Needle's Eye Designs

My Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle

February 28, 2022 Healthy Living

The Struggle that Changed My Life

12 years ago I got sick and was faced with making a drastic change to my lifestyle. I didn’t look sick and I could semi-function with pain medications; but any amount of activity caused me stabbing pain in my chest. Seriously. Hot-Poker-Through-The-Chest-type of pain. It was so bad that even just the simple act of breathing was painful at times. It was frustrating. The chest pain and inability to breathe put my life at a stand still until they passed. I had no clue what triggered them. There were the episodes of hyperventilating because my brain was telling my body that I was not getting enough oxygen. My oxygen levels were always within optimum range.

During this time I went to 12 doctors. 6 doctors believed I was truly sick – that is only 50%. 2 of the 6 doctors witnessed first hand my sudden hyperventilating state – one was an ER doctor and saw me off the gurney from an ambulance. Only four believed me and honestly wanted to help me feel better — 4. Four out of twelve doctors. 33%.

I was on 5 months of antibiotics with my doctors shrugging their shoulders. Not even my primary care doctor believed me and she implied that I was a hypochondriac when she couldn’t fix me within one month – and she was not the only doctor to do so. This was my struggle 12 years ago.

What My Lifestyle Was Before I Got Horribly Sick

Leading into that struggle, my healthy lifestyle was anything but healthy. Sure I worked out – I loved to run but how I fueled my body was horrendous. I loved eating at McDonald’s and Burger King. I filled body with chemicals, fake food, and junk. Add to that my job was at a high stress point. By high I don’t mean 2 story building and I could just take the stairs down – I mean rocket ship to the moon high – which is what I think triggered the perfect storm happening in my body from my poor lifestyle.

The Lifestyle Epiphany

I had to become my own health advocate. That is what caused me to search out alternative medicine and I scheduled my first appointment with a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). My ND quite literally cured me within one month — something that 11 other modern medicine doctors could not do in 5 months. She spent time with me and discovered subtle symptoms that I did not attribute to being symptoms and after 1 month under her care my health returned. No more stabbing pain in my chest. I could breathe normally again!

She, also, taught me about food. I had chronic sinus headaches. My doctors always told me to take allergy medicine. My ND talked to me about food and how she recommends I do a food sensitivity test. I was skeptical — after all we have the FDA and all the food we eat is FDA approved — right?? I never thought about reading labels before – it never occurred to me that it was something I should do. After all what’s wrong with easy to make prepackaged food or even fast food?!

The test results showed that I react to dairy, soy, grapefruit, and eggs. Not an allergy, but a food sensitivity. Removing all the suspect foods changed my life! I went from having daily pounding headaches and reacting to everything in my environment to no headaches and being able to have pet cats. The doctor prescribed allergy medications stopped — saving me tons of money. To top it all off my energy levels improved with time.

12 years ago, 50% of our medical industry tried to degrade me to being another hypochondriac. Once medical conditions become apart of your medical record – you will live with that diagnosis for the rest of your life! I still fought. I sought out doctors that would listen to me and I found 4.

If food had such an impact on my day-to-day life what else could I do? This whole experience motivated me to work towards a chemically-free lifestyle and to be more conscious with what I allow into my body. I started with my food – buying organic when possible.

I Am Not Alone

The reality is I know I am not the only one. I fought and am still fighting for optimum health in my life. I have talked to so many people about my struggles since then and they have opened up to me with their own health struggles.

The medical industry is great at treating you if you are critically ill, but if you have a walking illness, such as, pleurisy (inflammation in the lining around the lungs) or costochondritis (inflammation in the sternum) it is a hard uphill battle to try to get better. I have spoken with many people after this experience that have had the same experience with the medical industry. Some are stuck in a rut and just want new insights – while others have completely given up!

My Purpose

I have tried a lot of alternative products since this experience. Since I know I am not the only one who haas struggled with subtle health issues I have decided to include this section into my blog. This really does lead to a lot of decisions I make during my day-to-day lifestyle.

