Faceless but Fruitful Farmgirls

The Farm Girls were busy tonight in the Little Red Barn, but nobody wanted to show her face.  It has been a long hard day and we were all just glad to make it to the LRB for some quiet time and some handwork with our BFFs.  A girl's got to have a place to let her hair down and not have to be all gussied up, right?

But, what a lovely round of Show and Tell.  The ladies have been busy...

 Maryann's recycled apron.

 ...and her very cute embroidered pillow.

 ...and the beginning of her mystery sew-along project.

 Ms. Jill has been crocheting a wee bit.

 Henmother has begun a lovely redwork piece.

 ... and made up some really darling felt scissor keeps in the shape of owls.  Nice.

 She had her fancy sewing machine with her so she kindly offered to do up a quick project for me -adding a rick-rack edging to a pre-pieced remnant I've been hoarding, that will become a retro-looking tablecloth.  Been meaning to get to that little job for ages.

OK - one Farm Girl was happy to show her face tonight!  Our celebrity Shepherd Girl, Leslie, dropped by after a long day of setting fence posts to tell us all about her new Over the Moon Farm!  We could not be happier for her.  Until April 9 she has to pose with toy sheep.  But after that, it's the real thing.  Squee!!!

Next month, our meeting will be Friday, April 8.  Watch for the lineup of fun projects we'll work on together.  Later, chicks!

March Meeting is on the 24th

Don't forget - we've changed our monthly meeting to accomodate those of us heading to Tyler for the Wildflower Fiber Retreat this weekend.  We'll pull out all the stops on Thursday, March 24 at the LRB.  See the post below for the list of supplies you'll need for our fun sewing activity.

Farm on, girls!

Feb Meeting

Hi Chicks!

February was a small gathering but we made the best of it and had a great time. It had been awhile since I had been able to attend, so most of the time was catch up of what everyone has been doing ....... and that was a lot! Our OA Jill has completed, was it 4 or 5 badges? I was so over taken by it all I lost track! She has even put everything all nice and neat in a binder!! WOW!

 Jill is so organized...

While we visited, we took a vote (I'm sure we had enough to do that ;)!) to skip dinner at 6:00 and just go right for the meeting at 7:00. And I'm adding - I can do that cuz I'm mama!! Also the dates have changed just for the next month. March meeting will be the 24th at 7:00.  NOW HERE IS WHERE THAT "CUZ I CAN" COMES IN.

 Leslie brought a knitting konundrum...

I just made a big pot of steak and barley soup, and the pilot in this house puts his nose up at any soup! IF I BRING IT AND CORNBREAD WILL YAL' COME TO THE BARN EARLY TO HAVE SOME????? Let me hear from you and I will go to Cindy's early that day so everything is ready and warm for the eating that night.

Henmother attacked Leslie's fiddly issue...

IN ADDITION to the soup, I already have a program ready to go! I know!! Really! Wow! I'm trying to turn a new leaf.

 

...and had it figured out in no time.

So! Jill was so excited with all her new badges, she wants to start another one right away! She made the suggestion and I found the cutest project (well, I think it's cute) to satisfy her wants. Hopefully it will be a one night start-to-finish project, but if not we can work out those details at the meet. Footnote: that's why I thought the soup would be a good idea. We could have extra time to work on it.

Now. The fun part for me! I'm sending you the Supply List, but I'm making the final "thingie" a surprise!! Hope you like surprises as much as I do. The thought of this just makes me giggle. :}

OK. That is the change for March and the meeting for April will be back to the 2nd Friday which is April 8th at 7:00. No project planned for that, but once we do March that will get the ideas flowing for April.

I'll check back to see if you have questions and want to come early for Barn Soup.

That's it for now. Feathers UP!!!
HM

Friday night cluck

Tomorrow is Friday, the second Friday that is and time to gather the Farmgirls!

Not too many takers for 6:30 dinner, so let's just straight away to the meeting at 7:00.

Suggestion has been made to carry on from the last meeting/stitch-in to bring the buttons to make another group project. I say "bring it on" and anything else that might add more fun to a bracelet.

