Graduation #1

It’s official. The CO teenager is a high school graduate!*

It was a nice, fairly short ceremony for the approx. 250 graduating seniors. 

Great bonus - it was held in the local sports stadium, 

with comfy seats and a nice heating system (it was cooold and windy outside…)

The graduates were allowed to decorate their caps, so Cyrus crocheted (I’m so proud!) sunflowers and glued them to the top. 

Made her very easy to spot!

John’s brother is a professional photographer and offered to take pics of the ceremony and family pics afterward. So pleased to have these!

*Well, kinda. She’s in a program where she completes high school and her AA at the same time, so she’ll actually get both diplomas next spring when she finishes her second year of college. 

With mom

 Dad

 Siblings 

 Grandpa

 Did I mention it was cold, windy & damp??

 Aunt & uncle

 Cousins

Hello From CO

We’re hanging out in Colorado this week, admiring the sunsets

and celebrating Addy’s imminent graduation from high school and the completion of her first year of college. 

Tonight was dinner with her dad’s family. Tomorrow is hair and makeup prep - and figuring out how to de-wrinkle a graduation gown that feels like it will melt if you look at it twice.🙄 Saturday is the ceremony and more party time! Whooooo! 🎉🎉🎉 

Rainbow Puff’s House

Jackie said the magic words this afternoon - “Granma, do you have any purple fabric?”

Out came the pink/purple scrap bin,

along with scissors, glue, paint brushes, stuffing, boxes and more. 

Jac had very specific ideas of what she wanted and my job was to sew things as she created them.

She started with a little stuffed pillow, then a “fancy blanket”.  (I seamed the pillow and sewed the small fabric to the blanket - Jac did everything else herself.)

While I mis-sewed the bottom rows of my quilt (seam ripper coming out tomorrow…)

Jac made fabric covered bed for Rainbow Puff,

then covered the bottom of a bigger box with glue (almost an entire small bottle’s worth…) 

and pressed in poly batting for a “cloud house.” So cute!

“Take to Idaho Rainbow Puff house”

I’m going to miss our crafting sessions so much when she and Rainbow Puff move to Idaho. 😭

Almost Finished

I’m soooooo close to being done with the cataract saga. 

Last week’s left eye surgery went well… except for the part where I wasn’t totally under and saw/felt what was happening. Freaked me out. 

 Large grid quilting

It seems to have been successful and I’m just waiting for my June 6 appointment, when I’ll get my prescription and can finally(!!) get new glasses. Can not wait. 

 Tula Pink hedgehogs are Rachel’s favorites 

We’re leaving for CO again on Wednesday, this time to celebrate Addy’s high school graduation, and I need to finish a couple or three projects to take with us. Last week’s sunflower stegosaurus (here) was one. 

Squaring up

Another is a lap stitch pillow for Rachel, like the one I made for me Jaclyn, who has claimed it as her own (here). 

 Quilted, trimmed and ready to sew

It’s a super easy make, especially if it’s quilted less densely, like I did this time. I intended to make this in stages over the weekend, but I got it cut, spray basted, quilted and sewn today. 

It’s a quirky shape and really hard to get decent pictures of. I’m holding off on stuffing until we get to Rachel’s so she can decide how fluffy she wants it.

Now I need to go finish the blue fishy quilt and maybe take it to get long-armed before we leave… definitely beats doing laundry and packing!

Off On A Tangent

Spotted this free pattern online (here) and -snap- I was off on a tangent.

Sunflowers are Addy’s favorite and she loves cute dinosaurs, 

so guess what she’s getting for a graduation gift later this month?

The fabric cutting and sewing were easy peasy but I only had a small piece of red felt (her current favorite color) 

and was nervous about mis-cutting, so I called in professional assistance (hubby). 

Didn’t he do a nice job? 

The flower eye is (accidentally) perfect

The original plan was to wait and stuff this when we were in CO, to save room in the suitcase, but I couldn’t resist.

Sure looks better in 3D than flat as a pancake, eh? 

I still need to hand-stitch the belly closed but that has to wait until after tomorrow’s eye surgery when, hopefully, I’ll be able to see close-up again. Think good thoughts for me please. I’m ready for this saga to be OVER. 

Early Mom’s Day

You know you’re a dedicated quilter…. when you ask for an iron as a gift. 

Isn’t she pretty?

And I shall call her Missy. 😜

I’ve been annoyed for awhile at how little heat my current iron produces, so I did some research and found Chi Professional irons. 

Reviews were good… it reaches and holds a high temperature… is reliable… and doesn’t spit water when you try to steam iron (which I seldom do.)

Best of all? The cost was fairly reasonable. Call me cheap frugal but there’s no way I’m paying $200 for an iron, no matter how pretty or popular it is. (I’ve asked fellow quilters how they like their Oliso irons and almost every one started the conversation with “well, it’s not working right now, but…” Not a ringing endorsement.)

How’s Your Day?

Celebrated Cinco de Mayo sitting in urgent care*

with one grandkid (ear infection),

googling crocheted crutch cover patterns 

for another grandkid. (Foot’s not broken but she’ll be on crutches for a week.)

So, how’s your day going?

*It only took 2 hours! I was betting on 4 or more. 

Back To The 70’s

Mary and I did a workshop today at Deeply Rooted, 

a Mother’s Day gift from Matt and Donovan, 

Mary went with the cute giraffes 

that was straight out of the 1970s.

Remember decoupage?? I *loved* doing that, back in the day.

A little craft paint, some pretty paper napkins, good old Mod Podge, and voilá - 

lovely fancy flower pots 

filled with our choice of begonia or African violet. (Super healthy, gorgeous plants supplied by our favorite gift shop, plant store and workshop venue)

So much fun!

Wolves and More

Jac and Leo are spending a week with us while mom and dad celebrate their anniversary (on Cinco de Mayo - no excuses for forgetting that date! 😂) with a trip to Washington state, where they may move in the summer. ☹️☹️

Thanks to a gift from Rachel, we already had 2 tickets for Nat Geo’s ‘Wolves of Yellowstone’ on Friday night… so we bought 2 more and took the girls with us. 

I think Leo was bored but she at least pretended to listen. Jac **loves** wolves so I thought she might be interested but… she started with “I’m bored” about 5 minutes into the show. 

I finally bribed her with the promise of Minecraft coins if she’d sit still so *I* could listen. It worked! Really great show.

Today Jac and I made playdough, which kept her entertained long enough for me to get a little sewing done. 

Top 5 rows are pieced together, bottom 4 are cut and ready to sew tomorrow. 

Then it’s sew the rows together, make a backing and take it to my pal for quilting. Easy peasy.