Life and Being sidetracked

Life has a way of sidetracking a person and I feel many would agree the past 3 years has been interesting to say the least on many levels. Creativity has been on hold while my life has been in constant flux of change some bad, but mostly good. Loads of changes with me, my farm, and the things I am doing. Some things get neglected or put on hold while the priority stuff that comes up always something new of course gets done first. I have decided to do some more inner work. When is a Scorpio sun ever not doing inner work most of us are always dying and rebirthing. Out with the old and in with the new. A common cycle for us as a water sign so it seems death and rebirth. My Taurus rising does complain about it though liking more stability and all. haha

I have been working in the greenhouse and landscape industry for the past year that has taken up a lot of time from about April to mid October 50-60 hours per week. Plus trying to work the farm and animals, be in a relationship (long story kind of), and have time for me to decompress from all of it. It was something I needed to do and so I did. Prior to this year 2022 I had worked at a small greenhouse. Thanks for the opportunity Jean. I needed to do more for income to help get necessary work and repairs done. Owning a place either in town or out in the country always needs upkeep and repairs which takes resources like money, time, and skills. I feel most would agree we are sometimes short on all three things. 

Life is changing I found a new greenhouse and landscape job also inspires my creative side which is good. I really like the people I am working with another positive. I should be working more 'normal' hours with the option of some overtime if I would want it. This is a plus and I like the flexibility also. I am off until end of march for sure. I will be doing some resting, reorganizing, inner work, and some creative stuff. 

I am hoping to do some more blogging on my creative stuff here. I did do some texture art work for IMVU the past week or so. I will be looking into doing some more Daz3D work ,sewing, crotching, etc. I have materials to do stuff just need to get the spark ignited again. The plan is to post things I have been working on and got done already and keep on sharing here things creative I am working on. We are actually being creative daily by our thoughts and intentions even if we do not do any actual creative arts type work. Our life is our daily creative work whether we realize it or not. Until my next post keep being creative. 

Creating and Learning....

I have not done much in the way of posting here, but I have been learning and doing some sewing. I will post a couple of times before the end of the month as I work on things. I have 'Pinned' ideas, tips, etc on Pinterest so I had something to look back on later. A person can follow me there too at https://www.pinterest.com/liana1110/.

I worked with mom a few times before she went on vacation. We finished three projects total. My "Cat n Moon" hanging quilt, a pair of warm bedtime pants for Jim, and a set of new place mats for grandpa.I will post the pics to all, but Jim's bed pants. :)

Cat n Moon Hanging Quilt

My first finished hanging quilt "Cat n Moon". There are some things I would do differently after some further research on the subject. I am limited right at this point due to my antique 1952 15-91 Singer sewing machine. We can only do straight stitches. Hopefully in the near future the original sewing machine my mom got me will expand on my limited stitch capabilities. More on my sewing machine in another post. :)

Cow Place Mats

Here are the cow place mats we made for gramps. They have reversible sides in case he gets bored with one or the other. :) We just cut out the size we wanted, color side facing each other, sewed a seam, left open a hole at the top to turn them inside out, and finished them. Pretty easy nothing fancy. We did this at mom's on her sewing machines. Plus Jim's purple fuzzy bed pants. hehe

I have been busy ordering seeds, starting plants/seeds, and even doing some herbal/food stuff. I am looking at starting a blog for that also just to keep things of interest separate. I know not everyone is interested in farming, gardening, herbs, sewing, etc. :)

Happy DIY and Crafting!!

Liana

Creativitity Has Been On Hold ....

A holiday head cold can really wipe a person out. We have been sick and stuffed up for about 2 weeks. I spoke some about it on my farm blog. I am just glad we are on the mend now. I am hoping this week to get over to mom's and work on our sewing and quilting projects.

I did a few little 3D creative projects just prior to getting sick.There is one I would like to make this summer into a real wood sign. I have it pictured above. I found that cute little rooster online. It was a sewing project.I had to redraw his lines and I added one tail feather and adjusted their placement. I created the sun from scratch and came up with the saying. What else would a rooster be saying to us when the sun is rising high in the sky? This little proud fellow I felt was saying just that 'Rise n Shine'!! :D

I will be looking for some old barn wood or pine boards, age them a bit , paint, and add chains for hanging. This project does not have a definitive size. I think it can be made into whatever size a person wants. The pictures and sayings are easily adjustable.

I also did up Jim's hanging quilt pattern into a 3D version.It may not look exactly like this when finished but close enough. I really like it! It will have loops and a dowel through those to hang up the quilt. :) I have also seen the metal hangers for quilts also, which is a another idea for hanging.

Happy DIY and crafting!

Liana

Projects Past and Future...

4 -H Fair lamb

   I thought I would share some pictures of projects I have done in the past. I learned crocheting from my grandpa's cousin Edith when I was around 12 years old.. I learned how to make Christmas ornaments and little dolls. I have some of the ornaments buried in a box. I also branched out and made some crocheted stuffed animals. I need to get our spare room organized for a work and craft office, so we have room to do things. Right now it is a storage room and a mess.

