Dino Costume, Then and Now

17 years ago I made two little dinosaur costumes for my boys, then ages 5 and 6.  I made them big - to fit over their snow suits, and the boys got a lot of wear out of them.  Eventually, my boys outgrew the costumes and the dinos took up residence at my sister's place.  Her kids enjoyed them too.  But time marched on.  Laura's kids have outgrown them as well. 

Just as we were discussing what to do with the costumes, my niece - a high school freshman - announced she wants to be a dinosaur this year! 

Here she is in the modified costume.  Laura inserted a panel about 6" wide below the zipper and tail, but above the crotch. The blue leggings are a great touch.  Sonya is over 5 feet tall, so for once that dino tail isn't dragging on the ground.  LOL

It does this Auntie's heart good to see her handicrafts living on and bringing still more Halloween happiness to her family! :)

Retreat Results

Here is one of several projects I worked on at retreat.  I won the top two stars in a block raffle a year ago, and just got them out  recently.  Added the bottom two and the border.  I'll be calling this one Autumn Nights.

I completed this mini quilt for my sweetie to hang in his cubicle.  So often quilt patterns and fabrics are feminine - it was fun to work on something with a more masculine look and feel.

This is the reinvention of a project gone wrong.  Had previously made these 8 flag blocks and combined them in fours - only to realize they looked like swastikas!  Ugh!  So I cut them apart and played with them until I happened across this (much preferable) secondary pattern.  Will need to finish joining them and bind.

This is a new project, made from this summer's Moda Wisconsin fabrics, with some other scrappy fabrics thrown in for fun.  I think I'm going to change the border in the upper left corner to blue and work in the tan elsewhere.  I want it to have a log cabin look, but may work in some flying geese or pine trees for fun.

I had some old jeans squares left from other projects, so I put together this little rag quilt with pockets.  Half the fun of including pockets is deciding what to put in them!  Here I have a sock monkey and a soft rattle.  The back is fleece, so its a very soft cuddly blankie for some little girl.

I hope to do more quilting this fall.  Other duties called this summer, and I've missed quilting dearly!  Now I'm preparing to put my home up for sale, so that will also take time, but I hope to sneak some sewing time in as well.  :)