Monday, June 13, 2016

A Weekend at the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival

My friend George and I went to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend, in Colfax, IA.  Despite it being hot as blazes, we had a really good time!

One of our favorite things we saw was the stockdog demonstration.  These folks breed, train, and sell Border Collies for use in herding sheep and cattle.  It was really fascinating to watch the dogs control the sheep, and also to watch her doing some training with less-experienced dogs.





Of course, there was lots of opportunity for stash enhancement!






























We also saw part of sheep show and competition on Sunday, and it was fun to see the kids showing these sheep.  Sometimes the sheep weren't all that cooperative, and the kids really had to muscle them around!





All in all, a fun weekend!




Friday, June 3, 2016

Wonky Stars

I decided that my liberated patchwork quilt that I revived this week needed a little something extra in addition to the black sashing--something as the cornerstones.  So I decided to make 3" (finished) wonky stars as the cornerstones.  These, again, are made with Gwen Marston's liberated quiltmaking techniques.



Since I want these to finish at 3", I am starting with 1 1/2" black squares to which to add the triangle star points.


I also used 1 1/2" squares, cut in half diagonally, for the star points, and sewed them onto one corner of the black square, making sure that the triangle would cover the corner of the black square when folded down.  I pressed that corner down, then added another triangle to the opposite side.

Of course, these all had to be trimmed down to 1 1/2" squares once the star point triangles were applied and pressed.  That's the fussy part of this whole process!



Then the block gets assembled in rows.



And that's where I ran out of steam for the evening!  I'll get these blocks sewn together tomorrow and start on the next round as well!