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Thursday, March 11, 2021

Red Birthday Tractors for the Win!


What do you get a well deserving man the week of his 61st birthday?

Okay, it didn't start out as a birthday gift, but as a needful addition to our life in the mountains.

It just happened that delivery coincided with the week of his birthday - so we'll chalk this one up as kismet and say it is. LOL!

This has been a TOUGH winter.  And there is only so much that the little RZR can handle when it comes to plowing and grating the drive.

Not to mention the work that needs to be done around Quiltville Inn and the QPO studio.

Still - let it be said that i have NEVER seen a man more chuffed with himself than I did yesterday!


My day started bright and early when  big blue dump truck came and dumped another full load of gravel for the parking area behind the QPO and next to Quiltville Inn where overflow parking happens.

Around 5pm Jason and Dave arrived to spread that gravel around.


They had gone to Wytheville to pick up the tractor and load it on a trailer to haul it home on Tuesday evening.  They offloaded it at the Inn because the spreading of the gravel was going to be its first big job.

Click to Play:


The farm boy left the farm when he went to college and decided to be an accountant instead of a farmer.

But as the saying goes - you can take the boy off the farm, but he'll always be a farmer at heart!

I'm grateful for the things he learned growing up - just look at how all of that experience has come full circle to where we are now.

(No, I have no plan to learn to drive the tractor anytime soon! LOL!)


No more mud back here!

And then the real fun for him began.  Rather than load the tractor on the trailer, off load it at the bottom of our drive 7 miles away so he could drive it up the drive - he drove the tractor home over country roads.

How long does it take to drive a tractor 7 miles?  About 30 minutes!


I gave him a head start -

But by the time I caught up with him, there was another car between us. As soon as he reached the next drive he pulled over so we both could pass.

It's a good thing - because I had a plan to catch this "tractor comes home" moment by video!

Click to Play:


I have never seen him so happy and proud as he is driving his shiny red birthday tractor up the drive to the house.

Yesterday's IG Quiltfest prompt: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, how have you incorporated this into your quilting? 


I bet you already know my answers to this question!  My first quilt top was made with recycled jeans for my first college apartment. 

I've never stopped using recycled fabrics - I love them!  

It's one thing to purchase a quilt kit, ready to go.  Or to walk into a store and buy needed yardage right off the bolt.  It's another to take apart garments or curtains or other items with the intent to turn them into quilts.  I love the challenge of turning something so humble into something beautiful and useful.


My books Scraps & Shirttails, and Scraps & Shirttails II!

Each book is full of ideas to incorporate recycled clothing into fabulous scrappy quilts.  You'll find them both on sale in the books category of the Quiltville Store.

And since we are talking recycling/upcycling here - I've also put my recently released Sugar Top PDF pattern at 25% off along with Rough & Tumble  - no coupon code needed!  Sale price good through SUNDAY, 3/14/2021.  Price reverts back to $12.00 each on Monday, 3/15/2021.

And if you do need a 60 degree equilateral triangle ruler for the making of Sugar Top, there are a couple of those in the rulers, notions and tools category as well.


Grooming snuggles at the end of the day -

We were just beat after all of the tractor excitement.  And I didn't get the photos I need for Tulip Time's pattern release scheduled for Monday - that is first thing on my list this morning as soon as I hit send.

I'm in search of some great photo op spots!  It needs to happen!

For the next few days - I'll likely be at my desk getting everything ready.  I haven't sat at my sewing machine since Sunday. I'm already feeling a bit cranky!


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Just be sure to check that your last chain of 100 units haven't been sewn while running on empty! LOL!

Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!


 

38 comments:

  1. I’m thinking that shiny red tractor would be a great photo op location before it is broken in and covered in dust!

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  2. Reuse & recycle is a way of life; it's what my parents taught us and what still holds true today. Those who know me, know I'm a scrap quilter. I'm blessed that they keep me supplied with their leavings. Log cabin, Dresden Plate & Double Wedding Ring patterns were favorites. Keep showing us your versions of useful scrap applications, inspiration to feed the scrap lover in all of us.

