Finishes

Sent this pretty purse off to its new home, so I can finally show it here.

Made this in a class at Strings & Things Studio for my SIL’s upcoming 50th anniversary (!!) trip to Scotland. Hope she gets lots of use from it!

Free pattern is “Forage Bag” by Noodlehead.

Addy’s Range backpack is another Noodlehead pattern.

I love the constellation fabric - canvas on the outside with light blue and gold metallic cotton on the inside - for our future scientist. Confession . . . I gave this to Addy in November when we were visiting and forgot to blog it. 

Another almost forgotten project is this trailer wallhanging I made for Rachel. Finished it  the night before we left for Colorado and never did take a final picture. (Just realized I forgot to embroider the tow bar on the front, so I guess it isn’t finished yet . . .)

And finally - this is for Donovan’s upcoming birthday. It’s a simple design but BRIGHT and COLORFUL and perfect for our favorite one-year-old.

 Quilt backing

This will go to my quilting pal this weekend so I can get the binding on it before party day on the 13th. 

Scope Day

Leia has had intestinal issues for awhile now, so her doctor requested both a colonoscopy and an endoscopy.

Wednesday was “procedure day” - can you tell how excited she is??

The tests only took about 45 minutes total; the results should be ready within a week.

The sweetest thing about this? I need to have both tests done this year, which Leia knew. She called me on her way home after her tests to tell me “they were no big deal”, “you don’t feel anything” and “you shouldn’t worry about it too much.” How kind and considerate is that!? No wonder I love this kid. 

Day Tripping

Pop had a craving for apple strudel and I needed fabric to finish a project,

so we loaded Jac into the car and headed for Solvang.

Silly Pop washed our car yesterday, so of course it rained most of our way north, 

 Jac, tolerating my picture taking

but Solvang was beautiful, with blue skies, fluffy white clouds and mild temps.

 “Stop!” Jac, done with picture-taking

We picked up the strudel first, since it tends to sell out, before having lunch at Belgian Cafe

and heading to Buellton for my fabric.

 Snail housing quilt kit in the top pic. Too cute to pass up!

Quick, fun trip. Perfect.

Catching Up

The D-man has started walking

and always has a smile on his face. 

Big sister, Leia, has joined a volleyball group and is practicing up to 2 hours a day.

She says she loves it!

And we bought a new sofa-recliner. The two chairs this replaces were re-upholstered almost 20 years ago, so we’ve had them 25 years or so? It was time for a change. They are still in good condition, so off they go to Gary and Shelley’s house. Yay!

Fancy Back

I love how this turned out.  

For most quilt backs, I sew two lengths of matching fabric together and call it good. 

But it seemed a shame not to use the three leftover pictures - especially this colorful otter - 

and I had exactly enough left of the jellyfish fabric to make it work. Some things are just meant to be. (I want more jelly fabric for meeeeeee! So pretty . . .)

Braids

Leia’s hair is long, thick and tangles easily. She hates dealing with all the snarls and knots but she also wants to grow it longer.

She was enthusiastic about learning to braid it herself, so last night we sat down with a practice board and three colors of the thickest yarn I could find.

Leia got the hang of things pretty quickly and even practiced with her eyes closed, since she wouldn’t be able to see what she’s doing when she braids her own hair. I figured another week of practice and she’d be good to go on her own. 

I sent her off this morning with hair I braided . . . and she came home with hair she braided. Apparently Leia and her friends practiced braiding her hair during lunch and recess. Looks like she won’t need that extra week after all. #SuperProudGrandma

Poppy Day

Monday was a school holiday (teacher in-service day) so we planned to take the girls on a short hike in Simi to admire the wildflowers.

Best laid plans, right?

I ended up staying home with a sick, miserable Jac 

while Pop took the poppets to see the poppies. (!)

Leia took most of these pics

including that first one, which I looooove,

and a “few” selfies (which makes me laugh).

She also took several pix of informational signs and I’m so proud, since I love doing that too.

The area is still recovering from this year’s Woolsey Fire,

with burnt trees and rocks but not a lot of ash remaining.

Lots of flowers, on a short (mostly) level

kid-friendly trail, with no crowds?

Perfection!

Dolphin Quilt

Borders are on - 

and I’ve started piecing the back. 

These are the panel sections that were left over when I finished the front. So happy I can use them too. 

Happy St Pat’s Day!

Matt and Mary took the kids to Ventura’s St Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday and got some great pix. Enjoy!