Turtle Zip

This is the Ditty Bag pattern by Keyka Lou made into a Turtle! I basically just made hexagons, top stitched them on some green cotton and made the bag the rest of the way just like the pattern instructions except added legs, head and a tail. He is a little like another one I've made in the past....

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Thanks for all the comments about the Oliver +S shirt in the previous post-they made me laugh:) I will definitely do a giveaway so the 4 or 5 people who wanted it can enter the giveaway on a separate post. I just need to know if it's ok that if you win the shirt, you'll have to buy your own buttons and make your own buttonholes. Ok?

Music Class

Music Class Blouse pattern from Oliver + S size 5. Fabric is Denise Schmidt Hope Valley. As you can see, there are no buttons on it. I made this months ago and it's just been hanging, waiting for buttons but I'm not sure I even like the shirt so why waste time with buttons? I probably won't even put it on the girls. It's just not that cute. Maybe it just needs the buttons and a good press to the seams or maybe it's just the wrong fabric? Or I have it paired with the wrong thing? Anyway, it would be good made from a white fabric for her school uniform. The shirt has everything I love (except gathered cap sleeves) pin tucks & a peter pan collar so
I should love it!
ohhh, I know, I should have a giveaway! Can I do that with clothing made from Oliver + S patterns? I'm not selling it.. so I should be able to, right? I just checked to see what number post I'm on and this will be #446. I thought maybe I could wait till post 500 but who knows when that will be?? What do you think?

Family time

Here are some random photos from our visit to San Diego.

There's no crafting in this post so skip it if that's the only reason you visit! Which is totally OK. But I feel I need to warn those that don't really want to see boring family photos:)

Right to left:

Jon, me, Jon's mom, Jessica (Jon's sister) with Ava on her lap, Glenda (Jon's aunt) with Emily on her lap and Bird Jon's niece (Jessica's daughter)

Bird and Emily. Bird is 15 and as I like to tell anyone who will listen, I saw her come out! And she was truly the most beautiful baby right from birth. I can't even say that about my own!

 

Bird, Emily and Ava

One of the day's we went to the Zoo. We took the tour bus which is the best way to see the Zoo. Then you go back and walk the places you want to see. We've been going to this zoo since I was little (at least once a year and sometimes more when we had season passes) and I think I've only done the tour bus two times. I will be doing it each time from now on!

One of the funniest pictures ever of Emily & Ava because it says so much about these two. Emily trying to have a nice time and Ava sneaking in and ruining it. That sounds harsh but it's soooo true! Ava has to get in on everything.

When in San Diego we visited Jon's mom twice a day in the hospital.

The girls would get restless and had to find ways to entertain themselves. They even fell asleep a couple of times.

A girls best werewolf

The Bear Carrier from Oliver + S, Little Things To Sew book.  Which is holding Emily's Transforming Werewolf. This is the coolest doll! As you can see, he transforms from a lumberjack to a werewolf!! The girls love him...loooove him! He's not super easy for little hands to transform but they love him.

They just ask me to do it;)

As for the Bear Carrier, I used Heather Ross, Far Far Away 2 fabric and a pastel polka dot for the lining.

Picture of Bear carrier from the book and Transforming Werewolf from here.

No place like home

 Lots of beach pictures from our visit home.

This is La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Children's Pool 

You may have noticed the seals in the beach photo (4th row up). This is La Jolla Children's Pool which has been taken over by seals. Here's what I found on the web:

Originally designed and developed as an enclosed beach for children to play and swim at, this popular, man-made cove is now inhabited by hundreds of harbor seals, which can be seen lounging on the beach day and night. Controversy surrounds the future of the pool as some community members feel the seals should be expelled and the cove should once again serve as a place for children to swim, while environmentalists argue that the seals are protected by federal law and are entitled to their adopted habitat.

They have been there forever! I remember them in high school so it's at least been 20 years.

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We're back from our trip home. The flight was the worst yet. Ava was at her worst of course so there was no sleeping on the plane and lots of irrational behavior:)

This is Ava:

I want to lay down.

I dropped my toy.

My butt hurts.

I want to sit up.

Emily's touching me.

I dropped my toy.

I want a pillow. Not that pillow.

Where's my bottle?

I want daddy!

I dropped my toy.

My tummy hurts.

I want to take a bath.

I dropped my toy.

I want to get off the plane.

I want mommy!

No, I mean daddy.

I dropped my toy and you're not picking it up fast enough.

and so on...it never stopped.

Jon was in a different row so of course when I would tell Ava no, she wanted daddy. We didn't want to bother the other passengers so we'd switch seats. Well, after we would do that she'd then want the other parent, the one not sitting  next to her. She'd throw a huge fit. It was awful. I wanted to spank her butt sooooo bad but it would have made things worse for so many reasons.

Oh and after getting off the plane and taking a 10 minute shuttle bus to our car, the ticket machine won't take my debit or credit card so I can't pay our car-park bill and leave. Jon and I get in a huge fight and after me getting back on the shuttle to get money from an ATM at the airport, getting on the shuttle again and finally getting our car out of the lot, we have a 2 hour drive home. Yay!!!!!

And in case you're asking, yes, I had checked to make sure they took Visa/Master card before committing to this particular car park so the card should have worked but for some reason the machine couldn't read 3 different Master cards!

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Now we have horrible jet lag and we're all cranky and irrational!

Pure

Here's the quilt I made my sister! The fabric is Pure by Sweetwater for Moda. The quilt pattern is Flowers in the Garden by Sweet Jane on Etsy with (from what I remember) a 2" border then a 7" border. The size is 102"x102" (roughly a king size). The shams are extra fabric left over from the quilt with some borders added to make it a standard size sham. I also added piping and the back of each sham is a flap with ties.

*Emily is wearing the cutest top from Target!

Jon's mom is home from the hospital and doing as well as expected. She was finally diagnosed with stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme (I think I have it right). It's brain cancer and inoperable. She's undergoing radiation and will start chemo pills today. We will be leaving next week and it's going to be hard.

We were able to get to the beach yesterday so I'll show some pictures of the girls later. We might get to the Zoo or Sea World; a request by Jon's mom. Well see...