10/5/16

Farms and Barns

It looks as if the winter gloom has settled over us here west of the Cascades. It's been gray, rainy, and overcast for several days running. We're expecting a brief clearing this weekend, which is nice because our CSA farmers have scheduled their open Farm Day on Saturday. I missed it last year when I took a quilting class on the same day. This year, I'm looking forward to treading deeper into the interior of the farm.

Yesterday's rainy day tasks included doing seven loads of laundry, but it's done! And that left me plenty of time to work on the farm. When I left off on Sunday, I'd built Barn O, but I still needed to work on its background pieces.


That was pretty simple since it meant making fields from several different fabrics. I fused the barn and the fields and then laid them against the rest of the farm.


From there I needed to make a tree, a sheep, and a fence. If you're wondering about placement on these, here's how it's done. The pattern includes a placement diagram. (Yes, as a matter of fact, the ink on the pattern did smear during production. I'll avoid getting off on a rant here about the expense and cheapness of McKenna Ryan patterns. Wait...was that a rant?)


It has to be done in pieces, however. In this case, I completed and fused all the fields, but then needed to remove the fabric piece in order to see the template for the tree and sheep. For this project a teflon pressing sheet is essential. This is the one I have. As I searched for that link, I realized there are larger ones. Usually this one is big enough, but sometimes I wish it were a little larger.

You can slip the placement pattern under the pressing sheet, and it shows through pretty well. (I've bumped up the contrast a little in this image so that you can see it.)


When you have your pieces cut out, you can start laying them out. I use just the tip of my iron to stick them in place so that they don't slide around.


When you have the whole piece constructed, 


you can peel it off the pressing sheet and the fusible remains in place. (The fusible remains usable. Somebody had to say it.)


Then you can move it over onto its final resting place, 


and if you're feeling confident, fuse it into place. Don't forget to move the whole piece back to the teflon sheet or you'll be fusing everything to whatever surface you're using. Here's where I left it yesterday.


Today I'll be building the largest of the barns in the lower left corner. This one has a cat!


It's moving along. I probably have a few more days of work left on this before it's finished. So far, so good.

Also today, I want to get a few things done in the kitchen today. I have a small amount of frozen pumpkin puree from last year's CSA that I want to bake into some pumpkin muffins. There were a few little things in yesterday's share I'd like to deal with too. The red bell peppers are piling up, and so I want to make some red pepper jelly. Can't do that until I pick up some pectin, however. At some point, I need to make another quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things I need. While I'm there, I'll get my flu shot. A read an article that said the flu was bad this year. (Don't "they" always say that? Every year?) So I don't know if I'll get that done today or not. Tomorrow, for sure.

Cat Patches

ICYMI: There's a giveaway going on, along with the launch of a stitch-along. Don't miss out. Giveaway ends on Friday. Click right here to enter.

14 comments:

works4me said...

You are making great progress on this pattern. I like your fabric choices, too. They are brighter than the pattern. Thank you for your continued tips.

This weekend I am taking advantage of my CSA farm's pumpkin patch. They have hayrides and tours. I have two pumpkins so far and "need" another 10 for my display. I am a big fan of getting as much from the local farm as possible. This farm also has a general store stocked with goodies from local artisans and farms. Win, win.

swooze said...

I love your barnscape!

AmyScrapSpot said...

This is fantastic!!! Who would have thought barns and fields could be so pretty! Your detail is awesome! I can't wait to see the finish!

AmyScrapSpot said...

Oh, congrats on your win at OMG!!

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

I love how your barns are turning out. I have several more McKenna Ryan patterns in my to-do pile but I guess I should finish the one I started a couple of years ago first!
I got my flu shot about three weeks ago. The local news started reporting confirmed flu cases here where we live a couple of weeks ago, and there may be a problem getting the shots in schools where they have always done flu mist. So this year might be bad here after several years of it not hitting us hard.

gpc said...

Going like a house a'fire and it's looking great. I need to put flu shot on my list . . . it slipped off somewhere along the way. Thanks for the reminder.

quiltzyx said...

Got my flu shot a few weeks ago. Just in time, there are some flu-is folks at work.
The barns and critters are looking fab!

Kate said...

You are definitely moving along on this project. It's going to be such a fun quilt.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I' ve had my battle with the flu already - check that one off my list. The barns are coming along nicely - thanks for sharing the process and the rants.

Natureluvr57 said...

I love that pattern, anything with barns and farms/farm animals catches my attention. Are you cutting out all the pieces or did you opt for a kit with laser cut pieces? I made a Christmas wall hanging and bought the kit since it was on sale. Bear Creek Quilting just sent out an email with an adorable County Fair scene coming out in January. https://www.bearcreekquiltingcompany.com/shop/product/fairest-them-all-quilt-kit/ I'm hoping they will have the pattern itself available later. I got my flu shot Monday and my first pneumonia shot-I have to go back later and get the 2nd kind of pneumonia shot. I have asthma so I've been getting flu shots since I was in my 20's. It can be fatal for the elderly and those with upper respiratory ailments so I don't muck around. Must go tend to my dog and foster cats (ok, they've been in the house since April so I guess they are permanent). Speaking of ailments I used to be allergic to cats but so far so good. I have to pay a pretty price for litter with very low dust. I just hope their dander doesn't build to the point they must go back outside. I heard it's really pollen, etc on them that causes allergic reactions but so much is said it's hard to know 100% so I can only go by what my body is telling me.l

gayle said...

My favorite parts are the peeking piggy and all the little wooly lumpkins!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Loving your little farm community.

Brown Family said...

I love my applique press sheets. Yes, I have several in three different sizes! We got our flu shots and pneumonia shots. Now the allergist wants to retest me. I don't know why. It's only been 8 years!

Dar said...

Your barns are wonderful. Keep going you are almost done. I love her scenes, but not all those little pieces either.