It is my hope that by doing this I may help others avoid my pitfalls or improve their lifestyle and help them feel good about themselves. This is entirely my experiences and everyone is different, but maybe I can help give you a different perspective to struggles you may be facing.

xoxox

Full disclosure: I have tried many products including Young Living Essential Oils, Beachbody, Azure Standard and Activated You. Please know that I have a YL membership (#10503974) and had a Beachbody membership. I have tried many, many things to the point of even making my own body care products. I plan on writing about all my experiences with those things. You can also check out my other blog posts on Quilting, Homesteading, and Painting.

Pick One Thing.

May 12, 2022 Healthy Living

Seriously, pick one thing. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to be healthier? How about feeling better?

Pick. One. Thing.

Break that one goal down into steps and focus on those individual steps — and if those steps are too big then break it down even farther. If you want to lose weight and keep it off then it’s a lifestyle change not something you do for 30 days and stop.

When your focus is broad so is your concentration. Focus on that one change for however long it takes you to establish that as a habit. Say you want to lose weight, then 80% of weight loss is diet, 20% is exercise. However, if you are just dieting to lose weight then the probability of regaining the weight you lost will increase – thus the yo-yo dieting side-effect. So, approach weight loss as a lifestyle change and pick one thing.

One thing that helps is water intake. That is just one thing. Drinking more water is easy to focus on; versus focusing on what you can and can’t eat, changing to a new daily schedule in to include exercise, and tracking everything. If water is hard, then look at what you do drink and pick one meal to replace that with water, until it’s second nature, then focus on 2 meals.

(Here’s a good article on how long it takes to establish a new habit or break an old one.)

Yes, this is a slow process. But “all good things come to those who wait”. My mom would always say that to teach me patience as a kid.

The benefits of drinking more water is more energy, it helps to flush your system, lubricates your joints, and protects sensitive tissues, and it makes you feel more full (so you eat less). Try to remember to drink a glass of water before each meal – if you can’t that’s ok. Focus on just one thing at a time – become used to and comfortable doing that one thing – make it a habit, then move on to work on the next mini-goal. Keep building from there one mini-goal at a time, one step at a time.

Pick one thing. Write it down and what you need to do to accomplish it. If after a week you find it too hard then step back and break it down farther. It’s hard to eat a whole pie in one bite – but one bite at a time it is possible – although highly not recommended eating a whole pie in one sitting (please don’t do that!!) (That’s another lesson: just because you can does not mean you should.)

Slow and steady wins the race and long term success. One step at a time for lasting change.

2022 Kids are Here!

April 24, 2022 Homesteading

The 2022 kidding season has come to a close on our small, little homestead and we are happy to announce the birth of 5 new babies! Baby goats are so much fun to watch run around and to hear their cute little baa-ing.

So, without much ado – meet our sweet little babies born recently born on the homestead:

Jumpster – This year’s bottle baby buckling

Missy – Born to our sweet little Izzy. Gorgeous gold, black and white coloring and beautiful little baby blue eyes

Spotness – Born to our Izzy-girl. Has moonspots and gorgeous blue eyes

Knox – Born to our Isher. Cream and white buckling with lovely blue eyes

Boots – Just look at those black boots and blue eyes!

These are out 2022 goat kids from kidding season this year and we love them!

How to Begin Living a Healthier Life

March 3, 2022 Healthy Living

Being healthy isn’t all sunshine and roses for some of us. It’s not a walk in the park – especially, if you are dealing with decades worth of bad habits. However, it is possible for all of us! We only need to decide that we want that healthier life.

Make the decision that this is what you want

You need to make a decision. Do you want to be healthier — to live a healthier life? Hmm…maybe that isn’t the right question.

Are you tired? Tired of being too tired, of feeling down, icky, blah, of adult acne? What about brain fog or no energy? Tired of going shopping and having to buy that size 20 dress?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then the next question you have to ask yourself is what are you willing to do about it? Are you willing to take the steps needed to feel better both emotionally and physically?

