Over the weekend I enjoyed wandering through a quilt show hosted by the local guild, West Sound Quilters. This is the second time I have gone to their show. This show is fairly small and non-juried. The people are really warm and welcoming. Like many shows, there is the opportunity to vote for the Viewer’s Choice award. As my friend Annette and I looked at quilts, we talked about which one would be our choice for this.
About half way through the quilts, one quilt caught our eye. We took a second look to figure out what exactly we were seeing. Then we started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more. Don’t worry. We weren’t being rude. This quilt was hysterical. The title was Sinbonnet Sue II. Does this give you a hint as to why we chuckled so much?
The artist, Georgia Overstrud, designed a quilt of slightly irreverent Sunbonnet Sue blocks. Just my sort of humor! I took some pictures of my favorites.
Pickpocket Sue is going for Sam’s wallet here.
Here she is seen leaving the tattoo parlor, again!
I cannot decide which of these I like better, Pole Dancer Sue or White Lightening Sue. Both of them are so much fun. I wish I had taken a closer look at how Georgia created the paper money being tossed up to Sue.
Oh Sue – Couldn’t you have wiped your hands off before sneakily touching the quilt?? I love the Hershey fabric. The squares on the 1st place patchwork were so tiny and Georgia did an excellent job with the ‘melted chocolate’. 🙂
Finally, my favorite – Sue cannot help herself and peaks under the kilt of this bag piper!
This was the favorite and my friend and I both voted for it as our Viewer’s Choice. It is the second Sinbonnet Sue quilt made by Ms. Overstrud. The last one took Viewer’s Choice in 2006. Wonder if she will win again. The guild hasn’t announced the winner yet, but judging by people’s responses to the quilt, I think she has a good chance of winning.
Fortunately my friend Annette thought to take a picture of the whole quilt. There are so many cute details to look at. I know you will enjoy this!
Also, this might be of interest to you if you once used Bloglovin as your blog reading tool. I always did and suddenly it was broken. It just didn’t work at all and no one seemed to know why. Yesterday, after months and months of nothing, I received a Bloglovin summary email and was surprised to see when I clicked through, the site seems to work again. So, if this was your preferred method, it seems they have fixed it. So strange!
Reminder – how are the Positivity Quilts coming along? Are you quilting yours? Maybe even binding it? I am looking forward to the link up over Labor Day weekend. Hopefully yours will be done and ready to share!! Thank you so much for making a quilt and donating it to your organization or to Mercy Hospital.
Several weeks ago I read a post over at From My Carolina Home where Carole shared a community project shared between woodworkers and quilters in her area. The woodworking group makes lovely toys and then quilts and stuffed bears are added to them as gifts for local children in their area. She mentioned they could use more of the 18″ quilts if any of us would like to make some.
I love this sort of feel-good project. An 18″ quilt is an easy way to spend a bit of time and use some fun fabric. The first small quilt was made with a leftover piece of a whole cloth quilt I made some years ago. The original quilt was used to display the fabric when I worked as a vendor at a few quilt shows. After this, I cut it into two projects donated to A Doll Like Me.
This left me with one more piece. I squared it to 18″ and bound it with this chartreuse solid. I am happy to use the last bit. This panda print is so cute and I am a tad bit sad it is all used up.
Next I took a box of 3 1/2″ squares and quickly sorted for juvenile prints. Then I cut a scrap of bright green polka dot fabric into squares the same size. Alternating them made a fun, cheerful quilt.
Of course, this larger scale green polka dot makes the perfect backing for the quilt. Finishing it off with a dark purple binding frames the whole thing nicely.
I did a machine stitched binding, which looks cute on the front and not so great on the back. I thought the stitch should extend beyond the edge of the binding on the front but that means it doesn’t lay on the binding on the back. So, lesson learned. I should have stitched the binding closer to the outer edge so the back would have a neater appearance.
Thank you Carole for sharing this fun opportunity to help out with your holiday project. I am so impressed by the wooden toys donated by the woodworking group. They are so sweet and what child wouldn’t want to play with wagons and strollers. Gifts like these will spark the imagination of the child fortunate enough to receive them!
