A Halloween Series of Quilts or Gramma Overdoes It Posted by Virginia "Ginnie" Leiner on June 29, 2022 at 6:30pm View Blog As I told you in the previous blog about the Halloween dog quilt, I decided to do a series this year of Halloween quilts. You may remember in 2013, I did a series of 15 Christmas quilts for my family and it was a surprise to them. If you do not know about that, there are a gazillion blog posts in my account about the series and you are welcomed to go read them but be sure to come back! So, the Halloween series is not quite as ambitious at this point. I started out planning to make 6 Halloween quilt for my 3 grandchildren, Wyatt (11), Ruby (7) and Sylvia(7) to choose from. Along the way before the choosing happened a seventh quilt got added and the kids made their three favorite choices the second week of June 2022. Also,none of this was a surprise this time. The kids and their moms knew all about the project and the only surprise part is what will arrive in the box in October of the three quilts the kids indicated they would be okay having. The moms know what is coming but not the kids. My daughters, Jamie and Becky, also got to choose a quilt and Jamie has already changed her mind on her selection. That's fine until I get the labels sewn on. They it is set in thread, so to speak! Here are the finished seven quilts that are now in the process of being bound. I am listing them in order of their creation. A Halloween Series of Quilts or Gramma Overdoes It Number one is called "Be Afraid... of Nothing" and it will go to my daughter Becky in Texas. This is my first Halloween quilt in non-traditional pastel Halloween fabric. It is approximately 72" x 72" and is quilted by Karen Frye of Quilting in the Country with the word "Boo." We call Becky "Becky Boo" or just "Boo" when she was little and her niece and nephew call her Aunt Boo. That is my cat Julie posing for us.

Number two is called "Monster Mash" and it will go to my oldest and only male grandchild, Wyatt. He chose it because it has dragons and he is very into dragons. There will be dragon machine embroidered squares on the reverse just because he requested them! It is also approximately 72" square and was quilted by Karen in monsters. It is the first one to be bound with a bat print. I am currently in the process of doing that.

Number 3 is the only quilt that did not get chosen in the kids choosing event. It is called "Nutty About Jack," and is from a fabric line called Cheeky Pumpkins. I have a friend who wants a Halloween quilt and this may be it. Daughter Jamie thought that maybe acorns and pumpkins are not traditionally thought of together.

Quilt Number four was also fabric from the Cheeky Pumpkin line with fabric from the Wee Cheeky Pumpkin line added. I called this one "She Accessorizes" as it is a witch and her various accessories and familiars. Jamie chose this quilt after first choosing quilt number five. She had thought her daughter Ruby would pick it as she is the fashion accessory queen at seven years old but Ruby (like the other two) wanted the dog quilt.

Number five is my personal favorite and once Jamie changed having this one for "She Accessorizes," I decided this would be the one I would keep. I had already named this quilt "Sometimes I Forget I'm a Cat Quilt" because there is so much going on in it. In early June, we had to put a much beloved cat named Grey down and it broke my heart,, I loved him so much. He was a sickly rescue we took in two years ago and he was a special needs but very loving, giving cat every day we had him in our lives. I truly believe he got me through the pandemic. We thought we were saving him when quite possibly, he was busy saving us. Anyway, the new title of this one is now "Sometimes I Forget I am a Cat Quilt (in memory of Grey)" because all the cats are gray.

Quilt number six is the infamous dog quilt called "Who Let the Dogs Out." It was such fun watching the grandkids look at all the quilts and make their choices. I had prepared a ballot for them with large pictures of each quilt and we displayed the seven quilts on beds in three bedroom and a love seat. Ruby and Sylvia were helping me lay them out and they both immediately wanted the number one quilt, "Be Afraid... of Nothing" I think because it had a pretty girl in a witch costume on it. By the time we were laying out the dog quilt, Ruby said, "I think I have just changed my mind." Jamie feels they were feeding off each other when making their selections and that maybe we should have brought them up one at a time to choose or Gramma should have chosen for them. Too many choices I think she was saying and peer pressure. Becky and Sylvia took it all in and worked together to make their choices. Remember the moms got one too and there was some strategy involved. Anyway, here is the prima donna Dog quilt and it is a cutie. It is going to Sylvia in Texas I think mainly because Jamie did not want her two kids fighting over it if it and another quilt arrived in California for those two. Ruby will get quilt number seven which has dogs and cats and Wyatt will get his dragons. This is the compromise the moms worked out when the kids were not around and it is fine with me.

The last quilt, number seven, came about because I had extra cat and dog embroidered blocks and thought, "What the heck, we will do another one." It went together very quickly and since the block work on the main body was almost non-existent, I decided to put the card trick blocks on the side. The original title was "Dogs vs. Cats" but the card trick addition brought to mind "Dog Tricks and Cat Treats" in a conversation with daughter #2, Becky, who is also a quilter. Here it is.

There will be two more quilts but they are just vaporware right now, although I do have an idea of a pattern and plan for each and the fabric is bought. There themes are not kid friendly so they were not included in the selection in mid June by the grandkids. I will blog about them later as they develop as well as this next idea. Jamie calls me the "Yes" gramma. During our family visit in June, she said I said yes to everything the kids wanted and if I didn't think of it, they did and I said yes to that too. It is true. I spoil them when they are here or we are there, wherever "there" may be. But I can be tough gramma too. Remind me to tell you the hot tub story some time. So yes gramma ordered more Halloween dog blocks and more Halloween dog fabric because she never repeats a quilt and the next dog quilts will have the same embroidered blocks but different patterns and fabrics. Will those dog quilts ever make it to the two California grands who are not getting the original Halloween "Who Let the Dogs Out?' Momma Jamie says no cuz kids need to learn that they don't always get their first choice and she maintains they will love whatever I send them because it is from Gramma Gigi. I think I will make them and hold on to them and someday, somehow, they will find their way to California because that's what Yes Grammas do. Stay tuned! Ginnie