Swimming With The Sharks

Little kids have such great imaginations. Jac and Donovan spent most of Thursday morning swimming in the ‘ocean’, complete with Jac holding her breath and putting her head up for giant gasps of air every few seconds. Jac can identify a lot of ocean creatures, thanks to Octonauts (we love that show!), and she’s doing her best to make sure Donovan knows too. 

Silence Of The Wild

Another pandemic quilt is finished. Whoohoo!

Leia choose the two wild animal panels for this back in July.

It took awhile to get underway- I couldn’t find a pattern I liked, so I designed (and redesigned) a layout in good old Microsoft Excel. It was slow going - measure twice, check the spreadsheet, measure again - but it worked!

Leia found the perfect backing fabric at the end of September (be sure to check out the shots of Jac posing with the finished top) 

and off it went to my pal Debbie for long-arm quilting. 

A little hand-stitching for the binding and the label* (ok, 4 nights of hand-stitching - this is a big quilt!),

and voila - Leia slept under this for the first time last night at our house. 

This finished at 62x75”, the perfect size for a pre-teen’s bed. And at 5’ 1 3/4” (she’s proud of that 3/4’s of an inch), I don’t think she’ll outgrow this 6’ quilt any time soon. 

* Leia chose the quilt’s name - “Silence of the Wild” - because her favorite thing about going hunting with her dad is the quiet of the backcountry. 

Catching Up

Playing catch-up on the last week or so. We managed to do a few things besides compulsively refresh electoral college counts and election results. Is it over yet??

Leanne and I made pool noodle pompom shooters (using this tutorial) and it was a ridiculous amount of fun for 10 minutes of work. So much giggling!

The dollar store pompoms were too lightweight to go very far, so I’ve ordered heavier felt pompoms for the next round. Donovan is going to love this. 

We’ve started Jac on a preschool-in-a-box program that my niece recommended. She loves it!

Jac really enjoyed her pre-COVID preschool and I’m sad she’s missing out on that experience. I’m hoping this will keep her engaged and on the path to kindergarten readiness. 

Leia and Leanne were out of school today for Veteran’s Day and were not pleased when I made them turn off their electronics and do something together. 

 Leia’s fake mad face; she’s practicing for her teen years

They took turns playing and complaining. Such a mean grandma. 😂

Leia asked to learn the lazy daisy embroidery stitch.

Not bad for her first try!

A sure sign winter is coming - 

Lily is spending a lot more time on my lap, sandwiched between my lap quilt and the one I’m currently working on. You’d think that fur coat would keep her warm enough but the silly girl loves quilts when it turns cold. 

Monterey Fishbowls

Another pandemic quilt is finished and already in use. 

I purchased most of this fabric during our trip with Leanne and Jaclyn to Monterey Aquarium in April 2019 - our very first overnight trip with Jac. 

I cut the bowls out shortly afterwards, but then it sat  . . . and sat . . . until COVID hit and I started lining up pairs of quilts - one old and one new - to finish. 

The pattern is “Go Fish”, and my pal Debbie did the fun long-arm quilting. 

The back panel, a Japanese print, is Jac’s favorite. She and Donovan love pointing out the different whales and sharks swimming at the top,

and all the colorful creatures hiding at the bottom. 

The other think Jac loves?

Teaching Donavee all the tricks to helping grandma photograph quilts to best advantage.

Bottoms up! 

Sunny Day

What a beautiful day - 

bright blue skies, light breeze, temps in the low 70’s.

Perfect for playing with the new bubble machine

and drawing chalk art on the driveway. 

I love California in the fall. 

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.