Lookie here what arrived at Suzie's house! It's a brand spankin' new chicken coop, which Marcia has named, "Cluckingham Palace."
Reinforcements were immediately called for. Only one brave soul answered the call, trusty ol' Tom. The first step was to HERD the chickens from the barn into their new home. Ever tried to herd chickens? I will give you a moment to stop laughing.
Here is our sophisticated system.
Chickens CAN fly, and they did, but for the most part, we were successful. A couple of hours of refugee hunting later, and we had done it.
Guess what? They love, love, love their new home!
The blister showed up after all the work was done to check out the cluckers' new digs.
A very nice feature that needed a little modification is the nesting boxes that are accessible from outside the coop. It didn't take the dogs long to figure out how to open it and steal the eggs. Fear not, a little redneck engineering involving a bungee cord fixed that problem right up.
We are all adjusting to the transition and so thankful for the coop upgrade. They stay warm and toasty when needed, can head outside as they wish, and the coop is on skids, so it can be toted around the yard to keep them in fresh "pasture." The dogs keep a watchful (perhaps hungry) eye on them at all times.
Life just couldn't get and better, then flash forward to the storm of last week...beloved new coop was tossed into the power pole. Fear not, everyone is fine, but they were a little shaken up emotionally and physically. We are all thankful for just a small amount of damage to the roof.
Ready for the best part? This is the view from my kitchen sink. For me, that's a pretty important vista.
We got a new infusion of birds a few months ago, which means the wonder of tiny pullet eggs and new roosters finding their voices at 5:30 in the morning. Oh, the joys of farm life. ;)
Piece out, and Merry Christmas from the Funny Farm!
Suzie
You know the saying, Life is Short? Well, that is how I was feeling when I decided it was time to make a change and go back to work at the place that made me the happiest! So I'm back at Pine Needles Full Time! Some of you might know me from back when I was at the shop in 2015 - 2016 and I am happy to see those familiar faces once again. Others might know me from the Kimberbell Events and the Virtual Embroidery Club. I am having so much fun getting to know the new faces and learning all about the new additions at Pine Needles.
Since I have been back at the shop I have still been teaching my monthly Embroidery Club virtually and I cannot believe how many people tune in every month from all around the Country! I have also been teaching Quiltworx Classes! We started with a beginner class and now we just completed our 2nd Technique of the Month Class with Coral Reef! 
Teaching the Quiltworx classes has always been a dream of mine and now it is becoming reality and I am so grateful for the opportunity!
Besides the happenings at the shop I have also been busy with my girls and all of their activities, which in some cases requires a Bernina! From making Homecoming sashes to doing alterations on dance costumes, having my Bernina has definitely came in handy! I even had to call in my husband to help out so that I was able to make the deadline with the Homecoming sashes!
With everything that I had going on this fall, the last few months have flown by. Can you believe that it is already time for Thanksgiving? It has become a tradition at my house that after the Thanksgiving dinner my husband and I head up north with some friends for a weekend quilt retreat! The guys get to come along and see what these retreats are all about... and they are there to take care of all the cooking throughout the weekend so us girls can really get a lot of sewing done. I hope that you are able to get some sewing time in too after your Thanksgiving dinner!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Kendra
I think of all the things I need to do to prepare for the winter months to come. It’s time to pick up the flower pots and make sure they are stowed away neatly in the shed, pick up the lawn chairs we have spent the last 4 months enjoy our evenings on, rack the leaves that have changed and fallen down and find those sleds. 
Bringing snowed in without something to sew would be as terrible as being snowed in with food, well maybe not that dramatic, but at the time it would feel like it! The other part of that is making sure my machine has had it yearly tune up! I hear a lot of people say, I haven’t sewn much this year, I don’t need it serviced, but that is simply not true. The oil and lubricants that are used to service your machine can dry up and evaporate even when your machine is not in use. Every machine needs serviced, every year! So make sure as we go into this winter season you have all your projects in a row and your machine tuned up and ready to sew for cold and yucky days you just want to stay in sew your day away!!! Happy Holiday Seasons!
During the pandemic all of our college kids came home to roost. There were 7 of us around the dinner table. We had virtual learning, work from home, a high school graduation, college graduation, online teaching, a milestone birthday, job changes and so much more. The dishwasher was always full, the laundry overflowed, the kitchen was open 24/7, music was in the air, lively discussions and so much more. At times I wonder at the blessing of it all.
Now it is late fall, we have moved 3 off to new locations and new semesters.
Some required a moving truck and another just a van load. All are settled in their new places and new schedules.
