Peonies

To me, peonies are a favourite flower. Others may think they are "pee on me-s" due to the messy flowers. Not me!!

Mom and Dad have gorgeous pink ones in their backyard, and I have stunning white and deep fuchsia ones that I transplanted from Mom-on-the-farm's original farmyard. I love them and will move them to Treherne in the fall. 

Alpaca Shearing

After a pork lunch on the deck we visited the on site butcher shop. The family butcher shop in Cypress River burned down last year. While they are in the process of rebuilding they have a trailer on site to use as a temporary meat cutting location.

Back to the shearing location the three alpaca were anxiously awaiting their turn. Alpaca hair does not have lanolin oil like sheep do. This meant that Louis had to keep oiling his clippers. Also, it meant that fur was everywhere. It doesn't stay in a bundle like sheep fleece. 

The three alpacas got shorn and had their nails and teeth trimmed. Alpacas teeth grow long, rather like a beaver, as they normally eat lichen off rocks which would wear them down. So with a grass diet their teeth get overgrown. 

By the end of the day we all were sweaty, stinky and tired. It felt good to be of help to Lisa and for our efforts we each received a bag of fleece. 

The shaggy sheep dog look!!

Getting set up to shear the alpacas.

Jessica holding the first alpaca to be sheared.

The alpaca fleece is very thick.  Here you can see the outer layer is dirty, but the inner one is clean.

So clean and white the under fur is!!

The alpaca sits down making the shearing more difficult.

The alpaca suddenly decides to get up!

Don't I look cute in my new doo?
Quite the difference from the sheared alpaca to the two unsheared ones!!

Sheep Shearing Day

I thought perhaps I was nuts to agree to help on sheep shearing day at Lisa's farm this year as the forecast was for humid and 30 C. Well it was humid, but it was only about 24 C. It turned out to be a great day!

A couple of other fibre friends, Helen and Donna, joined me on this adventure. We arrived at 8am under a smoky sky and a blood red sun. Rather ominous!?  

Louis, the shearer, was already there getting into his sheep shearing shoes that are like hunks of thick leather slippers. They give him good grip and keep him from hurting a sheep if he accidentally steps on an animal. Also, there were, friend Val and Lisa's daughter Jessica. 

Jessica and Val rounded up the sheep and put them into the shoot. Louis would take one from the shoot and shear it. Donna, Helen and I helped direct the shorn sheep towards Lisa who would needle them and tag them if necessary. Donna, Helen and I would then gather the fleece in plastic bags. 

Amid all of this chaos, Jessica and Val would gather up lambs to doc tails and castrate males with elastics. We each got to enjoy some lamb cuddles!!

The various animals ready to be sheared.  Not sure why there is a calf here too??!!

Jessica ready with the first two sheep in the shoot.

Louis putting on his sheep shearing shoes.

First sheep to be sheared.  It is interesting to see the sheep get very docile when it is placed on its back.

Val and Donna getting a lamb cuddle.

My turn for some lamby love.

Helen enjoying a cuddle.

Gathering bags of fleece.

Docking the long tail with an elastic.

The outside of the fleece is dirty, but you can see the white undercoat.

This sheep is part Cotswold.  Its fleece hairs are long and kinky.  Perfect for spinning!!

The yellow colour is the lanolin.  

Easy Street

I finally finished a mystery quilt that I began in 2014. I made the top following directions from Bonnie Hunter, a famous scrap quilter, who posts a mystery quilt each year on her blog. She is well known for using a LOT of small pieces of fabric. 

I posted my progress on this quilt top, Easy Street, as I sewed it. (Look back in my blog archives to see those entries.). It sat in my "to do" pile for over a year but..... Now it is quilted!

I spent a lot of time "listening" to this quilt and sketching out quilting stitch ideas before I loaded the quilt on the long arm. I modified these ideas a little bit as I got quilting, but generally followed my plan. I really like how it turned out. 

I used three colours of thread. I used turquoise thread on the outer large border where i stitched arches. Purple thread for the skinny border of reverse swirls. And those two colours plus green in the inner pieces section. 

The inner piecing of the quilt used a variety of quilt stitches and colours of thread. The grey area I wanted to be the background, so I tightly meandered that area to pull it to the background. Then I highlighted the green on-point sashing to make it stand out. Here I used cathedral window swoops with pea pods (a la Angela Walters) in the centre. These give a directional flow to the sashing which is what I wanted. The last part was to highlight the central block motif. I did this using turquoise thread and a large flower using the piecing as my location for quilting, so no marking was required. 

All in all, I like the result. I used silk batting inside the quilt. We intend on using it on our Mesa bed, so wanted it light and breathable. We are using right now, to test it out, and it is wonderful. Even if I do day so myself!!

Fathers Day

We had a great afternoon on the deck celebrating Fathers Day with Don, Marvin and George. Gorgeous afternoon. And the rain hung off until we moved inside. Great timing. 

Both Don and George got golf balls for gifts. Don also got an interesting driver cover from the kids!?  

Wanda thought the rhubarb leaves were enormous. Had to try them on for size??

Paint and Piece - Day Two Afternoon

Everyone in class really got sewing in the afternoon. I began by doing some pieced curved strip sets. 

Then I cut apart some of my leaves. 

But now what!?  Margie helped me think thru my design process. In the end I concentrated on two fat quarters of complementary colours. And using curved piecing this is what I created. 

Other people's creations were all very unique!!

Paint and Piece - Day Two morning.

We had the big reveal this morning. We took off the leaves and revealed the painted fabrics from yesterday's class. Here are some photos of my material. 

Margie began the morning with some instructing. She taught us some strategies for improvisational curved piecework. We learned how to make a common cut with two fabrics to piece gentle curves. This led to making strip sets that could be further subdivided into squares , rectangles, triangles and repieced. 

Margie also instructed us in making thin line piecework either as a border or as an insert. 

Lastly, she taught us some funky 4 and 9 patches. I really like the nine patch idea with the black on white commercial fabrics. It could be amazing if they were over dyed too!!