Zoom Zoom

It’s taken 9 months but I think I’ve finally found something I like about 2020 - quilting classes via Zoom. 

The guild I belong to in Santa Barbara held a workshop where the presenter was in her Texas studio and participants were at their homes in California. In my case, no driving for an hour to get to the workshop and if I forgot/needed something it was right here. Win!

 Fabric by Jennifer Sampou

Malka Dubrawsky (check out her work - it’s gorgeous!) showed us how to take ombré fabric,

cut it into strips

 Starching and pressing at the halfway point did NOT make things better

and sew it together again, log cabin style.

 19.5” block
Fun!

 Malka’s Shelter Quilt

My seams are wonky - it took me a couple of rounds to figure out what I was doing -

so rather than making the 20 blocks for Malka’s Shelter quilt,

I pulled out some scrap batting and quilted my lone, lovely block.

And tomorrow - or whenever I get a chance this week - I’ll turn it into . . . . . . . .

The Doctor Is In

Dr. Donovan

He had his tongue stuck out in concentration just before I snapped this shot.

Gotta take good care of the kitties. 

Fashionista

Working a theme.

That’s a cat purse too . . 

Last First Day

Addison was the last to start school this year; she’s usually the first but hey, it’s 2020 and everything’s askew. 

It was also a snow day, the first snow of the season. Good thing she’s doing distance learning, like all the other grands, and didn’t have far to walk for class. Hope you have a great year, Addy!

Half And Half

I’ve got two more quilts in progress, both about halfway done.

This one is for our house, made from a layer cake (10” squares) I bought in 2012. My goal is to make this queen-sized, my biggest quilt so far, but I need to find more of the solid red fabric first. Hoping the local fabric store still has it in stock.

This one is for Leia. I couldn’t find a pattern I liked so I’m designing this around the two panels she chose. It’s slow going -  measure twice, check the design spreadsheet, measure again - but I’m happy with it so far. 

It’s Hot!

Camarillo - and most of So. California - set heat records today.

We were supposed to “only” get up to 102

but the official high was a blistering 106. Ouch!

I’d planned to do some quilting but when I saw the temp in my craft room*, I decided it was a good day to read instead. 

 Guess whose apartment doesn’t have ac??

So glad we had air conditioning installed a couple of years ago. Tomorrow should be slightly cooler but high winds are also predicted. It’s going to be a miserable week, weather-wise. 

* I have a small window air conditioner in my craft room but didn’t want to use it today due to the threat of brown-outs.

Bits And Pieces

Jac is h*ll on wheels in the morning if she hasn’t had enough sleep.

Pop calls this her “morning after” look. Bed hair, dark glasses, dimmed lights, orange juice on the side. She’s going to such a fun teenager. 😂

Jac also announced she’s changing her name from Jaclyn Rose to Jackie Ella Cat Rose Rainbow. Not Jaclyn, Jackie. And she’s only keeping Rose because Sissy gave her that name. The girl has opinions!

Jac and Donovan play a version of follow the leader,

aka “I’m doing everything Jackie does”,

although he does get to be the leader occasionally.

Soooo much more pleasant than the “it’s mine!” crying stage.  

Overheard: “Donvey, let’s sit down and talk about it.” She talked, he pretended to listen. (Typical, right?)

The girls and I have gotten hooked on several MLM (multi-level marketing) products recently. 

One of our favorites is Color Street nails. Real nail polish that works like a sticker. 

So easy, Leia and Leanne can do their own nails, plus they last 11-14 days on my nails. That’s a win-win for me!

I love Usborne Books, especially for Jac and Donovan. I spend at least an hour every day reading Usborne to them. The wipe clean and reusable sticker books are their favorites (mine too). 

Jac thinks I bought the Norwex dusting mitt and cleaning wand just for her.

Who am I to argue? Clean away, Jac! Hope this phase lasts a loooooooong time.

Kid Quilter

I bought a couple of Kids Quilt kits from The Quilting Alliance, thinking Leia and Leanne might be interested in hand quilting. 

Crossing my fingers, it looks like the kit is a winner.

We started Leia’s project today, building the quilt sandwich,

pinning it together,

preparing the needle and thread, (I offered to get her a needle-threader but she said nope, she was going to do this. Yay!)

and finally! stitching.  

The very best part? She called me at 9 tonight, still working on her project, asking how to make a quilter’s knot again. I am a very happy grandma. (Vickie, your grands might like this kit - it is well done, with everything supplied.)

Grandma’s School House

I’m almost afraid to say it but distance learning is going a lot better than I expected - and a whole lot easier than last spring. 

Leanne starts class every day at 8:10.

Leia, when she’s here every other week, starts at 8:25. Their breaks/lunch are close to the same time so they can hang out together between sessions.

Jackie and I have outdoor school in the afternoon, 

weather permitting,

although sometimes we have a substitute teacher. 

And for the restless, we offer alternative seating. 

If it wasn’t for missing their friends, these girls might never go back to regular school.

Squishies

I love that 12-year-old Leia still likes to sit on my lap. (Hope she never gets too old for that.)

Today Jac decided she needed to get in on the action.

She usually feels so tiny and light, but that extra 30 pounds of lap-weight was heavy.

And then Jac started wiggling and giggling and everything collapsed. Such silly girls.

More First Days

Two more grandkids started school today 2020-style, at home on their laptops.

Leia is in 7th grade,

and Thomas started his first year at Cal Lutheran. Go, Kingsmen!