Ups and Downs — Janet Szabo

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that there had been two eggs that pipped but didn’t hatch. The second egg was the last one left in the incubator—I had already removed the other one and the eggs that weren’t fertile, and it had been more than 24 hours since the egg pipped. As I picked it up to take it out, though, so I could clean the incubator, the egg peeped at me. (Thankfully, in my surprise, I did not drop it.) The husband said to leave it in the incubator for a few more hours and see if anything happened.

I waited and watched. Little by little, the chick inside worked its way out and finally hatched. I was excited to have another chick—bringing the total to 18—but something didn’t seem right. This chick was smaller than the others, slow to rouse, and it seemed to have trouble getting around. By an hour after hatching, the other chicks had all been lurching around inside the incubator. This one was just lying still. I took it out and looked it over and discovered the problem. The chick had been born with its intestines outside its body.

There was nothing to do. Although I want to take care of them and give them good lives, I am not into heroic measures when it comes to farm animals. This chick wasn’t going to make it, so I let it die. I am sad about that, but we have 17 other healthy, beautiful chicks. One of those chicks obviously came from a Light Brahma mother and is a gorgeous silver color. I think it’s my favorite so far.

The brooder box is still in the laundry room. We haven’t moved the babies out to the coop yet because the weather is so crummy.

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I have to check on the peeps every couple of hours and make sure they have fresh water and food, but I’m not tied to the kitchen like I was when they were hatching. My pile of sewing projects needed some attention. I quilted the Moda Love wallhanging that I put together a few weeks ago. I did simple straight line quilting 1/4” on either side of each seamline in a grid pattern. I probably could have been more creative with the quilting, but at this point, finished is better than perfect. Straight lines don’t take long.

Once the quilting was done, I cut and made about 10 yards of red Kona binding. I only needed a couple of yards for the wallhanging, but if I am going to make binding, it’s just as easy to make 10 yards as two yards. The excess will get used on a future quilt. I like being able to go to my binding box and pull out a roll of ready-made binding.

I finished the canvas pencil pouch (free Noodlehead tutorial) for DD#2 so she has something to hold her reusable straws:

The fabric is some leftover Sevenberry canvas that I used for an apron for myself. Because I was working with scraps, I felt less bad about fussy cutting the pieces:

That is some next-level pattern matching right there.

This is a quick and easy project—by far, most of the time is spent on the prep work and only a little bit of it on the actual sewing. Good for gift-giving.

I decided to start a project for me. The Janome is still set up for quilting, so I am going to make myself one of these:

I pulled supplies from the stash and started cutting and labelling. I hope to get the body pieces quilted today. One of my friends asked me a few months ago why I make so many bags. I am rather a bag addict. Some people like shoes; I like bags. Also, from a sewing standpoint, bags—depending on the pattern—can be technically complex. I like to challenge myself.

I went over to my friend Marcie’s house last night to help her with her serger. I had found her a Bernette serger at a thrift store a few years ago for $22. That was a screaming deal. It’s a fine little serger and very similar to my Juki. She wanted to use it but needed help with the threading. In thanks, she gave me a gluten-free strawberry-rhubarb pie. Marcie is an excellent cook, so I have no doubt this pie will be delicious.