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  3. Oh, I understand how a new, shiny red (or orange tractor in my husband's case) tractor fills a man's day with joy! Next, it's all the trimmings such as a grapple, a tool cart, that box spreader I saw on your husband's tractor, etc. We live in a rural area with a quarter mile gravel drive like yours. The tractor has been great for so much around here. Congrats!
    Connie
    c_s_wolfe@yahoo.com

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  4. Yep, my Farmer Hubster loves the Tractor that is here. It's a John Deere almost like the one he grew up with. He was driving tractor at age 7, I'm told. We planted Peas and beets yesterday. Always willing to help is the farmers way.

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  5. I think the shiny new tractor with the front loader will make a great photo op. My inner farm girl sees just one drawback....I was raised on GREEN!

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  6. ohhhhhh Tulip Time, coming soon? I had thought perhaps it was scheduled for your NEXT book!! along w/snails trails and a few other teasers you're showing us... I certainly do not NEED another of your wonderful patterns, Grassy Creek is still waiting for blocks to be put together... AND i know about cranky when not getting behind the sewing machine... first I start to itch!!! when deprived of humming- stitching- snipping! The quilt-makers waltz!!! Thank you for sharing your life with us, Happy Birthday, Dave... Cats in Carlsbad, CA

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  7. Sewing with an empty bobbin....so sad when you realize it!

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  8. Happy Birthday! Happy Red Tractor! I love all your wonderful stories! Thank you!

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  9. Oooooh my dream!!! A tractor!!! Oooooh. But it's not meant to be, for me. A girl can dream, though! Our driveway looks a lot like yours, but we tough it out, hubby working on it by hand or neighbors helping out. What fun!! Love seeing hubster so delighted!!! 😁

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  10. Learned to drive on our Farmall M. I was seven.

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  11. Don't be shy about learning to drive the tractor - the current small tractors are very user friendly and pretty easy to operate. It's often useful to have 2 people working - one driving the tractor and one doing heavy stuff on the ground. Congrats to the Hubster!

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  12. I chuckled to myself when I read you had no plans on learning to drive the new tractor. Many,many years ago when I took drivers ed in high school my driving instructor asked if I had ever driven a car before, my reply was no but I did drive my grandfather's tractor. In a field of course.

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  13. Eat it up, wear it out, make it do or do without, heard many times growing up.

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    1. Love that, wish I had said that to my kids when they were growing up

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  14. Sew my way of recyling yesterday was finding and bringing home a 1950 Singer 221 Featherweigh machine. This has been on my bucket list for some time so a other check off completed. When my girlfriend excitingly told her father in law about my fine, he replied do you think her hubby will be upset with her bringing a featherweight home? I always thought of a fw as being someone around 90 pounds. He might not like another man moving in...

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  15. My late husband had the same goofy smile when we moved from the city to our 2 1/2 acres. He would just drive around in circles all day. He was even happier when someone would ask him to do a grading job for them! Happy Birthday Dave!!

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  16. My quilting group Fiber Floozies coined the phrase "faux sewing" when you realize you've been sewing merrily along with no bobbin thread....

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  17. Dave's as happy with his tractor like Mona was with her first Featherweight and you were with the Inn. What a great feeling. Congrats.

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  18. So....What is the name of the new big red tractor? What a cool birthday present and so deserving. I have been reducing, recycling and reusing my sister's stash the past month after she passed in February. Not only fabric (incl. 100 "kits") but also her cross-stitch stash. After this project, I will be reducing, reusing and recycling my own stash! Wishing you all blue skies and sunny days.

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  19. Men and their toys! My hubby isn’t a farmer, but he can turn his hand to anything. He is a mechanic by trade, so we tend to adopt things that people bring in to get fixed, they don’t want to pay to do it, so they ask if he wants to keep it. We have accumulated a 4 wheel drive four wheeler, a forklift, a ditch witch, a ZTR mower that has cost more to keep running than my car, and 3 jet skis. We won’t talk about the custom built trailer he fabricated that cost about $10k for those three ‘free’ jet skis....🤫. And he wonders why the 1800 square foot shop isn’t big enough to work in...🤔. But, he loves it and has fun, and on occasion, actually fixes something and sells it.🥳. I can rag on him all I want, but he is truly my soulmate and I wouldn’t change a thing about him.💝. I am off to go make some muffins! Yum! Everyone have a great day!