These are all questions I have had to ask myself with each step of my personal journey. Despite what the media and the billion dollar weightloss industry tells you, there are no quick fixes to health. This is a choice – one (or many) that you have to make on your own. I mean, it helps to have a friend that will do the same journey with you, but the decision to make that journey is yours, and yours alone (just like Frodo and the one ring).

So, the first step is to decide that you want to live a healthier life.

Find a healthcare professional that is willing to help you on your journey

If you’ve read my previous post, then you know this might be a lengthy process. Most healthcare professionals only want or can spend 10-15 min with you. Or they see dollar signs as soon as you walk through that door. I have dealt with both extremes. The healthcare folks that see dollar signs will always try to sell you specific products, some will recommend gobs of expensive tests.

Science is all about data. To get that data you have to test – so I am not anti-testing. What tests to take requires discernment based research on your part. The dollar-sign doctors will love you if you take everything they say at face value. Bring a notebook to each doctor’s visit write down what they recommend and what plan they want you to agree to, then go home and exercise that keyboard. Read, read, and read. There’s just no way around it.

I am, however, anti-specialized products, because most of the time the products are to make the doctor money. Do you really need that $100 specialized vitamin pack? Or do you just need to increase your Vitamin D levels? This is where a test will help to answer that specific question.

So, once you have decided to take this journey the next step is to find a good doctor – whether they are an MD, DO, ND – as long as they have the training, care about YOUR health, and want to help you live a healthier life.

My First Step to a Healthier Life

In my last post, I delved into my personal trigger – a mysterious illness that took 6 months of my life. (We all have one – hopefully, yours wasn’t as extreme or worse than mine.)

If I hadn’t made the decision to fight for my health I would still be experiencing that illness – I have no doubt. Doctors were starting to label me as a hypochondriac and telling me they could not help me. I even had one doctor say that the one doctor at the time that was trying to help me was too much of a bleeding heart female.

My decision to see an ND was my version of a “hail mary” at that time. After 2 hours, she diagnosed me with an infection that was in my pleura, which wasn’t anything new. The pleura lining doesn’t get as much blood flow to typically requires an extended dose of antibiotics as a result. However, because the doctors were so paranoid about causing a super bug, they did not provide a continuous enough duration of the antibiotics which put me in a vicious cycle of improvement and relapse. Each time this happened it killed off the weaker bugs leaving the stronger bugs. I told her that the diagnosis is what all the other 11 doctors concluded.

This is where she diverged from all the other doctors. Her treatment plan was to boost my immune system as much as possible, while treating my gut. What a lot of doctors won’t tell you is that antibiotics don’t care which bacteria it kills off. It kills off everthing so my gut flora needed to be reinoculated.

After one month of her treatment plan I got better and started to work on regaining the strength I had lost from 6 months of not being able to do anything.

It Won’t Be Easy to Work Towards that Healthier Life

I wish I could say that living a healthier life is easy. We are constantly bombarded with food commercials, and pictures of these skinny people eating fast food hamburgers. (I mean, really, when you are 40+ there’s just no way to do that unless you are blessed with a super fast metabolism. Well, meaning friends will say things like “Oh, you can splurge this once” or “why get up to work out?” Been there heard it ALL! Ijs!

Along with all those comments, you will be fighting urges and habits that you have worked at establishing over the course of years. (In my case, it was decades. 3 decades of bad habits. I used to love McDonald’s. Now the thought of McDonald’s makes me sick.)

Find a picture of someone who has a similar body type as you that is smiling and skinnier. I.e., if you are hour glass shaped then find a picture of someone who is hour glass shaped. Put that picture on your fridge, desktop, cell phone wallpaper – some place, any place you will see it all the time to help remind and motivate you.

Seek out a friend that will help you stay positive about your decision or, better yet, will do the journey with you.

When you get tempted, look at the picture or call your friend. Stay focused on that goal and remember it is a marathon journey not an overnight quick fix.

xoxo

Happy New Year!