Sharing this just for fun – H is taking a gymnastics day camp this week. But somehow someone brought in parrots to show the kids. She had the opportunity to hold one and went for it. She is an adventurous kiddo.
Summer has been going full force around here. This is a picture heavy post as I thought it would be a fun way to share the shenanigans going on in our family!
New swing set!!
About two weeks ago Ray and I spent a few days at my son’s house. Andrew needed some help building a swing set for the girls. Ray’s helped with the building and I helped distract the kids from “helping”.
The chief supervisors of the swing set project sat in the ‘spiderweb swing’ and made sure all was going according to their plan.
While we were over there, we celebrated Ray’s birthday. I made an apple honey bread pudding. The cool thing was much of what was in the cake was grown by Andrew and Naomi. The eggs came from their chicken coop, apples from the trees, honey from their beehives and the challah bread was made by Naomi the day before. Delicious!
One day the kids wanted to have a picnic outside. H grabbed a quilt and headed out.
It was adorable to see the kids on that quilt three years later. Look at this round little face three years ago when I first gave it to the girls. (Sure look like they need a bigger picnic quilt now).
Part of my ‘duties’ while the swing set was under construction was to take the girls to swim lessons. This photo makes me smile; H is quietly picking blue glitter out of her little sister’s hair. Apparently at dance lessons the day before, the dance teacher sprinkled ‘fairy dust’ over the girls’ hair and I am certain it will be a while before all of it is washed out of A’s curls.
The girls came to our home the following week for a three night sleep over. Andrew has been wanting to try a mountain bike/camping trip. He biked over trails for 25 miles, camped for a night and then rode back out. He got a much deserved break and we got to enjoy the girls. (Unfortunately, Naomi was working – she has had a really rough schedule this summer).
One day we did a fun paint project and I thought it good enough to share for the other grammy’s out there. Cover the work space (this gets a little messy) and put a piece of paper down. The girls chose six colors and I put a generous dot of each one at the bottom of the page (toward the artist). Then I laid a sheet of plastic wrap over the paper and paint. They used a small rolling pin (made for them by PePaw) and rolled the paint out. This was a good challenge for them. The rolling pin had to have some pressure to really move the paint. But they absolutely loved the process. So much so, each girl very happily waited for their turn since we only have one rolling pin. The idea came from Crafty Morning. The only thing I would change for the next time is to have better paper on hand. I used regular printer paper which was a bit thin. Card stock would be better. I am sure there will be a next time – it would be fun to do seasonal colors for fall or Christmas, etc.
Time in the sewing room is also a favorite thing with these girls. However when I have both of them, it is a challenge. The attention span of a six year old is much greater than a three year old. So when little sister was napping, we snuck in some time to make a project. H designed a drawstring bag. She chose black dotted minky and adorned it with pink pom-poms and gathered lace. I think she achieved a bit of a victorian vibe here. She was thrilled but not ready to stop making things. She pulled out bits of animal print minky and asked what we could make. I suggested head bands. I wasn’t really sure how that would be received because the girls don’t generally wear head bands. But they really liked them. It was so cute to see their faces with their hair pulled back. If you want to make stretch knit headbands for kids or yourself, this is the tutorial I would suggest. They are super easy to make.
Beautiful weather called us to the beach one afternoon. These girls made themselves right at home. It was low tide so the water was very far out and there was too much muck to climb through to get to it. But they had no problem keeping amused on the shore.
Sand castles were constructed.
We had to walk this little trail a few times to scoop up water for the moat. How many kids have endlessly filled a sand castle moat only to see the walk drain down and then need more? Countless times.
At one point H called out to me, Grammy, this thing is alive. Not a good phrase to hear, I walked over and they were looking at sea anemones. Touching each one to watch it shrink up. This fascinated the kids and I was pleased to see they were really gentle about it.
After beach time, we went to Dairy Queen for a treat. Much to A’s joy, there was an ambulance in the parking lot. She often tells us she wants to be an ambulance driver when she grows up. They EMT’s were having a snack inside so when it looked like they were finished, I took the girls over and introduced them. These EMT’s were amazing. They talked and talked to the kids and even let them go in the ambulance. It was really a special time for them. H chatted with them and A became shy and hardly said a word. But I think she enjoyed it.
