Official Princess Jewels

Leia and Leanne take turns wearing the Official Princess Jewels, a diamond (um, rhinestone) necklace and bracelet I picked up at a high-end jewelry store (um, boot sale) in England. £1 each and worth every pence.

Doesn't Leanne look regally pleased with herself?

Pumpkin Princess Graduation

The Pumpkin Princess graduated from preschool Wednesday, 

with all the pomp and circumstance you can imagine.
 
There was marching;
 
singing and
  
dancing;
 
flag-waving 
 
balloons (with more dancing)
 
and proud parents galore. 
 
Kindergarten, here we come!
 

Summer Time, Zoo Time

Both girls are out of school for the summer and the plan is for them to spend *lots* of time at grandma's and papa's house. Yay!
 
One of our favorite things to do with them is visit the Santa Barbara zoo. 
 From bottom to top: Audrey, Michael and baby Sunshine. Normally only Michael gets fed, since he's the boss, but this time Leanne got to give lettuce to Audrey instead.

There's lots to look at;
 
lots to do; 
 
and lots of exercise to tire out little energy machines.  
Today's new thing was the climbing wall.
 
I tried to talk the girls out of it but they insisted this was their heart's greatest desire. As in "I'd rather climb the wall than have a toy - no, really!"*
 
Leanne went up several times, but only as high as I could support her with my hand on her b*tt.
 
Leia did really great. Until she got up so high she scared herself. She froze and one of the helpers had to go up and bring her down.
 
I'm pretty sure Leia won't do the wall again . . . . but I wouldn't bet on it. Wouldn't surprise me at all if she tries to talk us into it again next time we visit. 

 * Yeah, right. They each got a toy too. Grandma's a soft touch. 

Learning to Sew

Both grandgirls are fascinated by my sewing machines. 
 

Leia has made practice stitches on fabric before, so yesterday I asked it she'd like to make a little blanket for her dolls. She said no, but she'd really like to make them a pillow. We can do that!

 
I found a couple of quilt blocks in a scrap bag, showed her how to pin them together and stitch (in theory) a straight 1/4" seam. Not so straight, and not so 1/4", but she's beyond excited. And like every good artist, she was proud to sign her work.
 
Today Leia and Leanne took turns sewing - 
 
swapping places every 7 minutes, with both watching the clock like little hawks. 
 
Leia worked on decorative stitch patterns that she later cut into a boot (flag??) shape.  I thought it was going to be a blanket/rug for her toys but she says it's a toy for her baby brother.
 
Leanne made a "sheriff" (aka a bandana) 
 
and some triangle stitch patterns. Notice the ballet pose above, with her right leg out? I don't think she realized she was doing it. She does love her ballet classes! 
 
Leia has expressed interest in making a quilt - (Me: Would you like an Elsa/Anna quilt? Leia: No thanks, I'm too old for that now. I want one with flowers.) - so I think that's going to be our summer project. Fabric shopping, here we come!

Baby Shower

The countdown to Jaclyn Rose has begun. 
 
Her baby shower was Saturday, celebrated poolside in Thousand Oaks. Lovely party, lovely people, but HOT - poor Marie was melting.
 
Not wanting Leanne to feel left out in the gift-getting department, Pop and I got her a baby doll to open at the party, complete with bib, bottle and carrier. 
 
Can you tell how much she loves her new friend?
 
I'd been working on a rainbow wiggle blanket for a shower gift, 
  
and had it about 3/4's done a week before the party . . . .

when I thought, hmmmmm, Leanne and I should make a quilt** for the baby.
 
Leanne picked a panel and matching fabric from my stash, then helped me start the cutting and sewing. Two and a half days later we had a quilt! 

 Leanne wrote Jaclyn's name*,
 
 along with her own,
 
in the appropriate boxes and everyone at the shower added their names too.
 
Hopefully it will be a fun, well-used keepsake for the newest princess.

* I turned my back on Leanne for 3 seconds and when I looked back, she had written Jaclyn's name perfectly, backwards.  Second time was better, if harder to see. Definitely leaving both as-is - such a perfect sister memory.

** This is why I buy things when they're in the sale bin - to have on hand when the whim strikes to make.something.  The backing fabric and batting were half-price remnants from Quilt Ventura; the pink was a fat quarter from Cotton & Chocolate.  

Quilt Run #4

Quilt Run 2016 is done and dusted. I hit the road at 8:15 Friday morning - meeting up with Reyna in Carpinteria at 9 - and returned exactly 12 hours later, having driven 382 miles to 9 shops (up 1 from last year) and spent some significant $$ doing my bit to keep local quilt shops in business. 
 
The big story this year was the weather - see Reyna's blog for pics. We went from 59 in Camarillo and Carpinteria, to 104 (not kidding!) in Paso Robles and Atascadero, and then 30 minutes later it was 64 in Morro Bay. A 40-degree temperature difference is nuts!  There's a reason I live close to the ocean . . . . 
  
I started the Run without a plan but by the time we left Orcutt - our 2nd stop and one of my all-time favorite quilt shops - I'd decided to concentrate on fun kid's fabrics (click any picture to enlarge and see details)
 
along with border fabric 
 
for Leanne's Frozen quilt*.
 
I also picked up some space-themed yardage for the newly astro-nutty granddaughter. I couldn't decide if I wanted her quilt to be serious or silly, 
 
so I bought both kinds of fabric. I'm thinking the solar system panel (above) with Martians and goofy space rockets (below, right) surrounding it??
  
I got some fabric just because I liked it . . .  (Purple!!) . . . 
 
or because it was a really good deal - like this 4-yards of castle fabric for $20 
 
and this 1.5 yard $5 grab-bag I spotted in Morro Bay. I think the top print will work with a little girl quilt.

And the bottom fabric? I'm planning to "gift" that to an unsuspecting friend (or a charity. Probably a charity. . . .)

*I promised Leanne a Frozen quilt when her new baby sister is born. In three weeks. I think I better get cutting . . .