January 11, 2022 Homesteading, Misc

We said good bye to 2021 and pray that 2022 is a whole lot less crazy. Colorado ended 2021 with a bang – not a good one as many lost their homes in the Marshall fire. We were blessed with a much needed snowfall that helped get the fire under control. We watched the fire from our homestead out on the plains – 1 hr away.

Having had my own home burn down when I was a child, I know all too well how these families feel. Things and homes can be replaced. What is difficult to replace are the memorabilia – the trinkets from travels, or the photos from great family events: the moment you said “I do”, the picture of you and your friend in front of the Eiffel tower, the first steps of your child, etc – unless you have embraced modern technology and trust large companies with your data (which I do not). If you would like to donate to Coloradoans impacted by the fires, the Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) has established a fund where 100% goes directly to the families: https://chec.org/donate/disaster-relief-fund/.

I take time off from sewing for my Etsy shop to sew custom items for my family. Custom tailored shirts with embroidered scripture verses on the back is quite popular among my family. My husband has a hard time finding shirts to fit his height. Often times the shirt fits his height, but not his girth – since he is very tall and skinny. So, hubby loves his custom tailored shirts. This year I made him a jacket as well as a shirt and he has been loving them along with getting comments from many people.

We, finally, cut down to one kidding season per year on the farm. Our new buck is very sweet and lovable – even though he smells just like all bucks – very stinky and has a bath awaiting him when it turns warm. We love him and are excited about the new babies in the spring!! I am, also, looking forward to get back into cheese making!

Homeschooling is always rocky after the holidays. The excitement of Christmas presents, days without school, and starting a new year continues on until the regular schedule begins again. Now, if only I can keep my sanity with all the extra-curriculars my son loves doing: Karate, wrestling, coding, STEM! Oh my!

Welcome 2022! Here’s to everyone on this 2022! I pray your year is very blessed and sanity for all the homeschool moms out there!

How to Bind a Quilt

December 7, 2020 Quilting

Following up to my previous post on Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1), this is how to bind that quilt. Binding is essentially finished your artwork – framing it to make it a completed picture. There are many, many ways to finish a quilt. Some are very artsy and others are just quick and efficient. Today, we will just dive into the traditional double fold binding method. Most quilts are finished this way and it is what I would recommend – unless you are doing something artsy. I go over why is this post: Ever struggle with how to bind a quilt?

From a design perspective, I do use the binding as the final framework for a quilt. So, it is best to pick a color that will serve this function well.

Making the Binding

You will need to begin by measuring your quilt. Take the average of 3 measurements for length and width of your quilt.

(Length 1 + Length 2 + Length 3) / 3 = Length

(Width 1 + Width 2 + Width 3) / 3 = Width

Then you will calculate the length of the binding you will need:

(Length x 2) + (Width x 2) + 12 = Binding Length

For smaller quilts like potholders, I have found that replacing the 12 with a 6 works well. Now, you will need to calculate the number of strips you will need:

Binding Length / Width of your Fabric = Number of Strips to Cut

If you are using batiks, the width of your fabric will be 42. For print fabric the width is 40.

Cut your strips with a 2.25 inch width.

Place the strips and to end and sew at a 45 degree angle like depicted in the image below. Repeat this step until all the strips are sewn together.

Trim down seams to have a quarter inch seam allowance.

Iron each of the seams to set and iron the seams to one side or another. Fold the whole strip in half lengthwise and iron.

Fold under one end of your binding by quarter inch and iron it.

Sewing the binding onto your quilt

Align raw edge of your binding to the raw edge of your quilt. Begin in the middle of one of the edge – allowing plenty of space to finish the 2 ends of the binding.

Sew the binding using a scant quarter inch seam allowance (just a hair shy of exactly quarter inch.) When you are a quarter inch away from the edge, fix your seam using a reverse stitch or a fix stitch.

To do the corners you will need to fold 90 degrees from your seam as depicted below.

Next, while maintaining that 45 degree angle fold over again to align the raw edge of the binding to the raw edge of the quilt as depicted below. I like to pin to make sure I maintain the 2 folds.