It was a fantastic (and tiring!) two weeks to be sure. School will begin at the start of September and then it won’t be as easy to spend this much time with our grand daughters. Life gets so busy! The house is quiet again and I am back into the regular routine. I am ready to baste my Positivity Quilt and (hopefully) will have it quilted soon!
Wow! My last post put out a request for little hospital doll gowns for A Doll Like Me. What a fantastic response! In all honesty, I am not surprised, just grateful. Here are a few pictures of the gowns made so far.
Tina’s hospital gowns
These cuties were made by my sister, Tina! She used soft flannel. Don’t you love the prints she chose.
Made by Jean M
Check these out! Twelve tiny hospital gowns were donated by Jean. This collection is so sweet; Jean used a variety of fun prints and colors.
Gowns by Dawn L with quilts
Dawn made six gowns and also created six whole cloth quilts. These are super cute and much appreciated! Thanks Dawn.
Gowns made by Pat W.
If I am counting correctly, Pat made NINETEEN gowns for Amy. That is amazing. What a fantastic donation for A Doll Like Me.
In total thus far, one little post garnered forty doll size hospital gowns. This should keep Amy supplied for a good while! Of course there were seventeen responses asking for the mailing information and offering gowns. This means more are in the works. I say it all the time, but the generosity of this community never fails to amaze me! The need for these little gowns is ongoing so if you just feel like you want to make something simple, use up a few bits of fabric, make a charitable gift, feel free. These are always welcome!
I was asked how to fit the pattern pieces on a fat quarter. It can be a bit of a trick. I took a picture that might help.
If I am using a fat quarter to make a doll gown, I fold one length over just wide enough to lay out the front piece on the fold and pin it down. Then I fold the other side down for the back piece, which isn’t cut on the fold (because it needs to open in the back). It will lay end to end with the front piece and will look like it is over lapping. but it isn’t. I hope this helps. Does it make sense? Some fat quarters might be a tight squeeze but it does work. The size of the doll gown is flexible and if it is just a wee bit narrower, it will still work. Just in case you need it, here is the link to the free pattern.
Much time has passed since I last made anything for A Doll Like Me. You might remember back in 2018 I held a Spread the Love Campaign asking quilters to make doll quilts for Amy to include with the dolls she makes for children with limb or other physical differences. The campaign was an overwhelming success. Amy continues to receive doll quilts from people who heard about the need. The knowledge of A Doll Like Me has grown tremendously in the past five years or so. Amy’s work has been featured on many news sites, social media sites and popular magazines. All of this is important as the main goal for Amy is to increase awareness of the need for children with physical differences to be able to have true representation in the world. She wants each child to see themselves as enough, to see their own physicality represented in toys and dolls, and to feel accepted.
This sweet girl brought her doll dressed in a hospital gown to the hospital with her. (From Amy’s Facebook page).
A few months ago, I chatted with Amy on-line just to check in with her. I wanted to see how she was doing. It is tough building a non-profit, raising three active kids and making doll after doll. But she is one driven person! Anyway, she and I visited a bit. Toward the end of the conversation I asked her if she needed anything from the quilting community. Her response was…. ‘well, now that you mention it….. I could use more hospital doll gowns.” She is always so grateful for whatever we provide and doesn’t want to impose on people.
Hospital Gowns for Dolls made in February 2018
Do any of you remember making these? Above is a picture of the first few I made.
Hospital Gowns made in January 2019Hospital gowns made in June 2020
The gowns we make and donate to Amy are given to children who have one of these dolls and are facing a hospital stay. There is a very therapeutic aspect in playing with their doll. Being able to dress up the doll in a hospital gown is one more way to deal with possible fear or anxiety around the upcoming stay. Many of Amy’s children bring their doll with them when in the hospital and it is beneficial to have the hospital gown on the doll. This somewhat familiarizes the hospital process for the child.