Tomatoes start to come in at the same time back to school time hits and my help available dwindles. This year, everyone remaining pitched in with hauling jars up and down, washing and cooking tomatoes and I even had to call in the "Northern Cannery" help, my mom.
We canned jars and jars of tomatoes, chilli starter, tomato soup, beef, apple cider and apple sauce. Our pantry is full and we are ready for a long winter's sew.
And then.....the canning was put away and it was time to reset our home.....It was time to create an office space once again for my husband. Let me just say it is amazing what one bedroom closet can hold.
With the furniture moved out, we may as well paint, and if we are going to paint, we may as well take up the carpet and put down a hard surface for the office chair. The remodel of the room was the easy part....it's the remains of the day that is the challenge. Any of you that have redone a room or space know, it's the stuff that is the truly big job.
I took some time from out from sorting to fuel my creative energies and recharged my creative batteries.
Be sure to find what fires your spirit this fall and take some time to indulge and recharge. The reset feels amazing and I look forward to more time creating.
Happy Sewing! Joy
What was life like before Pine Needles Quilt & Sew? I know you're dying to know! Well, perhaps not, but if you're interested, here are some photos of our life BQS (before quilt shop.)
Here it is...our 600 head dairy farm. This is where Suzie grew up, and very near where Tom and Marcia did as well. At the start, when Suzie was just a wee grasshopper, Tom milked just over 30 twice a day in the barn. This went on for decades, Tom and Marcia farming with Marcia's parents. They had it all...cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks. I'm sure there were other things I'm forgetting about, but it truly was an Old McDonald's paradise.
Flash forward...the go big or go home decision was made. We expanded the operation, adding the freestall barn, state of the art calf barn (Marcia's dream), milking parlor, and growing lot. Suzie skips out of most of this work to go to college for what do you know...Dairy Science!
We very much enjoyed when field trips would come to tour the farm.
Tom was the Jack of all Trades. Here is Suzie with baby Carlie (yikes, she's 18 now.). Carlie would cruise the cows with Suzie every day, most of the time falling asleep as soon as she was all bundled up and tucked in.
Here is Tom mixing feed, which had to be done every single day, rain or shine.
Marcia was the bean counter and in charge of the calves. This is a picture of her being busted playing a game instead of working. :)
Marcia designed this calf barn to her exact specifications.
Suzie had an office above the barn where she was responsible for the herd health and reproduction.
This is brother and son Justin (and Suzie's boys), who was also a huge part of the operation. We had crops as well as the dairy.
The farming life it is for us! We don't, of course, regret the decision to change lanes. The lessons the farm taught us and work ethic it demanded still helps us each and every day with our careers at Pine Needles. We are also huge fans of being able to enjoy a vacation and locking the shop door at 5:00. The dairy was truly 24/7/365. We still have the farming bug a little bit, but we are on a drastically smaller scale. Suzie and Tom have 9 head of beef cattle, and Tom just returned to work today from 2 weeks of bringing in the crops, helping a friend of his.
I had a tough old childhood. I swear I was the only child on the face of the earth that had to do chores. My worst job ever was to climb the sky-high silo, shovel a mountain of corn silage down (usually frozen hard as a rock) that was as tall as me, and then feed it to the evil steers that wanted to kill me, separated from me by only one stinking wire. If that weren't enough torture, then I had climb right back and to shovel another mountain down for my mom to feed the next morning. Many, many tears were shed. Poor me.
I was also a bit of a neat freak so my story gets worse. I had a younger brother. Enough said, right? We traded chores (barns) every so often...I believe this was so that I could clean up his messes. Just when I would get things whipped into shape - BAM - time to switch. Are you feeling sorry for me?
I am also scarred by my mother's talent for sewing. When I was in school, these were all I wanted...
This is what I got...
Then, I had a little phase of thinking these were cool:
Here's how that worked out...
Much bullying and more tears.
My story does have one bright, shining moment however. My frugal and very talented mother ROCKED Halloween costumes! Both my brother and myself nearly always won the costume contests and man, I tell you what...she killed it in that department! I wish I had pictures for you. Since I don't, take my word for it. From about October 20-30 I fell asleep every single night to the sweet humming of her sewing machine. There was also a prom dress success and a very beautiful gown I wore for senior pictures. Thank me later for not posting pics. I was able to snag a costume she made for my daughter, however:
Related sidenote: Zubaz can be purchased today online for $19.99. Hammerpants are right in that ballpark as well. Don't be surprised if there's a new dress code at Pine Needles!
Piece out!
Suzie
Preserving the summer to enjoy in the winter is a family tradition.