See you at the LRB ! I've missed seeing you all

HM

Sew Wonderful

The Farm Girls made sweet little "pin keeps" tonight.  That's British for "pin cushions."  We did things the British way, because Jill led us in this simple and fun project, and Jill ain't from around here.  But she's a great teacher, and we had a wonderful evening.  (She's also a naturalized American citizen, in case you're wondering.  You go, Girl.)

 

Gathered all our sewing tools...

 

I sampled some of Leslie's lovely salad...

 

...and then Jill set us off on our tasks.

 

...cutting circles from fat quarters, and sewing around the edge to gather it up...

 

Snip, fold, stitch, concentrate...

 More snipping, more trimming, more breaking in the new scissors...

 

A little pressing, a little guessing, a little ooohing and awwwing...

 

...stuff it with fiberfill, top with a circle of felt, and voila!  Pin cushion!

 

Dina

 

Candi (who drove over from Arlington!)

 

Teacher Jill

 

Rita

 

Leslie

 

Gail

 

Moi

Now, we had some agenda items, but the best we could pull off was to decide that for next month at least, the second Friday will work (February 11).  After that, we may have to juggle dates because of the conflict with the Wildflower Fiber Retreat in March.

We decided that having another badge to work on might be a good idea, but didn't nail down just which one, or who would lead.  We'll do an e-mail poll and keep the discussion going.  We'd also like to go to the flea market in Quinlan, and to Lucky Layla Dairy.  

So much more to talk about, but the evening flew past before we knew it.  Stay tuned, Farm Girls, for news updates.  Come back soon, Hen Mother!  We missed you!

January meeting agenda

Hey Chicks!

Sounds like Chick Jill is going to be chairing the January meeting with a project that will get the whole brood two badges in one swoop! WOW! Sorry I'm not going to be there to join in on all the fun. But knowing Cindy, our cluck barn owner and resident pics taker I'm sure will be able to "show" me and others that won't be able to attend, just how to construct the sewing project, so we will ALL be able to "tell" the finished product at the February!!! So watch this blog for the results.

Speaking of the February meeting, I was thinking, and after talking with Cindy, we both thought it would be a good time to put together a monthly agenda for our year. This will consist of:


1) What is "our" year?
2) Do we want to have a "project/badge" program each meeting?
a) one person to organize
b) have everyone take one month..........I think this is such a great idea because there is
soooo much talent in this group. (my 2 cents worth without being at the meeting)
3) Make a list of "road trips" we want to take during "our year".

So. The agenda is only 3 things to decide on while your hands are busy creating beautiful boxes or bags!

Can't wait to see the pics and the lists! Cindy or myself will post the results.

Check this blog the week after the meeting.

Happy stitchin'
Hen Mother

We're On for Friday

Hi Farm Girls!

Now with the holidays behind us, it's time to hunker down in the barn and work on some badges!  This week, after our 6 PM potluck, we'll spend our meeting time working on a simple sewing project -- a pin keep -- that will earn us the "Sew Wonderful" badge.

Fellow Farmgirl Jill Arthur will facilitate the project, and recommends that we bring these items to complete it:

• Several different colors of thread (there's plenty of thread in the LRB if you need it)
• Buttons (if you bring 50 you can get the "Buttoned Up" beginner level badge)
• Scissors
• Needles
• Straight pins
• Safety pins
• A little box or bag to put it all in
• For the home made pin keep we each need a fat quarter of fabric and some cotton batting (which I have in the LRB, and Jill will bring some) and a small piece of felt..

Bring your notions and your imagination, and let's make something!  Let's also look at our calendars and talk about the kinds of things we'd like to plan for the coming year.

See you at 6 PM for dinner, and/or 7 PM for our meeting!

The Little Red Barn Farmgirls: Mary Jane Book on Sale

The Little Red Barn Farmgirls: Mary Jane Book on Sale: "News flash: as of Wednesday, there were five copies of Mary Jane's book 'The Stitching Room' for $5.99 at the 75% Off Bookstore in the..."

Next meeting November 12, 2010

Hi Chicks!

I can't believe it! November is just flying through our fingers! So much has happened since my last post, I'm not sure where to start.

First I apologize for the late post. I'm a good week behind after catching that icky stomach flu.

So. Now then. This next meeting is on Friday.  Rita will be chairing it since I and a few others are going to be at Kid and Ewe in Boerne, TX. This is a great fiber fest and one so many of us look forward to each year.   Farmgirls?  This just might be something you will want to get in on next year. I'm sure you too would have a blast!