Looking back at blog posts and pictures, I learned it has been a very long time since I made anything for Amy. Time to sew up some sweet gowns for her dolls! In the pictures above, I put the gowns on dolls smaller than what Amy makes. But it is fun to see them as they are used. Princesses, Pooh Bear and baby dinosaurs as well as a fun blue print were chosen for this round. Of course all were made from the stacks of fabric I have stashed away. Fortunately I also have a large selection of (thrifted) bias tapes which makes things really easy.
Six gowns ready to be mailed to Wisconsin. How about you? Would you be able to make a few of these and send them to A Doll Like Me? They are easy to make and require very little fabric. Use just one fat quarter and some bias tape to make one gown! Here is the tutorial for you. Amy would be grateful for any gown(s) you feel comfortable making and sending to her. If you are interested that would be just wonderful! Many of you already have her mailing information. However, if you need it, let me know in the comments and I will email it to you privately.
Butterfly Number One!
OK – that is it for now! I am working on my Positivity Quilt. Yesterday I made a little butterfly using Dresden pieces. It is adorable and I think the quilt needs a few more! We have an abundance of Swallowtail butterflies in the yard this year and they seem to really enjoy our flowers.
Hi All! Crazy busy here over on the western side of Washington state these days. There has been so much happening. Julia moved up here just a few weeks ago. My mom and dad were successful in selling their California house and just moved up here as well. The family has been working on helping them with unpacking which means no sewing time.
Quilt top without the flowers
I did get some progress made on my quilt top before all of this began however. I am very happy with it. My plan is to use the Dresdens I made some time ago, as well as a few new ones, for the flowers. This is a time saver for me which is so helpful. Time is just not plentiful these days!!
I am experimenting with the placement of the Dresdens. They won’t be sitting right on top of the stem. If you look up on the left side, you’ll see a partial Dresden. I want to put a cone shape center at the top so it looks like a partial bloom. (Does that make sense)? I am loving how this is coming together. I borrowed some bias tape makers from my sister and will make stems with it. I want them to be narrower than the stems I made for the leaves. I may use a few slightly different fabrics to add some variety to the flowers.
These are sunflowers Ray and I planted in our backyard this year. They are blooming profusely. My favorite flowers by far are sunflowers and peonies. Anyway, see the pale yellow, partially open blossom? That is what I am trying for with the small, partial Dresden. In another week or so I should have the Dresden’s finished and will be able to baste the quilt.
OK – time to see some quilt tops!! Remember we will be giving away a number of quilt patterns for entrants in this week’s link up. If you don’t know how to link up or just want me to share a photo of your quilt top, please email it to me. Can’t wait to see what the quilts are looking like at this point! Thanks so much for participating in the 2023 Positivity QAL!!!
Hello Everyone!! I hope you have stopped by this morning to link up your progress on the 2023 Positivity Quilt! Preeti and I are really excited to see the variation in colors and fabrics you are using this year. Remember, the pattern can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Last time I posted about my work on this quilt, I explained my determination to use scraps I have on hand for the green portion (my leaves). This has been a challenge and my leaves will be different sizes but with some work on the background piecing, it will work out.
Because I have been traveling a lot over the past six weeks, my progress has been slow. Like the non-existent sort of slow…. But I am home and have no plans to go anywhere. After all the driving over the last week, Ray and I both have no inclination to get in the car for any reason all week! This means I should be able to catch up. I plan to assemble the leaves I have made into vines. I am super excited to make some flower blocks too.
This picture is from the tutorial on Sew Preeti Quilts. Click here to find it. I think the flower is adorable and doesn’t look terribly fussy to piece for this non-fussy quilter!
Preeti’s gorgeous vines!
Not everyone will choose to make blooms – some quilters might choose to do a quilt of leafy vines and finish it that way. Not all vines bloom, right?? In the above quilt, Preeti didn’t make the flower blocks. I love the look of this lush green quilt. Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the win!
OK – lets take a look at some progress pictures! It’s ok if you are behind – I certainly understand. Show us your fabric choices or just a few blocks. We love to share the fun around here. The link up will be open all week. If you aren’t a blogger, feel free to email a progress shot to me. I would love to add it to this post so people can share in your quilting fun. Just click on ‘contact me’ at the top of this page and send me a picture.
