Dinosaur Bones

Thanks to the arrival of an awesome gift from Auntie Rachel

and the ok to play in the dirt Pop set aside for the backyard project,

Jac and Donovan spent a couple of hours

digging for dinosaur bones,

playing prince and princess of the hill,

and getting happily, 

thoroughly, 

ridiculously 

dirty.

It was awesome. 

When they were done,

I stripped them to their underwear at the front door

and plopped them both in the bathtub for another hour of play. 

And with any luck, we’re going to do it all again tomorrow.

Thanks for the new imaginationland, Rachel and Pop!

Big Ol’ Hole

It took four guys and two 12-hour days, 

but we officially have a giant hole in the ground.

Before and after

Some dirt still needs to go - 

That’s the door to my craft room 

the bin we rented wasn’t big enough for all of it -

and the fence needs a bit more work -

the gate was too small for the Kaboda. Solution? Tear it out! -

Reusable dirt and bricks

but overall we’re pleased with the progress. 

So, what’s going in that big hole, you ask?

We’re getting a pool! The baby grands (and hubby) are so happy.

View from my craft room, end of Day 1

Binding Marathon

It took all Saturday afternoon

but the bindings are on three quilts, ready for hand-stitching. 

 Ombre Carnival and 2 National Parks quilts

Whoohoo!

I can’t decide if it’s sad or hilarious that after all this time, and all these quilts, 

I still can’t remember how to finish a binding without pulling out the directions. 

Typical Jac

Me: Hey Jac, did you know your mom painted this picture?

Jac: it's creepy. It looks like a mouth is eating the moon. See all the sharp teeth around it??

Me: ...

Jac: Creepy sharp teeth

That’s my Jac, art critic extraordinare. I’ll never look at that picture the same way again. 😂

Mini Run

The Central Coast quilt shop run was canceled again this year, so four of us -all vaccinated- decided to do our own mini-run. 

So fun to get out*, fondle fabric and do our part to revitalize the economy. 

Navy blue Grunge with the perfect tinge of purple

The only thing I *needed* was binding fabric for Ombre Carnival, which I found at our first stop, Quilty Pleasures in Simi. 

Jac’s birthday quilt I didn’t know I was going to make

Next up was Candy’s Quiltworks, in Northridge, one of the biggest, best supplied quilt stores I’ve ever seen. So much temptation. How could I say no to rainbow unicorns for Jac?? And those orange ginkgo leaves! Don’t know what it will become, but knew it had to come home with me. 

108” backing for hubby’s future quilt

Then on to Quilt Emporium, in Woodland Hills, another store -like Orcutt- where almost everything is just my style. So many pretties.

Pretty linen fat quarters

We’d planned two more stops - the new location of Cotton and Chocolate in TO and The Fabric Shoppe in Camarillo - but a freeway gravel spill, and the resulting 45 minutes it took to go less than 1 mile, sapped our enthusiasm, so C&C was our final stop. The new store is very nice, with lots of natural light and tons more classroom space. None of us bought much - I’m blaming low energy - but it’s close enough we can go back again soon. 

* I feel a tiny bit bad that I left hubby home alone to deal with the yard contractor and wrangle both Jac and Donovan. And that I accidentally (no, really!) left my phone at home so he couldn’t even call if things went bad. Oopsie!

Prepping

The boundaries are marked,

the super-size bin is in place,

and tool man is raring to go. 

The work was supposed to kick off today but the contractor’s truck broke down, so we’re on hold for tomorrow. 

And while we waited, we decided this tree also needs to go. I love the magnolia’s blossoms but it has definitely overgrown it’s space.

The only plant that’s staying is the hibiscus where the hummingbirds nest. And the entwined morning-glory-vine-from-h*ell. 

The neighbors planted it years and years ago and it immediately tried to take over the entire neighborhood, growing over fences, sheds and to the very top of every tree. It’s pretty but, man oh man, is it a PITA. 

It’s corralled for now in this one spot, but I’m still not turning my back on it. Stand still too long and hellooooooo, you’re now entwined in the vine. 

Fairy Forest

Leanne’s birthday quilt is done, done, done.

She’s been using it for awhile, without the binding, (oopsie)

but I took it with us to Mammoth 

and got it absolutely, totally, finally finished. 

The pattern is “Summer Night Soirée” (details here) (free pattern here) and I bought the kit from Northern Threads quilt shop in Fairbanks AK, a shop I’ve never been to but where I spend a *lot* of $$ on a regular basis (they have very cool, unique items). 

This was my first time doing mitered corners (here), which were a cinch compared to the time-consuming blocks (here). Finished size is 65x76.5”. Overall, this was a fun project and Leanne *loves* it. And did I mention it glows in the dark?? So cool. 

P.S. I’ve started having the girls sign their name on the quilt label, rather than my writing it. Hoping that will have special meaning for them as they get older.