Crocheted lamb 2

The top picture I made to enter in the local county fair when I was in 4-H. I won grand champion on it in my class. :) The second one I found a pattern for and decided to make it. I also made a black cow for my grandparents from the same pattern just left out the loops. I am not sure where it is at the moment. The pictures were taken in the past year or so. They are in pretty good shape considering they were made about 30 years ago. I remember having fun making them it just took forever. :)

Jim's Quilt

  Just an update on how I am progressing on the hanging quilts. Slow going, but mom wants me to wait before I do any cutting until we get together. She has been 'Christmas shopping' in her little quilt room for me. She found extra sewing supplies I can have. :)

 We went to St. Cloud last week and I ended up with different fabric than I wanted for Jim's quilt. I made a few changes to my original design, but he still likes it. I guess that is what matters. I need to set-up a time with mom after the holidays to work on this stuff. I got the fabrics for my 'Cat n Moon' quilt. I even found some other fabrics I liked and were on sale. Now I need to get to work.

Happy DIY and Crafting !!

Liana

Hanging Wall Quilt Projects...

I have been working on some quilt wall hanging ideas here lately while our MN weather has a bit too cold to be working outside, especially on a cold metal tractor. I don't have a shop big enough for that kind of work and not enough room in the one I do have.

I created some quilt blocks last year on my computer and I am in the process of moving to the point of designing, to figuring out dimensions, cutting out, and sewing them together.

Last winter my mom and I went to St. Cloud to a few craft stores looking at fabrics. I ended up coming home with some I really liked, but was not sure what I was going to make with them. Sewing is not my strong point at least it was not 30 years ago.I tried to make a shirt. I was not impressed with my work. haha I did not pursue that adventure again until the last year or so.

I love quilts and what can be created with them. It has become a a huge industry craft besides just cutting out squares, triangles, and strips of fabric, then sewing them together in a pattern. I really like the applique and landscape type of quilting very artistic. I won't be venturing into landscape quilting for a while yet.I will get my feet wet with the simpler stuff first.

On occasion I do some 2/3D art type work just for fun and that is what got me to create 2 and 3 dimensional quilts on my computer. I learned a lot in the process. My mom told me to try out her quilt program to help me map out quilt blocks. It would figure out my seams and everything. I disliked the program. For me, I felt limited and it was not user friendly. I sat on the idea of mapping out my designs for a while until I could do it on my art program GIMP. While I was mulling on that I proceeded to create applique patterns to make my 2/3D wall quilts.

Now winter is here again and I have most things done for now. The work is never done on a farm, but winter has a way of keeping you from doing most things. Frozen hard ground, lots of snow, and cold winds.I end up doing more indoor type work. Planning garden and farm related stuff for next spring, and dabbling in some creative work.

Without any more delay, I will share a few of my works in progress. :)

This pattern has no name I know of, but I call the quilt 'Birds Garden Square'. I am at the point of cutting out the squares, triangles, and strips for this one. I got the fabrics last winter and created the pattern too. I just had to figure out how to add the 1/4" seam allowance in my measurements. I ended up doing it all on graph paper, which is fine actually good practice to do things by hand first. The finally measurements will be 26"x26". The picture below is how it looks as my 2D quilt wall hanging.

My next project was also something I created on my computer as a 2/3D wall quilt. I called it 'Cat n Moon'. I am at the point of also cutting it out. I found the fabrics online I wanted to try and I am hoping I can find them in store when mom and I go to St. Cloud next week. Here is my proposed sewing project. The size on this wall quilt will be around 15 inches. I have some flexibility with this one on size.

This is my 2/3D version I created last year. Pictures saved as Jpegs never look as nice as png ones.

My last project is one I am still in the creating process of. It is almost done and I need one or two more fabrics yet, then I can begin the cutting and sewing process. I never did this one as 2/3D project. I am creating this for my partner Jim. :) He picked out the colors and made the final decision on the block pattern. This is named 'Starflower'.

I will post pictures of my finished projects in the future. Sewed and hanging up. :)

Happy DIY and Crafting!

Liana

Introductory Post..

Hi everyone,

The first post for this blog. I have another called McCoy's Oak Hill Farm or find us at mccoysoakhillfarm.blogspot.com. Go right on over and check it out. :)

I decided to make this blog because I also do some crafty and DIY type of things for my garden, house, and gifts. I don't always have to time to do a lot of things, but that is what winter is for here in Minnesota. I like to be creative in other ways besides farming and gardening.

I have several interests or on/off hobbies. I have done some woodworking and have built different things in the past. I use to crochet, but my tendonitis gets irritated by it so I don't do as much. I have made salt dough ornaments, and I dabble some in computer arts. I use GIMP and Inkscape for that. I have tried my hand at embroidery and sewing in my younger days that was quite interesting. I gave it up for the time being. I have to admit I really like quilting stuff and so with the help of my mom and lots of reading. I am going to give quilting a try.

I have created a few quilt blocks or patterns on my computer using GIMP. Now I am working on how to figure out the cutting measurements for my creations, so I can start to sew them together. Lots to learn. I have a few pins on http://www.pinterest.com/. Just look for my name. :)

I hope to share some of my projects on here soon.

Happy DIY & Crafting!!

Liana