Thursday, September 28, 2017

Zen....back to school


Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik Back to School blog hop!!

I was assigned the Zen fabric collection--a super assortment of blues from light to dark with a few zingers of green thrown in!! Such deep saturation of colors. They were a joy to work with!! Ask your local quilt shop to carry it!!


When planning what to design with this collection--the thoughts of those calming sand gardens came to mind--flowing circular lines drawn in the sand. I have the AccuQuilt -- Local Color -- die but have never used it yet. ZEN seemed the perfect fit to me!!


The pieces were cut quickly and accurately!! Sewing curves has been on my list of things to learn. 


The colors in this collection were the perfect range of darks and lights to acheive the "Yin Yang" effect.
Say hello to our farm dog--Roxy--who refused to move so I could get a clear full photo!!

Back to school time on the farm means the start of harvest is near!! A time of hard work and anxious worry trying to bring in all the crop before the winter season arrives. Not a very ZEN time in my farmer's life!

How about a little back to school lesson on soybeans!?!



Here is the combine with bean head attached that my husband will use to harvest the soybeans we grow on our farm. The combine will take the soybeans off the plant. Then transfer them into a wagon.


This big auger will be pulled from its' summer holding area and set over a grain bin. It will be used to move the grain from a wagon into a bin.


The grain is stored in bins like the one pictured here. It is kept safe and dry until the right market prices are met. Then the grain will be taken back out of the bins, loaded onto a truck, and hauled to the elevator in a nearby town to be sold. 


The soybean is such a versatile crop. 
The oil is processed out to make many things for our everyday life. The oil can be refined for edible products--cooking oil, margarine, and salad dressings to name a few. Some non-edible uses for the oil include, bio diesel fuel, industrial cleaning solvents, paints, and even non toxic crayons!!  How cool is that!


The protein is processed out and turned into soybean meal an animal food product. It is also processed into multiple human edibles such as soy milk, soy flour, tofu, and many retail food products. 


Wow, that was a lot of information--let's all pray that some of the ZEN from these gorgeous fabrics works it way into the harvest season this fall!!


I am offering a set of 2 1/2" x 34" strips from all 20 pieces in the ZEN collection. Plus an additional assortment of 2 1/2" squares. Just leave me a comment with anything you learned from this Back to School lesson on soybeans today.

Island Batik is also having some great giveaways on their blog--head over there and enter!!


Find all the other ambassador blog posts on the Island Batik Blog post here.






40 comments:

beaquilter said...

Cool quilt. I don't have that die...nice soybean lesson too. Is it non GMO?

Sally Johnson said...

What a great quilt and video... Awesome job girl...

Debbie said...

I applaud your gorgeous quilt and all the curved piecing-great job and glorious colors! Who knew-soybean crayons!

Pamela said...

I had no idea that soybeans were used in non-food products. Thanks for the lesson! And thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt! I love blue.

Booking Lost Time said...

Love the orange auger and grain bin quilt pictures. My brother grows soybeans so I didn't learn anything new today. (I get waayyy too educated about crops some days.) Not that I'd know the difference but my first thought on seeing the quilt on the header and your comment about it was "Is it a flexhead and are the pins in or out for soybeans?"

Allison said...

Interesting info about farming. I didn't realize that the farmer holds his soybeans until the market price is good. Your quilt is beautiful! The colors are so peaceful and calming.

Cheryl @ Simply Shoeboxes said...

I didn't know it was used in animal feed. We had acreage once and the neighboring farmer used the fields for soybeans sometimes. Love the images of your quilt touring the fields.

Susan L. said...

Love your quilt! I learned soybeans can be used in so many things!

Dawn F said...

I didn't know soybeans could be used for crayons! Cool! Love your quilt! Maybe someday I will learn curves as well.

Alice Ronne said...

Beautiful quilt! Reminds me of the eclipse we just had. Interesting to know the fun facts of something my family has always consumed as soy sauce, tofu and miso in our family cooking. akronne17@gmail.com

Quilting Tangent said...

Pretty quilt and dog approved. ;) Didn't know that is how soy beans grow and that they look like peas in a pod. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Joyce Carter said...

Beautiful quilt! I really love the colors.
What an interesting lesson about soybeans. I knew they were used in foods, but I didn't know they were used in crayons and paints and so many other items. Thanks for all the info and for the giveaway.

