OMG - One Monthly Goal Finished for October

Yay! This is the tenth month in a row that I've finished my one monthly goal (OMG) as inspired by Patty at Elm Street Quilts and the monthly OMG gang. I am always so happy to participate. It's fun to cheer others on and get support back in return. Come see how many projects have been finished this month! Visit us HERE.

My goal for October was to finish my Rainbow Anvils quilt. All the blocks were sewn throughout the year as each month a new color was assigned by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  But still, after working on other projects for most of the month, I had to buckle down last week and begin sewing the 72 blocks together, then to sandwich and quilt the quilt. And finally, to bind it. The binding was done by machine because this will be a donation quilt.

It was pretty windy today (I feel sorry for the trick-or-treaters tonight), but we managed to get these pictures on our front porch. I'm disappointed that the quilt looks wavy, because it actually lays very nicely flat. I should have pressed the edges and taken a quilt roll-up picture.

However, I will confess that many points were harmed in the making of this quilt. That is why it's a donation quilt. I really don't want to claim it.  :-)  Rainbow Anvils finished at 64x72". The backing is a wonderful print that was part of a duvet I bought last year at the thrift store. We used the other half of the duvet in Cousin Kim's Jelly Roll Race quilt back in January, which you can see HERE.

Rainbow Anvils was goal #2 on my 4th Quarter Finish-Along list, which you can find HERE. I'll link up to the quarter-end finishing post when that goes live at the end of the quarter. For now, I can begin putting together the next item on my list - the second quilt in the dark neutral scraps that I've been working on. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, since this is the last day of October, I thought I'd share with you several pictures from our weekly walks over to the local county-owned historic working farm, Wheeler Farm. I love this 75-acre farm, which is only a block away from our house. I worked there for 4 years after officially retiring. I was a Kids' Camp Counselor (arts and crafts) for one summer, then the farm bookkeeper for three and a half years after that. I quit when my Etsy shop got so busy (I sold Venice lace (plain and dyed), fancy fabrics, vintage linens and trims, and vintage sewing patterns. Anyway, I've stayed in touch with all my old friends and co-workers, so almost every visit is like a homecoming for me. And autumn on the farm is absolutely the best time of year!

This is the pumpkin patch where the families can go after they've been on the wagon rides, through the hay maze and other activities. I think they were smart to separate the pumpkin patch from the other activities. The families can go here with their tickets and pick out the pumpkins when they're ready to leave rather than carrying them around the whole time.

I showed this horse "skeleton" last year (there are actually 2 of them in there), but it always gives me a chuckle so I had to include it again.

Here's a row of "witches" that you have to walk down on the way over to the hay maze.  The best decorations on the farm - and there are plenty - are ones that I forgot to take pictures of!

But Mother Nature herself is the star of the show anyway at this time of year.

Above: over the bridge across Little Cottonwood Creek, which separates the front third of the farm (farmhouse, Activity barn, animals and their barns and paddocks, education centers, developed areas) from the back two thirds of the farm, which is all trails for walking, bicycling, wagon rides.

Below: a portion of the creek flows through the woods. The pointed shadow is my hoodie. Really, it's my hoodie, not my head. Honest.

In the background of the picture below, you can see the Ice House, where they used to store the ice cut off the two ponds (you can see one of those in the picture, too) that were diverted from the creek water. The Wheelers used to have a dairy here and sold milk, eggs, butter, cheese and ice. I think I've mentioned it here before, but one year they sold $2,000 worth of ice blocks. They charged 10 cents each. That's a lot of ice!!  The Ice House is where the kids summer camp is always headquartered.

Back in the wild area...

Another part of the creek.

Bruce and I live on a standard city lot in a nice suburban neighborhood. But when we want a sense of peace or a recharge that only the countryside can provide, we only have to walk about 4 houses down, cross a street, and we are in the midst of nature in minutes. I can't tell you how grateful we are to have Wheeler Farm in our "backyard".