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  20. Happy happy birthday to your husband! Mine has been waiting for an orange tractor and this is likely to be his year. It's wonderful to see something bring so much enjoyment to our loved ones. #farmguysarethebest

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  21. I too, love recycled shirts. This year past I made 10 queen sized & 1 King size quilts for Christmas gifts all from my late husband's shirts. These were for all the kids and grands, they loved them. Thanks for all you do.

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  22. My farmer hubby has several red tractors, some old and some not so old, but all are used regularly. I hope your husband enjoys his new toy.

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  23. Tulip Time! Every time you showed work on the blocks, I was "Meh". But the quilt??? It's totally rocking my world! Another pattern I'm going to have to buy! Thank you, Bonnie, for all the lovely work you do.

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  24. Ohhh, love the new tractor!!! Since hubby sells farm implements, I love to see them and I've driven a small one to shovel snow from a parking lot and a big one once around the field mowing CRP...I'd love to really learn how to use them (maybe get a small one for myself!). Happy Birthday, Dave!!!

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  25. I drive my Kubota tractor whenever my sons allow me to! I just want to know when is the Barn Raising party going to start?

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  26. How wonderful for Dave! I do have tractor envy. I did have barn envy but that has been ticked off the list. We rely on friends to do the hay - but they take it off our hands - win win on both sides. But oh you must have a go driving it for yourself - it is rather exhilirating! Must admit you definitely needed one - it can help you with managing those trees too.

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  27. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Like someone else said above, that's how I was raised. As far as in the quilting room, I do all 3. But this weekend, I took it a step further. A friend's daughter is a teacher of high school age learning challenged students and they seem to do better sitting on a cushion in their own little learning area. She put out a call for used blue jeans and fabric scraps. No used blue jeans but I had 2 yards of denim weight pillow ticking and just started going through stuff in my sewing room. Probably had 4 yards worth of scraps (OLD) that I will never use. Hopefully soon her students will be able to use them. They can't right now because of Covid, but eventually.

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  28. How about a very used tractor -- my sweetie has a 935 Fordson -- made in England -- everything on it still works -- including the power take-off -- but the color is red with rust. Still -- he loves it.

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  29. What fun for him to be the "slow-moving" vehicle that motivates us to slow down and enjoy the view!

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  30. Anonymous8:32 AM EST

    Now if you could find a pile of old railroad ties, they would go ‘Perfect’ for setting the boundaries of the gravel, to keep it from going in the grass and becoming flying objects when you mow! Of course the other issue is when it snows, the gravel sticks to the snow! Then after melting you have to pick it up and put it back in the parking area! (After 35 years of living in Maine winter’s, one learns the gravel walks everywhere!)

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  31. Ha Ha....nothing to do with taking the farm out of the man...it is just the ttractor! Once they have operated a tractor, something happens! Wishing you both many hours of productive happiness only a tractor can provide!

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  32. The red tractor is a beauty. One year I received a John Deere lawn tractor with a 60 inch deck for Mother’s Day. It really shortened my mowing time as I was using a Sears Craftsman with a 48 in deck to mow 3 ½ acres. The smaller tractor worked fine when it was just two acres, but when we added the extra 1 ½ acres it almost doubled my time. Our children still laugh fondly when we remember that John Deere.

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  33. Recycle, Reuse: Just bought several yards of fabric from thrift stores. It will get used in lap quilts for hospice. Bought a kit from the thrift store--originally marked at $48.95. I paid $2.99. I'll add to it and get a twin size quilt out of it to donate to Sleep in Heavenly Peace for a child getting one of the bunk beds they build.

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  34. My husband had a green John Deere tractor that he loves.

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  35. I love your quote for today!

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  36. My hubby loves his tractor too, he says when "in the saddle" of the tractor he feels strong and like a young man again! ... till he goes to get off and tries walking.

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