Barb said...

Love that your pooch loves quilts & that you feel way busy during the bean harvest time, too! Thanks for sharing the soybean lesson with our non-farming friends .

Unknown said...

That was very interesting! I did not know that soy beans were used in so many different items other than food and oil. Love Edamame!

Calicojoan said...

Oh, I love this. What a great die. That's a new one to me... guess my wish list is going to be growing. LOL!!!

Jayne said...

Can't say that I have given soybeans much thought before so thank you for educating us all and I love your quilt - lots of curved piecing

@lutzcats said...

Selling soy beans....is like the stock market: Waiting for the right price...ok, SELL NOW! lutzcats at yahoo dotcom

rosemaryschild said...

WOW! Non-toxic crayons-didn't know that-very cool! Thank you for sharing, Susan

tac73 said...

Love this collection and your beautiful quilt! Thank you for sharing all the information on harvesting soybeans. I did not know what the combine looked like.

quilter said...

Interesting. I learned about edible and non-edible uses. Thanks for sharing and giveaway! cork@pa.rr.com

MoeWest said...

I didn't know that soy is used for non-edibles. I hope you have a good harvest and thanks for the very interesting information about soy. I really like your quilt made with the Zen batiks! What a great pattern!

Lori said...

wow I had no idea that soy beans were in crayons. I remember my crayons when I was young would melt easily. lol once they melted on top of the cars dashboard. LOL To say dad was not happy was putting it mild. Your quilt is gorgeous. Well your pretty dog did not move because he was testing your quilt and it became dog approved.
quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

Vicki H said...

I didn't know soy beans were used so many ways.

Auntie Marg said...

You do such great work AND all the farm info surely was not lost on you! Thank you for sharing!

jellybean said...

Love the quilt and learned some new things about soybeans thanks for the info

barbtaz said...

I've never seen the actual beans up close. I remember when we first moved here from Chicago I couldn't understand why the farmers would plant crops and then let them DRY OUT in the fields. I thought they should be harvesting them when they were nice & fresh :-) Now I love the golden yellow fields this time of year.
I'd love to use those beautiful fabrics in Daughter # 2's wedding quilt that I'm currently working on. Thanks for the chance to win!!!

Anna brown said...

Nice quilt I love the colors you got.As for the soy beans it's been very dry here in michigan so corn and the beans are looking kinda weak..So it's very dusty when they harvest them... happyness04431@yahoo.com

teachpany said...

Great quilt design, and love the info on soybeans. Fuel? Never knew that. Loved the photos, too.

Annmarie said...

I am a big fan of edible soy products but never knew about all the non-edible uses. Amazing! I am also a big fan of Zen. Your quilt is awesome!

JANET said...

Did not know they made crayons from soy. Thank you for the interesting facts about soy. Who knew?? ndfromsd atgmail dotcom

Janarama said...

I had no idea they make non toxic crayons from soy ... very cool. I love your quilt. For just learning how to sew curves, you jumped in full force. The whole quilt is curves and it's beautiful. One of these days I'll try to tackle curves in a quilt.

Sewgirl said...

I didn't realize all the products that are made from soy...I knew about the milk and the oil, but didn't realize the rest...amazing. And your quilt is great. Best wishes for a productive harvest!

Cecilia said...

Very interesting way to show off your quilt! I want to try curves soon. Thanks for sharing your quilt!

Kathy E. said...

The best thing I learned from this post is that a combine makes an awesome photo prop!!! :) It sure beats a tree or a fence! Soybeans are a common crop here in Iowa too, as are combines. I love those blues...they are such a soothing, peaceful range of blues. Love it!

Anonymous said...

I learned that the soybean is very versatile and is used in many different products including cooking oil and bio diesel fuel. Your quilts are lovely!!
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

GranChris said...

I grew up on a farm in Kansas so you have taken me back in time. I noticed that they are planting soy beans here in my part of NC. It's all clay soil. Never thought they would grow here.

Sharon said...

Love your photography and the quilt of course!!!

VA said...

I never realized how HUGE a combine is! Nice setting for a quilt photo!

mumbird3 said...

Not sure i would be brave enough to put my quilt on a combine!!! they are scarey!!!!

Julie said...

LOVE the quilt.