Begin sewing again a quarter inch from the edge.

Repeat these steps until you have sewn around all the corners.

To finish the binding, align the bottom fold of the end where you began to sew to the edge of your quilt. Like below.

Tuck in the other end of the binding inside the fold of the beginning.

Gently tug on the bottom portion of the binding to ensure there are no “tucks” in it. You can use pins as needed to hold the fabric in place as you complete sewing along this last edge.

The final step is to fold over the edge of the binding to the back of the quilt and hand sew it down using a whip stitch. Every 6th stitch should be repeated in the same spot for durability.

Here are pictures of the back and the front of an over-sized potholder made using the Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1).

If there’s any questions please feel free to email me. 🙂 Binding a quilt for the first time is a little tricky, but once you have done it, it’s easy.

Happy Quilting!

Around the World Potholder (Pattern #1)

October 7, 2020 Quilting, Quilting Projects

The long awaited Around the World potholder pattern as promised from the Beginning Quilting: Supplies post. I decided to split this into 3 posts total: 2 different patterns for a potholder and one for how to do a traditional binding. How to sew on binding is not typically found in most quilt patterns but is needed for all quilts. Therefore, I have decided to separate it out.

Configuring your machine:

Quilting seam allowance is always 1/4 of an inch. This is the distance of the needle to the edge of the fabric. Never set it up to where you are only using one feed dog – you want both feed dogs engaged anytime you sew. If you do not have a 1/4″ setting on your machine typically you want to move your needle all the way to the right.

Sewing machine set to 1/4 in seam allowance

You can also buy a 1/4″ foot for your sewing machine. This is a presser foot that has a guide on it so that your fabric cannot go past it as you sew.

Review your sewing machine’s manual for seam allowance information.

Materials

You will need 5 fat quarters. Fat quarters are cut fatter than long – they are all a quarter yard of fabric.

1 light fabric (Fabric A),
1 contrasting light fabric or a neutral color (for a 2.5 x 2.5 in square) (Fabric B),
2 medium or dark fabric (Fabric C and D),
1 dark fabric (Fabric E)

These are the colors I chose:

Cutting Pieces for the Top of the Potholder:

First square the edge of the fabric. You do this by aligning the selvage edge with a straight line on the ruler and cut the edge be straight. You use this edge cut all other strips from.

(Note: Selvage is the edge on either side of a woven or flat-knitted fabric so finished as to prevent raveling.)

Since this is only a 12.5 x 12.5 potholder, I cut as I sewed.

These are the pieces you will need to cut (Note: the number of strips is based on a fat quarter sized fabric.):

Cut 1, 2.5 x 2.5 in from Fabric B square from the contrasting light fabric
Cut 6, 1.5 strips from Fabric C and then cut the following lengths of fabric: 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, 12.5
Cut 5, 1.5 strips from Fabric A and then cut the following length of fabric: 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5, 2 x 11.5
Fabric E is for the binding and Fabric D is for the backing both are cut after the top is done.

You can cut them at the beginning or you can cut them as you go from 1.5 in strips like I did.

I cut 1.5 in strips from Fabrics C and A first. When you cut, align the ruler and cut a whole strip at a time. You will have pieces of fabric left over – quilting is not like building a shelf and wondering why you have spare parts. 😀 Be sure to press down on the ruler. Any sideways pressure could cause the ruler to slide causing a crooked cut that you will need to redo. It’s important that you are precise. An 1/8 of an inch off multiplied over 10 pieces causes your whole quilt to be off by more than an inch.

Piecing

It’s time to build your potholder!!!!

Tips and Tricks:

Square as you go. It’s is a good habit to get into, then you won’t be wondering how to square a larger quilt.
When you iron, press down. Do not slide the iron since it can stretch the fabric.
Keep a spray bottle filled with water or Mary Ellen’s Best Press and spray your top as you iron. This helps keep stretching to a minimum and gives you a better top to sew with.
Use pins to pin the pieces together if you are uncertain about them not shifting or it makes you more comfortable. (Note: Do not run over your pins with the sewing machine. This can ruin the timing of your sewing machine and cause you to need to replace your needle more frequently.)

