This month's theme on Quilt Block Mania is on the Farm.
I grew up in an agricultural area. It was still in town, but the neighbors across the ditch from us had cows, and those across the street had sheep. To walk to school we went through vineyards and alfalfa field. Across from the winery was the pasture with the buffalo. There are still the cows and sheep next to my dads house but the alfalfa fields are gone. Also gone are the buffalo that lived in the property across from the vineyard. The vineyard is still there but about a quarter of the size it was when I was a kid. When I was really young, 4-5ish we had a milk goat and we had to milk the goat twice a day. One goat can produce so much milk. When I was 7 we got ducks, and geese and chickens. As part of the goose yard, my dad got a pair of injured wild Canada Geese under a rehabilitation permit. One of them was missing half of his wing and the other had been shot in the wing and could no longer fly. These two birds were the meanest nastiest birds, I have ever dealt with. They wouldn't harass dad but they went out of their way to attack my brother and I all the time. We would try to sneak into the goose pen to collect the quill feathers to make feather pens. Dad could reach over the fence to feed them. I was never very tall and so I had to jump the fence to get in to collect the feathers. I fell off the fence at one point and required 7 stitches to sew my elbow back up.
Mom moved to less rural area. At her house now it is primarily city chickens. We haven't had ducks or geese in a couple years. The neighborhood kids around my moms house were far more afraid of her geese than they are of her dogs. My dogs would eat chickens and ducks and my husband has a strict no birds policy. So the kid and her cousins have their chickens at Grandmas. A couple years ago my brother got his own flock of city chickens. There is nothing quite like fresh chicken eggs. In the summer there are enough eggs from the two flocks to keep many families in eggs. In the winter not so much.
I designed this block to with waterfowl as my inspiration. There are three applique ducks and a goose. I went with a fusible web applique for the birds cause it a makes it a quick and easy block to put together. You can get your own free copy of the block here.
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