From @Justanaveragequilter
Updated to add the above progress photo from @Justanaveragequilter. Danielle quilted along with us last year too. So happy to have her sewing along again with us this year.
Made by @skynme2
Updated to add another quilt update. Made by @skynme, she did link up below but it won’t show the thumbnail so I put it here as well. Love the solids! Looks really different like this. She says she had all of these in her solids scrap bin. Yahoo!
The next link up will be on July 16th. This time we will be sharing quilt tops and there are patterns to be won! I am determined to have a finished top to share by then. (I think I can, I think I can…..)
After enjoying time with one of my kids, leaving is always, always a challenge. Do all mothers feel this? The love I feel for each of my four children is endless.
I just spent four whole days with Kyle. He is my middle child; my second born who entered this world in 1987, ten days early and came into the world in just 26 minutes. The doctor didn’t have time to put on his surgical gown and I am fairly certain the (white) shirt and Mickey Mouse tie he wore that Sunday evening were never worn again. I was still wearing socks and a -tshirt when the hospital registrar came in after Kyle was born and said, ‘well now, let’s do your paperwork’.
Sweet boy asleep on the first quilt I made.
Having time alone with any one of my children is time treasured. Because he lives across the country, this doesn’t happen often enough for me and Kyle. But this week…. This week I had four entire days. We talked about all sorts of stuff, from silly to serious. We walked over 60,000 steps wandering all over Brooklyn. One day we did venture into the city for a walk through Central Park but mostly we stayed in Brooklyn.
Time for appetizers; dolmas, roasted beet salad, roasted and brussel sprouts – delicious
Kyle and his wife were very gracious hosts. They chose amazing restaurants, and even found a lovely quilt exhibit in a small museum (worthy of a separate post). Knowing I was really there just for time together, our time wasn’t booked up with tours and back to back activities. It would be easy to do this in New York and maybe someday we will. Instead we just walked and talked.
Not my photo; how did I forget to take one??
On Thursday we enjoyed hanging out together. My daughter-in-law was unable to take as much time off as Kyle. We decided to go to Brooklyn General so I could ogle the fabric. Their focus is yarn but do have a great selection of garment fabrics and some quilting cottons. I knew I wanted a linen blend to make a summer top. After choosing one, my DIL found some pretty batiks. I chose one and plan to make a pair of loose fitting, comfy pants.
Training climbing roses over a length of heavy chain.
Next we headed over to the Botanical Gardens. It was a warm, slightly humid day. We wandered the garden looking at the roses choosing our favorites and smelling the fragrance as we wandered. What a surprise to see how far ahead the blooms were compared to my roses at home in Washington. The gardens here were fully blooming but mine still have tight buds.
Another day we took the subway into the city to see Central Park. What a beautiful space. It was Friday and it didn’t feel at all crowded. We listened to a number of musicians. Of course in the Strawberry Fields area the music was songs by the Beatles. We watched a high school age dance group practicing a dance routine involving some line dance steps with boots and hats mixed with some hip hop and gymnastics. I LOVE watching kids dance so this was super. We also sat on a bench for a long while to listen to a young woman with a gorgeous voice sing. She did some Alycia Keys and knocked it put of the park (pun absolutely intended). As we walked under a gorgeous archway, we watched a wedding party having professional photos taken. The bride wore a stunning full skirt of silk with tones of bronze. I was mesmerized by her outfit and I am sure Kyle expected me to go ask her what the skirt was made of! I (barely) controlled myself.
Next we headed over to see the Twin Towers monuments and take a peek at the Statue of Liberty. It was a somber moment to see both of the monuments. Very severe looking with the angels and the water but a strong representation of what the size of the towers were and the loss caused on that day. There were a few single rose blooms placed on a name here and there. Kyle explained there is a group of volunteers who place a flower on the name of anyone who would have celebrated a birthday that day. As far as the Statue of Liberty, I am happy I saw it but was underwhelmed. Not sure why. Maybe because I had seen photos of it so many times. But I can check it off the list now that I have seen it.
