Space Day

Today’s Addy-approved goal was to visit two space-related places.

A friend told me about a kid-friendly, hands-on space museum in Downey, 

 Flying her first plane 

and said it was well worth the 2-hour drive.

 Mural made from photographs 

She was right. The Columbia Memorial Space Center is fairly small

 Trying out robotic arms 

but so much fun. Addy loved it. 

Her (and my) favorite part was making paper airplanes and trying to fly them through a circle in the air (red arrow below).

 Red arrow marks the airplane target 

Mine flew higher at first, 

but Addy kept improving hers until she got it through the circle a couple of times and she could fly it almost the length of the entire room. Not bad for her first try at paper plane crafting!

Our plan was to continue on to the Griffith Observatory’s Star Party but that turned out to be a no-go. Traffic was slooooow and backed up for miles, and parking was non-existent unless you wanted to hike a mile up-hill, so we gave up and came home. Viewing the stars would have been nice but we’ll try going during the day when it maybe won’t be as crowded. 

Addy’s Here!

Addy and her mama arrived late Thursday afternoon, making much better time on their drive from CO than we’d expected.

First order of business was documenting Addy’s latest growth spurt, which put her inches taller than Auntie Marie. And Addy’s only 12! I’m next - Addy’s about a 1/2” shorter than me and she needs just an inch to pass her mom. It could very well happen by her birthday in November.

Next up was dinner and a side trip to Build A Bear. 

I asked Addy if she was too old for stuffies now and she said “heck, no!” Her daddy is going to be soooooooooo happy. 

Today, by Addy’s choice, was crafting day. She turned down going to the Fair or a movie so she and I could sew. 

Addy forgot to bring the purse pattern she wanted to make, so we started checking links on Pinterest,

 Addy’s “stop taking my picture and let me concentrate!” face

finally settling on this tutorial by RedFly Creations, which we enlarged to fit Addy’s school iPad.

 Lining fabric looks like shimmery mermaid scales

A bit of sewing, a bit of ripping (mostly my fault . . .)

and within a few of hours we had a finished masterpiece. Fast, easy and finished - that’s our kind of project. 

Liberty Octopi Quilt

I put this quilt in the mail today, on its way to a new home in Pennsylvania.

This Liberty of London fabric has been in my stash since April 2018, when I fell hard for that flowery octopi at a local quilt show. It took until the following May to find a pattern I liked and a bit longer still to correctly sew it together (or my interpretation of it, anyway)

I bought the backing on a whim during this year’s quilt shop hop, with no project in mind, just because it made me smile. Turns out crests of tusk-crossed narwhals go perfectly with flowery octopi.

I’m kinda sad to see this one go, and almost wish I’d kept it for myself.  Almost. Hopefully, my baby sister, Cheryl, will love it as much as I do. 

Wonky All Stars Quilt

I’ve wanted to make Shelly a quilt for a couple of years, but our tastes are so different, I worried she wouldn’t like what I chose. 

In June, I spotted this All Stars quilt tutorial on Missouri Star’s video app and immediately knew this was the one. 

 Finished size is 63 x 72”
A little shopping, 

a little sewing, a little ripping when I didn’t like how a third of the blocks turned out and voila -

I think she likes it!

The pattern was very easy and I was especially pleased at the clever way the leftover  squares from the layer cake (layer cake = 42 10” squares) were used to make the border and cornerstones. The backing - which I forgot to photograph - was the white and black print I bought on the quilt shop run in May. I love it when a stash plan comes together. 

Birthday Month

August is crazy busy with birthdays.

Shelly’s bday is August 2,

 Brothers

Gary’s is August 3, and Matt’s is August 4.

Then we take a slight break before Leia’s birthday on the 13th and John’s on the 29th. 

 

We celebrated the first three tonight with dinner at Wood Ranch, where Donovan proved he is a true meat lover. 

 Eyeing Gary’s burger for his next course

Leia will get a double celebration - the first on her actual birthday next Tuesday while Addy is here (!) and the second on Saturday with a party for her friends. 

Then we skip to October for the next round. Fun, fun, fun. 

Hats and Haircuts

Leia took these pictures today

while Donovan 

and Daddy 

got all spiffed up for Matt’s birthday tomorrow.

And there’s nothing better 

for showing off your new, polished look 

than stylin’ cowboy hats 

before you go home and fall asleep in your toast.

Secret Sewing

The package of goodies has been mailed and received, so now I can show some of the things I’ve been working on recently. 

 Wallhanging for Rachel’s trailer

Addy, Rachel and her friend, Tanya, are driving out for a visit next week, camping overnight along the way.

 Back, with cute vintage campers

So, of course they need quilty, sewy things for the trip. Like a little “glamping” mini-quilt that I quilted myself (one of the few - but growing - things I’ve machine quilted).

I also made a zippered bag for Rachel

and Addy, 

then stuffed them with a pair of pillowcases for Rach -

and a single case for Addy.

I didn’t want John to feel left out, so he got a pillowcase too. Not bad for a week of secret sewing. 

Fair Wins

We were at the Fair before noon today, trying to beat the crowds on opening day and $1 admission day. 

First stop was the Youth Building - of course! - to check on Leia and Leanne’s entries.

Leia received a blue 1st place ribbon for her quilt, 

two 2nd and one 3rd place ribbons for her paintings

and a 2nd for her pottery. 

Leanne took first place on her tic-tac-toe bag,

along with her dress and heart pillow.

She also received blue ribbons on four of her five paintings and a 2nd place ribbon on the fifth. It was amazing that everything they both entered received an award.

We spent a few hours checking out the Ag Building, 

the 4H livestock - it’s sheep week! - 

and sampling the greasy and delicious Fair food

before the girls celebrated their ribbons with their current favorite thing -

henna tattoos for all!