Bunny Purse, Round 2

Leanne and I went fabric shopping earlier this week so I could give the bazillion-hour purse another try. 

 Purse lining

I had plans to make it bigger . . better . . . different . . . 

but with Easter less than a week away, I decided to stay with the basic pattern but put things together in a way that made more sense to me.

Success! I finished 4 of these over the course of 2 days, 

taking my time with the handwork (eyes and nose) and not stressing over the rest.

 Forceps, anyone?

I’m kinda pleased with how they turned out and having all my sewing tools available made a huge difference both time- and stress-wise. Turning 1” tubes by hand? Yuck!! Using forceps to grab the end and pull it through? Fast and easy!

The big girls loved their new purses but Jackie was THRILLED with hers. It cracks me up that she immediately knew how to carry it over her arm. Such a little fashionista.

Easter Prep

The little girls are on spring break this week, so we’ve spread out the Easter prep to give them a little something to do each day they’re here.

Yesterday, Mary and Leia came over to make cookies

 Can you tell which cookies Mary made? They were gorgeous.

and decorate eggs.

Leia’s theme was emoji’s . . .

and her eggs had different designs on front and back.

Mary spent most of her time on one egg. Have I mentioned she’s an artist? 

She did this green egg freehand, with a SHARPIE.

It’s amazing. 

Today was Leanne and Jaclyn’s turn.

First we corralled Jackie found Jackie something non-breakable to color, 

then Leanne and I got busy decorating more emoji-themed eggs. 

Didn’t she do a nice job? Leanne started to cry when I explained about ‘egg fights’ (an Easter highlight when my kids were young), so we may not be doing that this year. Or at least not with Leanne’s masterpieces. 

Tomorrow - more bunny purses!

Bunny Purse

Addy saw this pattern in a local quilt shop and was immediately, “Pleeeeeeeeeeease, Grandma??”

She picked out the fabrics - and a few others just because they were pretty (I’m so proud!) - 

and today I started what I thought would be a couple of hours work . . .

 Notice the collection of Diet Coke cans in the background?? I needed them!

Wrong!

Between my lack of sewing experience and the poorly written/designed pattern, it felt like this took a bazillion hours. But it’s done, Addy is happy thrilled, and that’s all that matters. And I’m already planning changes so I can make bunny purses for Leia, Leanne and Jaclyn. . .

Wyoming Road Trip

Hubby and I are visiting Addy and her family in Colorado for a mini vacation. 

 Acting silly, waiting for lunch

Today we took a road trip to Wyoming, about an hour away, to visit a bison ranch. 

 Lunch was bison burgers and bison tri-tip - yummmmm

Even though Terry’s Bison Ranch has been around for well over 100 years - Teddy Roosevelt visited in 1903 and 1910 - none of us had ever been here before, including Addy’s daddy who’s a Colorado native. 

 Giant jack-a-lope sighting!

This place is probably packed during the summer, but on a windy, rainy Friday afternoon we had it mostly to ourselves.

The ranch has a variety of animals -

including this very opinionated, irate turkey slowly making his way up the road - 

but the big draw is a sloooooow train ride out to feed and photograph bison.

 

It was amazing.

We were the train’s only passengers and our guide was in no rush, 

so we spent a good 25-30 minutes, 

with windows down and the door open, 

feeding these big guys and gals.

This one was the boss and he made sure he got the majority of the pellets, chasing off anyone that got too close.

He wasn’t the biggest though - that honor goes to his brother, 

who used to be the boss,

until the day he went to the barn for shots and a check-up

and came back to find little brother had usurped him.

 Baby bison!

We also saw a herd (caravan?) of camels but didn’t stop to feed them. Maybe because they spit? And who wants to clean that up? Interesting fact: that split upper lip allows each side of a camel’s mouth to work independently.

Despite all the animals, Addy’s favorite part of the ride was crossing from Wyoming into Colorado, then going around a short bend to cross back into Wyoming.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Lunch was great, the guide was interesting, and being that close to bison was awesome. Definitely worth the hour’s drive. 

 Ride ‘em, cow bison girl!

The Big Reveal

The shower for baby Donovan is done, so we can finally show the super secret project Leia and I have been working on. 

 Our very windy photo shoot 

Isn’t it great??

From fabric choices (“I want to teach him about science” . . . 

“but he’ll like dinosaurs too.”)

 Our high-tech pattern. 

to design (“I want it to look like my quilt so we are alike”), 

to the satin binding and her first ever embroidery (“this is fun!”), Leia made all the decisions.

 

Can you tell she also did the label??

Donovan is one lucky baby to have a quilt made with this much love and excitement.