Step 1

If you haven’t cut all the pieces, then cut the 2.5 in x 2.5 in square from Fabric B and the 1.5 in x 2.5 in rectangle from Fabric C.

Start your seam on a granny. A granny is 2 layers of fabric where you begin and stop sewing when you are piecing. (If you are used to tailoring, this is one big difference from what you are used to. The other is that there is no back-stitching when piecing.)

Take the 2.5 in square and place the 1.5 in x 2.5 in on top such that 2 straight edges are aligned and sew down one edge (Reminder: Use 1/4 inch seam allowance.)

Then using a hot iron, press the seam closed first to set the seam and lastly press it open. You will iron after each seam. Every seam will need to be set and then ironed open.

All piecing steps will build upon the 2.5 in x 2.5 in square.

Step 2

Now cut a 3.5 in section from the 1.5 in strip of Fabric C and sew along the top of the piece created from step 1.

Step 3

Now cut a 3.5 in section from the 1.5 in strip of Fabric A and sew along the bottom of the piece created from step 2. (Note: Finished Step 3 should result in a piece that ins 3.5 in x 4.5 in. If too big carefully trim to the correct size. This is called “squaring as you go.”)

Step 4

Now cut a 4.5 in section from both Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from step 3 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The resulting assembled piece should be 4.5 in x 5.5 in. If too big carefully trim to correct size.)

Step 5

Cut a 5.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 4 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The piece resulting from completing step 5 is 5.5 in x 6.5 in.)

Step 6

Cut a 6.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 5 as depicted in the image below. (Note: Your quilt top should now be 6.5 in x 7.5 in.)

Step 7

Cut a 7.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 6 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The top is now 7.5 in x 8.5 in. Almost there!!)

Step 8

Cut a 8.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 7 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 9.5 in x 8.5 in.)

Step 9

Cut a 9.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 8 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 10.5 in x 9.5 in.)

Step 10

Cut a 10.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 9 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 11.5 in x 10.5 in.)

Step 11

Cut a 11.5 in section from both of the Fabric A and Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 10 as depicted in the image below. (Note: The size is now 12.5 in x 11.5 in with one more seam to go!!)

Step 12

Cut a 12.5 in section from Fabric C 1.5 in strips and sew to the piece created from Step 11 as depicted in the image below. (Note: Your top is now 12.5 in x 12.5 in!! Time for the next phase!)

Layering

Now, it is time to build your sandwich. (I would like an Italian BMT with lettuce please… well, probably, not that kind of sandwich…)

Cut your batting to be 0.5 in to 1 in larger than your quilt top. This means you will need to cut a 13 in to 13.5 in square from your batting of choice. I chose to use Insul-Bright (R) batting. (Note: You can cut it smaller just be sure that it is larger that your top and you can see it all the way around when you place your quilt top on top of the batting.)
Iron the backing fabric smooth.
Now, cut your quilt backing from Fabric D. It should be 0.5 in to 1 in bigger than your batting — 14 in to 14.5 in square in dimensions. (Note: Like the batting, the backing can be cut smaller, but it must be bigger than your batting.)
Layout the backing on a flat surface and tape down the corners so that it will not shift.
Place the batting centered on top of the backing and tape it down. You should see backing fabric all the way around the batting.
Then, place the quilt top centered on top of the batting. Like the batting and the backing fabric, you should see the batting all the way around the top and the backing all the way around the batting.
Use safety pins (preferably 1 in safety pins) to pin the layers of your quilt sandwich together. (Definitely, not edible like an Italian BMT, but satisfying in a non-appetizing way. Please do not try to eat your quilt sandwich.) When you pin, the distance from the each pin from another should be no more that 2 in. As you get more practice with quilting, you can skip this step for small potholders/place mat sized quilts. It is not recommended to skip this step for larger quilts, unless you are using a long arm sewing machine.

