Really Random Thursday, 10/14/21

Gabriel had a birthday last week and is now 10! I'm not sure how he has reached double digits so quickly, but I probably felt that way about Charlotte and Levi as well.

This kid is so amazing--a deep thinker, a trivia addict, an artist...things are always interesting when he is around. 

There was no school on Monday so the kids spent a good part of the day at our house--reminiscent of last school year when they were here every Monday and Thursday, and the best part of the day was lunch together. 

Gabe was pretty sure he knew what he was getting from us (the Lego Hogwarts Express set), and he was correct.  But we wrapped it in a way that at least he had to work a little harder to get it open (white garbage bag and then triple wrapped in bubblewrap.

It's going to be interesting to see where Gabe's life takes him. 

Haha #1.

I finished the embroidery pattern, Peaceful Whimsy, designed by Rene' of  @renecreates. 

Then I added it to the back of a denim jacket purchased specifically for this project.

And then I wore it to a Doobie Brothers concert, which had been postponed from September 2020.

It was an amazing concert!--a 50th anniversary tour, which included Michael McDonald, the real reason we bought tickets in the first place. It was a requirement that everyone attending either be vaccinated or show a current negative COVID test, but yet it felt odd being around so.many.people! 

The concert was over 2 1/2 hours of nonstop music--no warm-up band, no intermission--just nine stellar musicians and familiar songs--how is it possible we have been Doobie Bros fans for 50 years??! 

There is nothing in the world like live music and this concert was a welcome highlight after 1 1/2 years of mostly staying at home.

Here's something funny. A few months ago, Charlotte and I had a conversation about repetitive lyrics. I said I wasn't a fan of one of her favorite singers (who shall remain unnamed) because I felt like her lyrics were too repetitive. Charlotte countered with the fact that lots of lyrics are repetitive. So when the encore song was Taking' It to the Streets, I had to laugh and rescind my whole argument about repetitive lyrics. Because Taking It to the Streets is one of my favorite Doobie Bros songs. If you know the song, you know these are the lyrics. "Takin it to the streets" twenty times in a row. So I guess that's the end of that conversation. 

Haha #2. Truth.

Another innovative spelling of Charlotte's name to add to the ongoing collection:

Haha #3.

Periodically I get notifications that I have "reused" a password on more than one site. Maybe this is an option:

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Really Random Thursday, 10/7/21

A question we can continue to ask ourselves throughout the month:

For the first time in nearly three weeks, I stepped into my room to trim a quilt. This one, in fact. 

Ella found I kit I had purchased in 2009. I know that because it said so on the label. Strips of the softest Minkee. When she found it, I said both "yay" and "bummer" at the same time. Yay, because I knew she would LOVE this quilt as she is very tactile. And bummer because, well, have you ever sewn with Minkee? As soft and cuddly as it is, it is not fun to sew. And little crumbs of it get everywhere! But every single time she saw me, which is quite often, her opening line was "Grandma, is my animal quilt done yet?" I finally devoted a day to making it. And it just came back from the quilter. It is lusciously soft. I just have to finish sewing the binding down and I will hand it over. I kind of feel like keeping it here for myself...

After we photograph it (and we know the perfect place...), I'll show you the cute label I added.

Haha.

For years, our church has held the Pinewood Derby race. Up until just a year or so ago, we still had the cars that Aaron entered into competition. 

This year, Ella, Gabe and Charlotte each made a car. Ella's is a dinosaur, Gabe's is the Coca Cola car, complete with pull tab, and Charlotte went all out and made her car look like the Pinewood Derby track.

Ruby and Amelia showed  a lot of creativity as well. Ruby's has many of the constellations and Amelia's is supposed to be a mermaid.

None of their cars won any of the heats but I think they all had fun anyway.

And Charlotte's car won Best of Show.

True...

Have a great weekend.

Quilts and Classics: A Ghastlie Halloween/1939 Ford Delux Couple

 About six years ago, I made A Ghastlie Halloween, using one of my favorite fabric lines, The Ghastlies, by Alexander Henry. The Ghastlies are a group of crabby looking people, and their crabbiness always makes me laugh. Alexander Henry released a new line several years in a row and I had been collecting the fabric for quite awhile when Moda came out with a great pattern called Modern Blocks. 

I decided on a color scheme of lime green, purple and orange, along with black and white, and started going through scraps.

When I embark on a project like this, it works well for me to just power through from beginning to end, because scraps seem to take over a lot of space.

Some of my favorite blocks:

These knitting ladies are my MOST favorite of all the Ghastlies.

I had a panel of calendar blocks and it was fun to add this little calendar to a block.

One of the largest blocks--36" x 36". One of the earlier lines was in an orange colorway. It had been in my stash for a long time and I was glad about that--it became hard for me to find the orange colorway.

I added selvages whenever I could.

After I completed the quilt, one foggy day I took it across the street and photographed it the bare branches of my neighbor's tree. I like the "ghostly" trees in the background.

When I used to go to quilting retreats at Huntington Lake, usually late September/early October, it was always the quilt we took along to put on the bed in our cabin.

Once I decided to go ahead with the calendar, my cousin, Cathy, and her husband, Terry, told me about their friend who not only restores classic cars, but owns some amazing classics himself. One of them was this bright orange 1939 Ford Delux Coupe. What a beauty! Of course it helps that this is not only one of my favorite shades of orange, but also perfect as the backdrop for a Halloween quilt!

Fun interior shots.

And even a photo of me taking the photos. :)

This is definitely one of my favorite combinations of car and quilt. Although I likely say that every month. :)

Quilt: A Ghastlie Halloween

Size: 84" x 96"

Pattern: Modern Blocks by Moda

Made by: Me

Quilted by: Darby Myers