On Saturday we walked through the Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. This historical graveyard has been in Brooklyn since 1838. It is also an arboretum. The mature trees and rolling hills spread over 438 acres make for an incredible park. People use it as a local green space which is so needed when living in such a populated city. During lockdown, Kyle and his wife would often walk through here to be outdoors. He would tell me of their ‘walk through the cemetery’ but I had no idea it was anything other than a small, local cemetery.
The gravestones and markers are really interesting. Some are ornate and some could even be described as gaudy. Others are touching such as the one above with their family pet immortalized.
Some are mysterious, leading us to google the name on the headstone to see if we could find out details about the person remembered there. I tried briefly to look up this memorial to see if it was actually a memorial to the horse or to the owner of the horse. I wasn’t successful though I admit I didn’t try very hard. This marker is huge, taller than me.
Sunday was spent wandering the Dumbo district in Brooklyn. Along with oodles of others, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. (Picture above isn’t great but it is the only one I have so I have to save it!) It is one mile long and because of the crowds, we walked slowly. Talking, talking and then….. talking even more. People watching was crazy fun. We saw two (very unintelligent) people climb to the top of the rail (intended to keep people from falling off the bridge and into the highway traffic just below) to take photos. Really?? That is the picture you need to have?? Both people were young, pretty women who were dressed beautifully. I would assume this was for a social media post. Yikes. Our world is crazier by the day. They are climbing up there as Kyle and I discuss our jitters over the fact that the bridge is made of wooden planks and wonder if it is strong enough for the hundreds and hundred of tourists walking the bridge. We stopped and looked through the slats and realized that if the slat should crack and we fell through it wasn’t going to be pleasant. Yep, we are of like minds, my son and me.
Returning home on Monday was the right thing to do; albeit not easy. But over the next few days the smoke from the Canadian fires was heavy. The La Guardia airport was even shut down for a bit. Seems like the air cleared a bit today but I know all too well the smoke comes and goes for such a long time.
In other news, my parents BOUGHT A HOUSE!! They are moving up here at the end of June and I just cannot wait! They are dealing with myriad details which is so overwhelming when moving. The new house is just five miles from mine which is perfect. Today I am heading to my son’s house. I am the “mystery reader” in H’s kindergarten class. Next we leave on Wednesday to head to central CA to watch Julia graduate from college. Life has certainly taken me away from the sewing room. Not sure when I will be back to having time for sewing. But this happens. Take care everyone. Back soon-(ish)!!
The 2023 Positivity Quilt Along has begun! The first post went up about a week ago at Sew Preeti Quilts where she shared the pattern choices as well as fabric cutting instructions. I am very excited about this year’s pattern(s)!
Above is a quilt based on climbing, leafy vines which Preeti has aptly names Positivity Grows. Very pretty, super simple and quite effective!
The other version, namedPositivity Blooms, is shown above. I am planning to make a version like this. I chose this version for a couple of reasons.
When I looked at fabric in the beginning, I was going to use one of two jelly rolls I have on the shelf. But as I considered each of them it was clear neither was going to work well. They really didn’t work for a botanically themed quilt. Some of you will pull this off and it will be lovely but I couldn’t figure it out. After this, I vacillated between buying a jelly roll or using scraps. I have sooooo much fabric and surely there was a way to use what I have. I found two large pieces of solid green fabric in two shades. I cut strips of these for half of each leaf. Then I went through all sorts of bits and bobs of green prints, cutting as many strips as I could. But not many of these were full width of fabric so this presents a bit of a challenge. My blocks won’t easily work out mathematically. But this is ok. If some of my leaves are different sizes they will just mimic nature that much more. The standard block goes together much easier than this! Please check Preeti’s recent tutorial explaining the process.
It will take a bit more time, but I can make it work. See the extra border I added to two of the leaves above? Even if a bit time consuming, in the end it will add a fun variety to the sizes of my leaves. Also, since I don’t have a lot of each of the patterned green fabrics, my leaves will be scrappy with a variety of shades in the leaves. I am not sure how I want to mix them together but I can figure that out later.