Back to the meeting.
1) Let's make sure we all are signed up so we can get stitchn' on our membership badge. Let's make it a goal to have them completed for the Dec meeting (Dec. 10th)

2) The Dec meeting will be our Christmas meeting. An idea was to have a cookie exchange. Add more ideas to this and we will make a discussion sometime after Thanksgiving via this site.

3) Our badge study chicks Debbie and Jill are working on their badge (lots of reading on this one) and I'm sure they will be reporting as soon as they are finished. Can't wait! In the mean time, talk came up about a TOTAL group badge idea so we would all have a badge come the first of the year. I took this and ran with it and decided we should do an easy one for all of us, the KNITTING BADGE!! Could I get a volunteer to look up and review what we need to get started for this badge. That way all of us will have everything with us on the 10th so we can start the badge together at the meeting.

4) I'm going to get the patterns to the LRB so you Debbie will be able to code them for checking out and in.  Hopefully Gail will have a class date for us sometime in Jan.

5) Leslie? How are you doing on chapter chat with the MJ forum board?

6) Would someone take a few notes on all of this and by all means if all of you have something to add, GO FOR IT!!! I know I do and I'm sure you all do too, want to keep this group going. Already I've made new friends! That's part of what it's all about.

That should be enough for Friday and still give you time to eat, drink, talk and even knit a little!

Thanks Rita in advance for taking my place.

Would someone please take the trash and clean up a bit. Cindy is going to be at Kid and Ewe too.

Turn off the lights and have a safe drive home!!

Lovingly

Hen Mother

Reminders from HenMother

The first Friday of the month is here again! If you are coming for dinner the time is 6:00. We had so much food last time we could have stayed at the barn for a week! So a small dish (serves 4) of something will be perfect!

Recap from last meeting .. Rita thought she could bring a microwave for the barn, Debra agreed to put together a check-in/checkout system for the apron patterns, and Leslie was going to look into what we need to do to develop our "chapter thread".

I haven't heard just when Gail is going to be having an apron class, but I would think just like most of us, everything is being put off till after the 16th!! Well, that has been my answer to everything.

I have heard that there are a few "over achievers" that are working on their first badge!! How about that! Maybe she will bring the finished goods so we can sign her off for her/our badge. OOOOOHHHH our first. What a joy!!!

Signing off till tomorrow night

HM

Farmgirl 101

Our first Chapter meeting and potluck went off without a hitch tonight.  Not only did we share some great dishes (one was from a Mary Jane recipe), but the ladies came out to the pasture to help with our nightly chicken round up.  Armed with rakes and a great sense of humor, we formed a human wall to guide (most of) the chickens into the Chick Inn for the night.  Debbie took pictures.  I hope they don't show up on those magazines by the check-out line.  Leslie did not wear proper shoes for chicken wrangling, and will take some, um, souvenirs home on her feet.

Debbie also brought a friend, Robin, who was quite captivated by the alpacas.  And the alpacas were captivated back, allowing her to stroke them on the neck a time or two.

We'll have details on Gail's apron class soon.  It's looking like a Saturday morning suits most people interested in taking the class.  Start collecting fun stuff to embellish your apron, and keep it here for dates and times.

Other Chapter ideas for workshops keep coming: furniture refinishing (great for those junk shop finds that need a bit of TLC), journal cover making, twining, paper making, etc.  How about some cooking or food storage tips?  Recycling or community service projects?

 
Our next meeting will be October 8th.  Watch for interim news and ideas here on the blog...

Farm on, ladies!

The First Official Chapter Meeting

 Potluck at 6 PM and meeting at 7 PM...  Bring your sewing, knitting, food, questions, ideas, and smiles.  See you soon!

Farmgirls Have Mobilized

Great first meeting of a gaggle of Farmgirls yesterday at the Little Red Barn!  Rita was embroidering away on her badge, Gail modeled her newest apron, Jill brought blueberry scones, Laurie showed off her incredible shrug design out of old blue jeans (seriously, it's amazing), and Mother Hen Maryann helped us get an idea of all Farmgirls has to offer.  Dina brought some cool recipes, Leslie got to be with us again and Barbara and Marlene came along for the ride.

