This quilt block shows two young Suffolk lambs against a light salmon-patterned blue background. The lambs themselves are made up of shaped black pieces of fabric, like silhouettes. One is shaped in such a way that it is standing and taking a step, while the other is laying down with its legs folded underneath itself. The black pieces of fabric (and the ears and other details) are outlined with a very small orange fabric stitching.

Block-A-Day 335 – The Bottle Lambs

Tina December 1, 2021Block-A-Day Leave a Comment

I am convinced that bottle babies played a role in the romance and ultimate marriage of my oldest son. During their early courting days, they came to the house and it was time to feed the babies. I asked them to do it for me.

This quilt block shows two sheep from the front. One sheep is much larger than the other, and is the mama sheep to the lamb. Each sheep is a piece of white fabric with a black triangular face near the upper middle. The bodies and ears are outlined with a brown threaded stitching. Each sheep also has four black pieces of fabric indicating their short legs.

Block-A-Day 334 – Daisy And Sweet Pea

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

This block reminded me of something that happened with our sheep many years ago. Everyone came in from the field. However, one mother came in with one lamb and was baa-ling her head off.

This quilt block shows two black skinned and white wool sheep against a salmon-patternd light blue background. Each sheep is a large patch of white fabric that is shaped somewhat in a cloudy, or woolly, way. Each sheep's ear is delineated by stitching inside the white. Poking out of the ends of the tops are black pieces of fabric to indicate their faces. At the bottom of each woolly piece of fabric are short black pieces for their legs. Each piece of fabric is outlined with a light brown stitching.

Block-A-Day 333 – The Suffolk Sheep

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

In meat breed sheep the majority of the animal’s growth and energy goes to producing meat. Their fleece is considered open and coarse. Not particularly suitable for spinning. I felted the wool from my sheep into thick felted pads for use in boot insoles.

This quilt block shows a llama standing from the side. The llama is pointing to the right. It has a stocky build, with thick legs and a thick neck. It's tall neck goes up to a head you might think was smiling. There is a dot for the eye and some penning in to indicate the ears. The llama is made up of one big piece of tan fabric with stitching and penning ot indicate the various contours of the body (such as the legs). This is all against a blue salmon-patterned background.

Block-A-Day 332 – Cindy The Guard Llama

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

That gets everybody’s attention. She will then run toward the predator (usually canine, wild, or domestic) and will kick at it and put herself between the predator and her flock. She will be very aggressive.

This quilt block shows a brown building made out of wooden slats. The slats are shown with yellow stitching. There is a door on the left side that is a very dark brown color. The roof is the same color and is slanted, with the top point of the roof to the right (the left side is longer than the right side). This is against a salmon-patterned blue background.

Block-A-Day 331 – The Little Barn

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

At the time my bedroom wasn’t finished and I admit to a little jealousy when the barn was finished better than the bedroom. We had just started raising sheep with a very small flock of ewes and a ram. Oh, we were excited.

This quilt block is a corner block. it has a dark green patch of grass in the bottom left corner. On that patch of grass is a basket. The basket is a brown fabric with a lot of pen marks on it in a hatched design to make it look like a weaved basket. Inside the basket are several vegetables. There are carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, and a red pepper each with corresponding colored fabric. Coming out from the center of the basket is a stick that's holding up a detailed sign that has written in black, "Harvest Sale."

Block-A-Day 330 – Thanksgiving Basket

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

I thought what could be more appropriate than a big harvest basket. So Imagine this basket full of all your favorite fresh veggies.

This quilt block shows a majestic wether goat standing on a mound of grass. The mound is a dark green fabric with no stitching. On top of the mound is a tan fabric in the shape of a goat. The back legs are shaded in with pen. The goat's head is outlined with stitching and with brown pen. The horns are a black fabric with some white stitching on them.

Block-A-Day 329 – The Wether Goat

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

A wether goat (castrated male) can be a good pet. They can learn to pull a small cart and my father always had a wether goat with his stud horses. Something about that relationship makes the stud calmer and easier to manage.

This quilt block shows a stack of straw bales. The bales themselves are a very yellow orange fabric. Each bale is outlined by a very frilly leaf like stitch of very gold thread. There are four bales in a block, with one bale on top. There is another bale to the right leaning on the main pile of bales.

Block-A-Day 328 – The Straw Bales

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

First thing you think of on the farm is animal bedding, and it’s definitely good for that. But, straw has a lot of uses, especially in the garden. It’s much better for mulching your flower beds for winter and summer because it doesn’t have the seeds hay has in it.

This quilt block shows two pieces of jagged green fabric with a bright green stitching outlining them. The first piece is along the bottom of the square, and the other is around the central blue fabric piece. The blue fabric piece is a pond, with a spiral stitching of a darker blue thread. In the middle of the pond is a duck, which is a piece of brown fabric with some stitching to indicate the wings and outline.

Block-A-Day 327 – Ducks In A Row

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

When my children were small I had a few additional children that spent their days with me. We had to go grocery shopping once a week. I would line everybody up and tell them they were baby ducks and I was a mama duck. It worked.

This block shows a patch of corner grass with the strong stitching in light green on its border. This patch of grass is two dark green fabrics, one a mound on top of the other in the bottom left corner. Standing on the mound is a duck, just about standing up flapping and stretching its wings. On the breast of the duck is a large white S written in with white pen. The duck is a several colors. The bill is a yellow fabric, the head a deep green fabric, the neck a white fabric, and the rest (beside the feet) is a brown fabric. The feet are orange fabric. These are all stitched together with a tight salt-and-pepper stitching to look very much like a duck standing up.

Block-A-Day 326 – Super Duck

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

So here’s to you, Clark Kent of the duck world. Not sure if this fellow struts around the barnyard solving problems or touting his super-ness, but he’s sure a funny little delusional duck.