Not all of my blocks will be built in matched pairs. You can see above, on each column there is a single leaf. On the right column, look at the third leaf down. This will occur here and there due to the amount of leaves I can get out of the random size strips. Again, nature does this sort of thing all the time, right? As for the blooming version of the quilt, I thought this would be a good one for me since I have less than ideal amounts of the green strips. Making the blooms means making less leaves. I like the earthy colors of the background fabric. I hope it will give this quilt a bit of a fall feel to it.
So far I am having a lot of fun with this. For now though, I am setting it aside. Tomorrow I fly to Brooklyn NY to see my son and his wife. Normally they fly out here for visiting but this time, I am heading east. We have a few plans but mostly I just want to soak in the family and enjoy lots of visiting. I don’t see them nearly enough so I am super excited.
This isn’t the best shot but I wanted to share a picture of A wearing the pajamas I made for the girls. They fit but wow, it won’t last long. I made a size 3T and wish I had made the 4T. Oh well, for now they look adorable. (She was engaged with some TV show and wasn’t not at all into modeling for me.) Most importantly, she likes them and that makes it all worth it.
Time to do some laundry so I can pack for tomorrow’s trip! While I am away, my parents will be up here house hunting. Hopefully they will find just what they want!!
Hello there! This week sure buzzed by in a hurry. We have had lovely weather which means we have been able to get out in the yard. The flower pots on my front deck are planted which always makes me happy.
In the family post I wrote two weeks ago, I mentioned that great grand child number 17 had arrived. She is adorable and doing well. It is a bit early for her to be playing ball but I thought it would be fun to make a set of squishy balls for her to use when she is a tiny bit older. These always come together quickly and are great for using up scraps. I stuffed them with polypill and put some little rattle noise makers in them too. Now I just need to get them sent down to Southern California for her. If you want to make some, this is the link I used to get the template. You can enlarge or decrease the size of the ball template on a paper copier.
For some reason I wasn’t in the mood to work on any of the quilt projects I have going. Instead I opted to make matching summer pajamas for my grand daughters. They don’t need them, have loads of pjs, but what the heck? I saw this pink unicorn fabric at a thrift shop for $2/yard. Who can resist? They both love pink, rainbows and unicorns so I had to buy it! I will see my three year old over the weekend and I suspect she will enjoy these quite a lot. She can bring the matching set home for big sister.
Making those pajamas got me in the mood for sewing clothes. I bought this fabric over a year ago but never used it. It is some sort of rayon and has wonderful soft drape to it. So I cut out this summer dress. I didn’t have quite enough and need to look through my solids to find something that will work as the lining for the bodice. I am making the short version with the curve to the hemline. It should come together quickly.
The girls painted these frames for me as a Mother’s Day gift. I love them. The picture that H chose for her frame (on the right) is really something. The expression on my face is not one that I would normally choose to have framed and on display but there you go. It is on the mantle for all to enjoy! Hahaha. I think we were making fudge for Thanksgiving two years ago but why I have that expression is unknown to me. How silly.
These photos are also quite special. Julia will be graduating Cal Poly next month. She had graduation photos done and I just love them. I posted them on Instagram so you may have already seen them but I had to share again. The photographer (also a Cal Poly student) did a great job. These three are my favorites but it was a tough choice. Of course she had to have a series taken at the swine unit with her favorite animals. She is very excited to graduate but as is often the case, it is bittersweet. She will miss those rolling hills and her friends.
Finally, one more bit of news. My parents sold their house!! They are moving up to Washington. We are all so excited. This is a huge adventure for them but it seems to be working out well so far. They will be up here next week to begin looking at houses. Crossing fingers they find just what they want.
Just a reminder that the kick-off for the Positivity 2023 QAL happens on May 28th over at Sew Preeti Quilts. Preeti will be sharing the pattern choices and talking about fabric choices. I am very excited for this event and hope you will consider joining us!! We will be sewing lap size quilts to donate to Mercyful Quilts. Of course if you choose to donate your quilt to another cause, that is fine as well. We just want to extend more positivity into the world and this is one way to achieve this!