Here's a run down of what we talked about, for those who were not able to attend:

Meeting times for the rest of the year: Second Friday night of the month - September 10, October 8, November 12 (I just noticed that's the Boerne weekend!), and December 10.  In discussing the meetings, we thought it might be nice to start at 6 PM with potluck for those who can make it, and then the "regular" meeting would start at 7 PM and end at 9 PM.  I mentioned it might be good for us to be on the lookout for folding TV trays to eat and craft on in the barn, rather than trying to manage a large table in that small room.

We talked about some of the badges, their requirements, and how to earn them.  The descriptions of all the badges are on Mary Jane's website.  Small groups might like to form around a common badge project.  Let us know which badges appeal to you and put a team together!

We talked about some classes we'd like to share with each other: Aprons by Gail, Twining by Marlene, Tri-loom weaving, Papermaking, and others.  Looks like Gail's apron class will be the first one on the schedule, stay tuned for details as they are worked out.

 We'll also be talking about field trips we'd like to take, so think about that and make a note of anything that might be fun for the group.

Please comment on this post if you have anything that occurred to you late, or that you'd like to contribute if you weren't able to attend.  Check in here for updates, and we'll see you September 10!

Gail's newest apron is highlighted in these photos.  She's working on getting a class put together to make aprons like this, so let us know if you'd like to be included.

Time to Stretch

Look how far she's come!  Our Jill was out in the paddock the other night, feeding our herd of hungry alpacas without so much as a bead of anxious sweat!  She's even smiling!

This is the same lady who several years ago coined the phrase, "too much nature" to describe situations in our rural environment that included flapping, wriggling, buzzing or beady-eyed critters.  And now here she is, Farmgirl Jill, toting a bucket of sweetfeed and braving the sea of peckish camelids.   She did a great job, too.

We can all stretch and grow, can't we, Jill?  That's the Farmgirl spirit!  Is there a merit badge for courageous 'paca wrangling?

BREAKING: Orientation Meeting This Saturday

 Hi Farmgirls!  Sorry for the last minute decision, but leader Maryann asks if we can have our very first orientation meeting this Saturday, at 2 PM?  We want to get together to put our monthly meetings on the calendar and begin to look at the activities we'd like to start, like

• Sewing our membership badges,
• Planning field trips,
• Choosing merit badge projects
• Swapping patterns, recipes and project ideas...

Not bad for a start.  Comment here or e-mail Maryann (sbswy11@gmail.com) to RSVP either way - we want to know you're interested even if you can't make it on Saturday. 

Farmgirl Up!

You Know You're a Farmgirl When...

...the smell of freshly mown hay, freshly turned compost, and freshly baked muffins fill you with equal delight.

You're Going to Want One of These

When Gail starts brainstorming, it's best to get out of the way, hide in the bushes, and watch.

The other day we were casually talking about how fun it would be to make aprons out of overalls, and the next thing I know, she had picked up several pairs at the thrift shop and was off and running.  Her passion is contagious and her style is the sort they write books about.

Look what I found on my front porch today:

Check out the details, up close:

Yeah, you want one... I bet Gail will show us how.  That's the Farmgirl way!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go impress the chickens...

Chapter Launch

It's almost time.

We're collecting feedback about the best day of the week, and then we'll pick a date for our Orientation Meeting. (A Friday is way out in front at the moment.) Chapter Leader Maryann has asked me to announce a few items:

• Please go ahead and join the Farmgirls Sisterhood at the Mary Jane's Farm site before our first meeting. This gets your personal materials, including your membership number and badge, on the way.
• Think about activities you'd like to do. Some ideas we've already had include a trip to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Junk Shopping in some neighboring small towns, Craft Retreat at some cool B&B-type venues, small groups working on badge projects together, etc.
• The overwhelming sentiment of the group is that this will be an adult chapter with adult-only meetings. The Farmgirl Sisterhood has options for younger ladies (Farmerettes and Young Cultivators), and these will need to be developed with separate meeting times and with adult mentors. I'd love to see this get off the ground once our Big Girl group is established. Adult Farmgirls and Young Lady Farmgirls have different needs and interests, and we want to remain sensitive to that.

Now, the next announcement will be the date and time of our Orientation meeting, so watch for that soon.