Halloween!

We had so much fun today.

From partying in Leia's classroom

 Leanne was my bingo assistant.

to pumpkin carving,

decorating, 

and - finally! - after hours of waiting 

 Is it time yet??

the grand costume extravaganza.

 The Simi contingent 

Happy Halloween, y’all!

The Fun Never Stops

Busy, busy weekend.

STEMing with the big girls Friday afternoon -

they both love Snap Circuits and Kiwi/Tinker Crates.

NatGeo presentation on N Korea and Cuba Friday night - these programs are fantastic!

Up before the sun on Saturday to help set up the spinning/weaving guild's Harvest Sale.

The fog rolled in after the sun came up. So weird! Good turnout and happy vendors made the early wake-up worthwhile.

Fabric shopping with Leanne on Sunday. She found this flannel robots fabric and had.to.have.it. We bought it all - on sale! I made her a pillowcase, and she made a sleeping bag/blanket for her doll, neither of which I photographed. Major Grandma fail!

Leanne and Jaclyn spent the night Sunday. Leanne (almost) slept through the night (we had one short hand-holding, I’m scared event at 2:15) but Jac, bless her, woke up at 3 and decided she was done with sleeping. Which meant Grandma was also done sleeping. Good times.  

New quilt is going up on the design wall - Pecking Order by Missouri Star Quilts - 

and the blocks for Leanne's HST quilt are done; she picked a design (like the picture above); hopefully sewing will begin this week. We’re both pretty excited about it.

All Jac, All Day

We took Jac with us to “free sushi day” at our local PF Chang’s - 

  She slept most of the way through lunch.

and then to the Disney outlet store for her first shopping expedition. 

I wanted the Minnie Mouse dress I’d spotted on a previous trip (on sale today!)

 It’s a plane!

and Jac also got to choose a stuffie - 

I was pretty surprised when she fell in love with a tiny Tigger. The girl has good taste.

Getting pictures in her new dress was a long process - 

 “Let me gooooooo . . “

Jac does not like to sit/stand still for anything.

But with big sister's help, 

I think I got a few decent shots. 

This one is my fav.

Definitely saving this for her wedding day collage.

Rag Quilt x 2

These have been done for awhile but getting photos has been tough.
 Leia's quilt has borders and one monkey block on the back. Super cute!

Leia and Jac use their quilts almost continuously when they're here (hooray!!)
 Jac's quilt; much faster to make with no borders. 

plus that pink fabric is hard to photograph - makes my eyes hurt just looking at how bright it is in these pics. It's not quite that bright in real life, thank goodness.
Back of Jac's quilt has a monkey and a kitty block. 

I'm pleased with how these first two turned out - there's definitely a learning process involved. Already working on plans for more . . . .

Quilt Update

 I started this project back in July, thinking it would be fast, easy and done.
 

Nope. Once I decided to make it bigger, it kinda stalled out and has been hogging sitting on my design wall for three looooooong months. And dang it, I am tired of looking at it want my space back for new projects.

I don't love it, but Mary does, so it will probably be a Christmas present. Yay!

So Sunday I made a plan and dug in. As of tonight I have only 3 seams left to do. With any luck, this should have a backing and be off to the long-arm quilter by next week. (hope I didn't just jinx myself . . . )
 
And because I'll forget how I made this - no pattern, just winged it - here's a few notes to myself: 

• started with 5" charm pack and made HSTs using the 'draw a line' method;
• sprayed each HST with Best Press and ironed pressed each one within an inch of its life;
• then trimmed them up to 4.5" with my new favorite toy, the Block-Loc ruler.
• Next time, I'd probably square them up to 4" and save myself some swearing . . . 

 

Barefoot Ballerinas

The ballerina skirts I picked up last week were a huge hit.

I wasn’t sure how Jac would like hers, 

since some tulle can be scratchy, 

but it didn’t bother her at all.

Our outdoor photo shoot 

started with 'who can keep up with Jac'

but she eventually figured out it was more fun

to hang out with the big girls.

Or not . . .

The skirts are surprisingly well made, and fully lined (not scratchy!), so I’m hoping the girls will get lots of use from them. Not bad for 70% off sale rack specials!

Crafty

Nail polish

plus water

and tiny pumpkins 

equals an afternoon of crafty fun.

Notes for next time: 

First, open ALL the windows

and break out the disposable gloves. 

Unless you like your fingers the same color(s) as your pumpkins. 

Not a good look, trust me.