Squirmy Baby Book Club

Donovan came for a visit so mama could get her new crown (not the sparkly kind, unfortunately) 

 Bowls make great hats

and supervised while Leia and Jac made cookies.

Or, as really happened, Leia made cookies while Jac made a mess with eggs, water and various seasonings. 

Jac was happy so it’s all good, right? (I think I finally got all the spillage off of, and out of,  the cabinets and drawers . . .)

The highlight of the day, by far, was Leia attempting to read to these little squirm worms. Not sure how much reading got done, but the giggles were contagious. 

Tula Nova Progress

Making progress on Tula Nova, the English paper-piecing project I started in Tula Pink’s workshop a few weeks ago.

The Round 5 stars are sewn on and the next round’s diamonds are prepped and ready to go. 

I’m determined to work with the fabric I have on hand, so most of this is from Tula’s “Zuma” line. I couldn’t resist adding in the Fairy Dust birds from Pinkerville (above),

and the sea serpent, swan and unicorn left over from my “Shoreline” quilt.  

Only 2 rounds to go after this. I’ll probably use the waves or jellies from Zuma next but I’m still undecided on the final row. Also can’t make up my mind if I like the pink star or if it’s too distracting. Opinions?

Grandma’s Rainbow

The first time Jackie saw my latest project on the design wall, her eyes went big and she whispered “Grandma’s rainbow!”’

Each of the strips above opens into two different shades.

I’ve been sewing them two-by-two, then four-by-four,

and eight-by-10,

until I had all 40 in rainbow order. Tomorrow (I hope) I’ll cut this up, add and flip and sew it together again. Crossing fingers I can cut a straight edge down that long side . . . 

Dress Up Princess

Jac had her first dress up day with Sissy - 

can you tell she loved it??

So much excitement.

Jac’s finally tall enough to wear the smallest size 

of the million-and-one princess dresses 

we’ve accumulated over the years, 

but she still needs a bit of help getting the top to stay up. 

Leanne’s creative solution was brilliant.

Naia’s Quilt

Naia loved her quilt.

I finished “Blue Dolphins” several weeks ago

 Looks like it fits Naia’s bed perfectly 

but between our being sick 

 Back detail

and her school schedule

 Quilted with flip flops and seashells 

we couldn’t find a time to get together until last night.

I’m thrilled Naia likes it. 

When we left, Leia was trying to talk her sister into leaving the quilt behind when Naia heads off to college in August. Naia gave that a resounding “no”!

Early Mom’s Day

We had an early dinner tonight to celebrate Mother’s Day with the California branch. Leia took almost all of these pics and did an excellent job getting everyone with their eyes open and smiling. 

 A little blurry but I love this picture 

 Jackie perusing her (drinks) menu. 



 Donovan loves his broccoli 

 Jackie didn’t want her picture taken 

 Sneaky grandma gets a picture of Jac anyway

Fabric Folding Workshop

Spent the day in a fabric folding workshop with Rami Kim, a DNA-scientist turned internationally known fabric artist and quilter. 

I’ve been curious about fabric folding for a long time (it’s Vickie’s fault).

Turns out it’s fun and relatively easy, but also very precise (to get good results) and not something I’ll probably do very often (the hexagons anyway. The kimonos interest me more ...)

Each hexagon starts as a circle and is folded, then sewn to its neighbors, to form anything from simple flowers 

Rami Kim’s patterns

to wallhangings, quilts, purses, clothing and more. 

 A friend’s first kimono

I bought one of Rami’s purse patterns - her wreath folding technique is beautiful - and she has an online class that I’m seriously considering signing up for. Hmmmm, I may be more interested in this than I thought I was . . .

Surprise Visit

Donovan stopped by for a visit today while his mama had an unplanned dental visit. (Tomorrow she gets a root canal. Ouch!!)

Jackie was thrilled to see him, 

until he tried to touch “her” toys - and by “her toys” I mean anything in our house.

 Giving him “the look”

Jac is a sweetheart but she isn’t big on the whole sharing thing. 

And being the youngest at home, and most of the time at Grandma’s, she usually gets her way. 

She eventually agreed to pretend she was the mama

and she “taught” Donovan to play ball. 

Donovan, bless him, was just happy to hang out with his new friend. 

Stepping Up Quilt

I was waiting until this reached its new home before posting finished pics,

but that was back mid-April . . .  Better late than totally forgotten??

The free pattern is “Stepping Up” by Donna Robertson. It’s fast, easy and (I think) shows off the batik fabrics beautifully.

The musical backing fabric is from my stash, and not only was it the exact right size,

it was the perfect color. The notes I thought were brown turned out to be purple and match wonderfully with the border fabric. 

Add musical quilting in orange thread and we’re done. 

This quilt now lives in Oklahoma with my best buddy from high school. We were in band and orchestra together, and she still plays in her local community orchestra, thus the musical theme. Plus, she loves orange as much as I do. Bonus! Hope she enjoys this, and it brings her happy memories, for years to come.