Christmas Star Cushion

Welcome to my day on the Cushion for Christmas blog hop hosted by Ms Midge.

I used Elizabeth Hartman's book 'The Practical Guide to Patchwork' to make a couple of cushions with some delightful Christmas Stars on them. They are from her 'Superstar' quilt on page 104. 

Here is a visual tutorial that you might find helpful.

Assemble the 'Flying Geese' section first.

1. Rule a diagonal line on your 31/2" square 

2. Sew along this line and then cut 1/4" from line to trim off triangle corner

3. Add the next square on the opposite side and repeat

5. Make 4 of these

 Then comes the assembly of Block A.

6. 11/2" strips around a 21/2" square.

7. Add the flying geese elements to 2 of the sides

8. Add a 31/2" square to each end of the remaining flying geese

9. Sew these onto the horizontals, taking care to match the seams by pinning well.

I added 2 extra borders to bump out the measurements for cushions.

This is my red version.

I hope that you are enjoying seeing all the Christmassy Cushion goodness this month. I  love dressing up my place. These are some basic covers I also made in 2011 from similar Michael Miller fabric.

Linking up to...

A Fig Tree

I have planted a few of these fruit trees myself this year. This fig tree is just one of many fruit trees that is growing in the orchard of Marieka from Bespoke Bites. She has a few acres of fertile land in the gorgeous Barossa Valley in South Australia. She asked the members of Wombat Stew to make her an orchard full of paper pieced trees.

I had to tweak the round shape to make it look a bit more figgy shaped.

It will join this apple tree from Ms Midge

and this orange tree from Quiet Play.

Actually the pattern is from Kristy as well. She may release it soon enough in her Craftsy Store.

Don't forget that Kristy is starting a new Paper Pieced Block of the Month in January 2014.

It is called Sew Kitchy and should appeal to many people who love retro, cooking and paper piecing.

I am linking up to the Paper Piecing Party.

A Figgy WIP

So this is last month's Wombat Stew block for Marieka of Bespoke Bites. Yes it is late. 

I have done as much unpicking as sewing already today. 

I also have finished the binding on the Parterre Gardens quilt that is to be gifted in a ceremony next Wednesday. 

I have to embroider or write my own quilt label as my go-to girl, Liz, just gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday.

Don't forget to check out the Cushion for Christmas blog hop . Did you see these Pipsqueaks from Quiet Play yesterday?

Or check out Ms Midge's version with a zipper tutorial?

Today it is over with Molli Sparkles for a purple string block cushion.

I am hosting on Friday so feel free to check back for a Christmas Star tutorial.

Linking up to WiP Wednesday for the first time in months.

Extending the Coop

The New West Wing

With so many new chickens needing housing it was time to extend the existing coop. Rather than buiding something totally free-standing we decided to expand the existing coop by building on a wing on the western side. 

Our wonderful builder Tom worked with me to come up with a design. It was a little less stressful than an episode of Grand Designs but the original idea was changed a few times.

Even at late stages we were tweaking the design. I asked Tom to put in a door. Sure. No problem. He whipped one up in half a day.

Tom built most of the extended structure before he took down the existing western wall.

Tom built the Big Peeps a ladder leading up to their access door. He even put in a window to the main door to the new sleeping quarters.

These are the facilities inside the West Wing. Two parallel perches for roosting.

The nesting boxes are not in use yet but there are four inside this wing.

The L-shaped run has received a coat of sump oil to preserve the wood. And the whole coop was re-roofed. 

The old roofing material was used to clad the sides of the coop and make it better able to withstand the weather.

It makes the coop look a lot more rustic and more like an Aussie men's shed.

So it is now called the Chook Shed.

Linking up to...

Feeling like a Mama Hen

The Big Peeps grew out of the hutch rather quickly.

So the small chicks and now called 'The Big Peeps' because they have grown teenage feathers and now live in their own wing of the chook shed.

We waited three extra weeks for some special chicks to hatch. One was a Gold-Laced Wyandotte and the other was a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. Both very hard to source locally.

So Edison and Einstein settled in under the ceramic heat lamp. They were a couple of Wyandotte brothers (we are not sure what gender they are as they are very hard to distinguish at this early age) and they were loud. Edison peeped all day and all night it seemed. Duncan came up with a theory "He peeps bause he's tired and he's tired because he peeps". 

One afternoon Frances and Tristan were exchanging the chicks when Edison was dropped onto the tiled floor.

He grew very ill the next day and as I held him in my hand he breathed his last and died. 

When the kids came home from school that afternoon we had a little funeral for Edison and buried him under the lemon tree. The kids said a couple of prayers. Later I saw Frances sitting over there with him saying a prayer, blowing him a kiss and then singing him a little song. It was very touching.

Poor Einstein was left by himself ans his chirping was very sad. I took a trip back out to Farmer McGrath's and bought a white Silkie and blue Araucana chick to keep him company.

They are all fast friends. They spend sunny days outside in the small hutch.

There are new rules though. No picking the chicks up.

Linking up with...