycled wood (from some building) that actually came from Washington. I guess the wood came home. The table is beautiful and will be an heirloom for Micaela and her children (or for the new little one to come).

Levi and Seth also carved into the underside of the table. A lasting tribute to when the table was made and who made it.

And, now that John and the girls are here (Micaela and April), here is the first mess on the new table!

A New Arrival at Villa de Micaela

On Sunday evening at about 6:30 PM, when I fed the horses, I had a hard time getting Ranger to come eat his grain. He kept wanting to go down the hill toward the fence between the horses and the sheep. I didn't want Beau to eat his grain and Ranger's, too, so I waited until Ranger finally came into the run-in shed before I dumped his grain on his hay.

Then, I went down the hill to feed the sheep and the llamas. Corina was making sounds more like grunting than baas. Once I got in and fed the sheep, I saw Corina was ready to lamb. I ran back up the hill and told Rueben to grab the camera, that Corina was lambing. He quickly got off the phone with his mom and came down the hill with the camera.

When Rueben got down the hill, I had him watch Corina (she'd gone into the sheep-shed by this time) while I fed the llamas. When I came back to the sheep shed, I found that he had placed a plywood board against the opening, keeping Corina inside and the other sheep outside. Then, we watched while Corina lay in the corner. It didn't look like anything was happening, but after a few minutes, Corina got up, and there was a little lamb in the corner, wrapped in a placenta. We had a new arrival to Villa de Micaela.

I got lots of video of Corina cleaning up the lamb. I finally pulled the last off of the lamb so it could try to stand up without being tangled up in the placenta. Finally, it was able to stand and I was able to tell it was a ram lamb. I got several pictures and video clips of him trying to stand.

Yesterday, we moved Corina and the lamb up the hill to the pen inside of the shop that we had ready for them. When I bent to pick up the little lamb, after I had Corina on the lead, he just stood still. He didn't even squirm when I picked him up. Rueben carried him up the hill while I led Corina. Before we placed the little lamb in the pen, Rueben weighed him on a baby scale we have for weighing feed. He was about 12 pounds. We'll weigh him again in a day or two. He's growing so fast.

Rueben picked him up again this morning. He's nothing like Joy was last year. He doesn't really run and hide behind his mama like Joy did. He just stands pretty still and looks up until Rueben picks him up. This evening, he was a little more skittish when I bent to pet him, but he never really tried to get away.

We called Micaela last night to tell her about the new lamb and to ask her opinion on what we should name him. First, she asked what color he is. I told her he is white. She said we should call him Whitey. I asked her to think more of a people name. She suggested Eli, Jayden, and Whitherspoon; all names of people she knows. Then she started talking about one of her teachers named Ms. Lambert. I told Rueben and we thought and thought about the name. Rueben said Lambert was one of his favorite cartoons when he was little. I remembered it, too and also really loved it. You can find the cartoon (about 8 minutes) on Youtube if you search on Lambert the Sheepish Lion. We decided to name him Lambert.

Michelle's Jacket, April's Placemats, Experiments

In the last month, I've completed two projects, started another, and have been experimenting with a fourth.




First, I completed Michelle's jacket for her birthday. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it after I put the clasp on it. Anyway, I really enjoyed creating the jacket. I think I may also have inadvertantly created a monster along the way. Once Michelle received the jacket, she made one for herself without any pattern or instructions and has now borrowed my cd on creating other jackets out of sweatshirts.

I also finished April Vargas' mini placemats for her tea set for her birthday at the end of March. I personalized the placemats with her name, as well. The picture shows the front on the top and the back below. For my first design, my first project using the paper-piecing method, and my first attempt at actual quilting, I think they came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I really enjoyed making these and I just started making a set for Micaela's birthday, too. Hers will be with the same fabrics (in a different order), except for the back with a lavendar binding. I will post pictures of Micaela's placemats once I complete them.

I've also been experimenting. I got Mom's felting machine from Michelle and I've been playing around with it. At first, it worked really well and I was getting addicted. It was really fun. Scraps of felt and wool couldn't satisfy me for long. Then, I started breaking needles. It got a bit frustrating when the needles started bending and breaking. Then, I discovered that forgetting to lower the cloth foot (presser foot) was the problem. Once I discovered the problem and remembered to lower the cloth foot, I stopped breaking the needles. Next, I cut out a pattern of a sheep from brown felt and appliqued it to some olive green felt. Then, I started experimenting with felting wool from Bella that had been washed, but not carded, to the applique. I was using wool locks. I started breaking needles again. After lots of frustration and seven broken needles in one sitting (a pricey endevor since needles are about $4 each), I realized that the needles were probably too long. They hang lower than the cloth foot when it is in the down position. As I was moving the fabric and wool around, the wool would catch on the needles and bend them. Then, as the needles lowered, they broke.

Anyway, the Bella that I tried to make looks okay when looking at the picture. Actually, better than I thought the night I was working on her. She still needs some defining embroidery such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. I'll need to felt some 3-D ears as well. Maybe next, I will try a baby Corina with Bella. I'll have to try some more, using Mom's suggestions. She suggested I use some wash away stabilizer over the wool as I am felting it. That way, the wool shouldn't catch on the needles and break them. Then, I can wet the stabilizer and dissolve it. I'll try again and see if I can get the machine to work without breaking so many needles.

Mary's Jacket

Well, I finished Mary's jacket. I made it for her birthday (at the end of March) but I can safely post a picture here since she doesn't have access to the internet. I found the instructions in one of the books Mom lent to me. I started with a red sweatshirt and took the collar, cuffs, and hem ribbing off. I cut it up the center front, then used a plate to copy the curve for the upper and lower portions of the front of the jacket. I then sewed bias tape around all the edges. Mom also found the fusible bias tape for me to sew onto the front and back of the sweatshirt.

Last night, on the way home from work, I stopped at JoAnn's and picked up the fabric for the placemats I'm going to make for April and Micaela for their birthdays. They will be able to use them with their tea sets. The picture shows the fabrics. Nice, pretty, bright colors. I created the pattern I'll use from one of the books that Mom lent me on paper piecing. Moms sure are great! Once I get them sewed together, I will post more pictures.

Sweatshirt Jacket

This post is for Mom and Michelle who asked me for pictures when I finished the jacket I was making from a sweatshirt. Well, it is complete now except for the clasps to close the front. I'm waiting for them to come in the mail. It took a little while (I began it on the Tuesday after Christmas while I was on leave from work and finished it yesterday). I had a few challenges, too. During the construction of the patches, and while putting the panels on the sweatshirt, I found I had used too small of a seam on some of the strips. Especially on those strips with a loose weave. Some of the seams I had to re-do while putting it together and one, I had to hand-sew when I found it after the panels were already on the jacket. I will have to be very careful when I wash it and be sure to put it in the washer on the gentle cycle.