Halloween

Trying to get Halloween pics today 

with these giant costumes 

in our “studio” (aka the upstairs hall) 

was hilarious.

Jac and Donovan were excited and hyper;

Leia couldn’t move without knocking someone or something over;

both Leia and Leanne were supposed to be back in zoom school like Right.Now.

So much giggling and silliness.  

So much fun.

Happy Halloween, y’all. 

Stylist

I’m not sure if my new hair stylist is going to work out,

but she and her assistant really enjoy their job,

and they sure are cute.

Maybe I’ll keep them around a little while longer.

Then There Were Two

Edit: He likes it! “My Shark!” hasn’t left Donovan’s hand since I gave it to him. I’m a happy grandma. 

Sammy Shark is done and ready for Donovan tomorrow.

Sammy took a little longer than Jac’s narwhal, 

both because Jac helped me stuff Mr Shark (so.much.helping lol) 

and because the mouth is hand-stitched on after the body is complete. It was slow going but worth it, I think. 

The belly fabric was a piece left over from the fish bowl quilt. It’s definitely my favorite part of this project, although I’m pretty sure the teeth will be Donovan’s favorite.

Now that Jac and Donovan have their stuffies, you’d think I’d be done, right?

Wrong. The big girls - ages 9, 12 and 14 - informed me they are not too old for stuffies, thank you very much, and requested a fox, guinea pig and bat. Better get cracking, Grandma. 

Growing

A month or so ago, Leanne and her mom planted a small garden in our front yard. 

Some zucchini, a strawberry, a bit of mint.

Leanne was pretty excited to discover a hidden treasure. Looks like someone will be making zucchini bread with her own zucchini very soon. 

Halloween Decorating

We talked about not decorating for Halloween this year 

but it’s one of my favorite holidays 

and the littles love it too, so . . .

we compromised with a few decorations outside

and a few inside. I thought Donovan might be afraid of the growling baby dinosaur but he *loved* it. 

We’re planning to put a bowl of treats by the driveway for any trick-or-treaters who show up 

and have an Easter-egg-style candy hunt for Leanne and Jac. It won’t be the same - is anything in 2020?? - but the girls will still have fun. 

Changing It Up

I took Jac with me to the fabric store a few days ago and she fell in loooooooooove with the stuffed narwhal they had on display.

So of course I bought the pattern. What’s a grandma to do??

 Narwhal innards 

With three quilts currently at the long-armer’s, this was a great time to take a quilty break and try something new. 

 

The pattern is rated as “easy” and really was simple to make, once I found the online tutorial. Not sure I could have made this without swearing more swearing lots of unsewing if I’d had only the written instructions to follow. 

 Curious cat

My original plan was to cut the pattern pieces Friday night, then sew it together Saturday. But … it was so cute I couldn’t resist sewing most of it Friday, leaving just the final stitching and stuffing for today. 

I can’t wait to show this to Jac on Monday. She’s going to be so excited (I hope). 

And I can’t make something for Jac and not for Donovan, right? Sew, on the cutting table for tomorrow is Sammy Shark and his fishy fabric belly. 

Cookie Brittle

Leanne made cookies on her own today, with Jac serving as supervisor. 

She remembered all the flour this time (yay!) 

but got confused on her fractions, adding 1 1/4 cup - rather than 3/4 cup - of both brown sugar and granulated sugar. 

The results are more like cookie-brittle than traditional cookies. Oh well, maybe the third time’s the charm? 🤞

Long-Arm Bound

Look what’s heading out Tuesday for long-arm quilting - 

I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out, especially the purple fabric that looks solid but actually has a tiny black feather-like-design.

 

But I keep wondering if I should have used the orange/purple stripe fabric I originally picked rather than the blue in that outer skinny border. . .  guess I’ll never know since ripping this apart is not going to happen.

They’re Baaack

Our two week quarantine “vacation” is over and the baby grands are back!

 Jackie “fed” Leia during her morning class. Awwwwww

It was peaceful, 

and I got a lot of quilt projects closer to finished,  

and a number of books read,  

but we both missed the monkeys. A lot. 

Things like Jac serving Leia pretend food while Leia was in class (first pic) 

and Jac insisting today’s hair style have allllll the hair clips - and a side ponytail “like Elsa” - keep us all laughing and having fun.