This quilt block shows a teal colored winne-eggo. This is a Winnebago decked out to be a chicken nest and watering hole. The steel fabric is shaped like a rectangular winnebago with dark green windows. The windows have covers that are open and are brown. Ther is a darker blue horizontal stripe across the middle of the Winnebago. There are drawn two human doors, and one ramp with a black square for chickens. Near the back wheels are little red nipples lined up to feed the chickens water on the bottom of the trailer.

Block-A-Day 304 – The Winna-eggo

Tina October 31, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

There is a hen door with a ramp for hen access and the farmer enters by the door to collect eggs. At the bottom of the Winna-eggo is a loop of PVC with water nipples for clean fresh water.

This quilt block shows a brown piece of fabric made to look like a big rectangular box on its side with demarcated boxes in pen in it. In each box is either yellow hay, or a light rust colored hen sitting on eggs looking at the viewer. This is against a blue splotch background fabric.

Block-A-Day 303 – The Nesting Boxes

Tina October 30, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

If you have a hundred chickens you’ll have ten nests, and that’s about the ratio you want and works out the best. When we started out we had open nests just like you see here in this block.

This quilt block shows two chickens facing each other. One chicken is pecking on the ground where there are some yellow dots and brown dots indicating scratch. The other chicken is upright looking onwards. Each chicken is a brown piece of fabric with a light orange and black stitched outline. The chicken's crests are small rec pieces of fabric with similar stitching. The feet and beak are drawn in with pen. This is all against a light blue salmon-patterned background.

Block-A-Day 302 – Memories Of Chooks

Tina October 29, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

Perhaps they are discussing all the people they know. I have just read that chickens have amazing memories and can remember 100 faces!

Against a blue background we can see a bale of hay, and on top of that bale is a chicken facing to the left. The chicken is a darker brown fabric with yellow stitching on it outlining its shape and forming a wing. At the head of the chicken is a beak and eye drawn in yellow, black, and red pen. The bale of hay is a square orange block with a special leaflike yellow stitching going around it and up th middle in sections.

Block-A-Day 301 – Curious Chickens

Tina October 28, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

Chickens are curious creatures and it is a common sight for him to be faced with not just one but several hens on top of the bales checking him out.

This quilt block shows a half-circle shaped building against a blue background. The half-circle is above the ground, with the lower half being below the ground if it were there. The front of the long structure has sliding tan doors in the middle. Next to the doors are two square sets of vents drawn in pen.

Block-A-Day 300 – The Hoop Houses

Tina October 27, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

These “hoop houses,” large Quonset-shaped greenhouses, are where the laying hens spend the winters. They are free-range in these large structures with fresh bedding and fresh hay all winter long.

This quilt block shows a blue background with six round bales of hay in the bottom center. The bales of hay are actually round, and we are looking at them from the side. Each bale is a green piece of fabric with a bright yellow leaf-like stitched spiral coming out from the center quite dramatically. They are placed in a pyramid pile with three rolls at the bottom.

Block-A-Day 299 – The Round Bales

Tina October 26, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

We’re going to attach forks to our tractor bucket so that we can lift the bales and feed them to the cows. It should save some time and labor for winter feeding.

This quilt block shows two cows standing in the grass. The bottom of the block has a jagged cut piece of green fabric indicating the grass. On the right is a large Highlander cow with fur covering the front of her brown face. Next to her and a bit behind her is a much lighter orange-yellow calf that is half her height. It looks a bit like a teddy bear. The cow and calf are detailed with appropriately colored pen markings.

Block-A-Day 298 – Josie And Ben

Tina October 25, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

It is so much fun to see the baby calves in the spring because they’re so cute. They look like little teddy bears bouncing around the field.

This quilt block shows a bull standing in some grass with a few butterflies around him. The butterflies are yellow and are drawn in with pen. The grass is jagged with leaves poking up. In the grass is a big bull that's brown with long hair. It also has a long hairy tail. The head of the bull is covered with long hair that obscures one of its eyes. Atop the bul's head is a large pair of white horns pointing out and then upwards.

Block-A-Day 297 – Barryl The Bull

Tina October 24, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

All of Sisu farm’s cattle are grass-fed and finished. They’re a meat breed cattle and this is one of our bulls. His name is Barryl ad he’s very friendly. Occasionally he wants to go and visit other cows and he does, he just goes.

This quilt block shows a white square in the middle on top of a salmon-patterned blue background. The square in the middle has a pen drawing on it. The drawing shows a mountain range at the top, with fields and trees below. O the last line of ground are a chicken, a pig, and a highland cow. Below this elaborate black and white drawing are the words

Block-A-Day 296 – Sisu Farms

Tina October 23, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

Why SISU? Or what is SISU? It’s a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation into English. It means perseverance, hardiness, bravery, resilience, and grit. I think it fits what they’re doing really well.

This quilt block shows a blue salmon-patterned background with a bunch of very thing black vertical lines on it. The vertical lines have a larger base at the bottom of them. These are dead trees with little black skeletal like branches coming off them. There are dozens and dozens on this block making up a quite burnt forest.

Block-A-Day 295 – A Collective Breath

Tina October 22, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

Then a miracle happened, the weather got colder, the wind changed and it snowed. My son refers to it as the day Hell Froze Over. Everyone took a deep breath and saw what was left.