(Note: Since I have been quilting for awhile, my layer won’t look quite like yours. I cut bigger than the top not to a specific size. As a results, my cuts are not perfectly straight – which is fine since you will trim all the excess in a final squaring step before finishing.)

Quilting

This is the actual quilting step – sewing all the layers of your sandwich together. For this quilt, we will use a type of quilting called “stitch in the ditch”. Stitch-in-the-ditch is when you sew in the “ditch” caused by the seam.

Tips and Tricks:

If you have a quilting foot, now would be the time to change out the foot on your sewing machine. Refer to your sewing machine’s manual for details on how to do this. (For these smaller quilts, I use a regular foot. If your 1/4 in foot has a guard, you will want to change out your foot.)
Fix the starting and end by sewing in place for 3 stitches.
If you have a needle down setting turn it on. This is a setting some sewing machines have so that when you stop sewing it automatically sinks the needle down. It is a function that really helps when quilting allowing you to turn your quilt without it moving. If your sewing machine does not have this setting then simply use the wheel to sink the needle down before lifting the presser foot to rotate the quilt.

When you start quilting, begin in the center and work your way out. This helps to prevent any odd gathers occurring in your backing as you sew. Pinning your layers together also helps prevent this.

Begin sewing around the center square and work your way around sewing in all the ditches. You do not want more than 2 in x 2 in un-quilted space in any quit. Not enough quilted area insufficiently holds all the layers together and causes more shifting and increases the wear and tear on a quilt.

That, my friends, is how you create a quilt. My next post will be about finishing the quilt, since there are several different ways to finish a quilt.

Until then, happy quilting and enjoy this gorgeous potholder.

XOXO,

Moving the “Rocking” Shed so that it Rocks No More

October 2, 2020 Homesteading

We get a lot of wind here in Colorado. No gentle breezes. Winds strong enough to pull whole shelters out of the ground. (Yep – had that happen.)

Wind erosion here is a pretty big deal. Typically, places get rain and you can seed and establishing a root system from plants will help to minimize erosion. Well, we don’t get rain here…reliably. We just had an extremely wet spring followed by 6 months of no measurable moisture. Colorado, also, has some strict water use guidelines because we don’t get a lot of moisture.

Over time wind erosion caused one of our shelters to begin to rock. It was interesting going in and out of the shelter. I worried that a baby goat would go under and get stuck or worse so it needed fixed.

To prevent erosion we created cement pillars 4 ft into the ground and then laid a cement pad. Once we had the cement pad in, then we to remove some fencing. It was time to move the shed.

We got big logs and the tractor, and slowly inch by inch moved the shed Ancient Egyptian style.

We are getting some wind erosion around the cement pad but the pad itself will not erode anytime soon to cause this shed to begin rocking anymore. Now it’s time for some wind erosion prevention.

Some days the Dog wants in on the action

May 4, 2020 Homesteading

We don’t go to town very often around here. There’s church and groceries and karate class. The occasional trip to take my dad to his doctor’s appointments. We do meet up with friends at parks for hikes. All this before the pandemic. (Anyone else ready to be done with 2020?)

Well, apparently, our puppy has had enough. Our puppy is done staying home. I open the car door to clean out the car and she hoped right in and makes her “please let me go with you” face. Some days the dog wants in on the action – or lack of action in this case.

She realized soon enough that we weren’t going anywhere. (Pst, someone should tell her that she looks nothing like my son and wouldn’t get away with hiding in the car seat. )

Fun times!

New Additions to the Homestead

April 28, 2020 Homesteading

It is that time of year. We go to the local Ranch and Feed store and we are greeted by the tiny peeps of newly hatched chicks. “I need a new rooster”, I tell myself. (Now does anyone really *need* a rooster?) Anyway, we have new additions on our homestead. 7 sweet birds: 4 pullets and 3 straight runs. They are fully feathered out and are working on getting along with my existing flock right now. In the picture below, they only partially feathered out – still a bit of their cute chicky floof on their heads and bellies.

My son claimed the golden sex-link and named her Goldie.

Fun times! Love new babies on the homestead!