Halloween in Ticky Tacky Town

The Mask

I don't really remember trick or treating when I was younger. I don't remember carving pumpkins or stuffing myself with candy or partying either. But I do remember one costume - a paper mache mask of Little Lulu. I think I was about four years old that year because I hadn't started school.  Dad blew up a balloon bigger than my head  and set it upright in a big bowl. He made flour and water paste and for weeks he pasted layer after layer of cut newspaper strips over the balloon until a thick layer was formed and dried. Then he popped the balloon, cut eye holes and painted it like Little Lulu. I was supposed to wear it over my head and traipse around who knows where to show off.  The big eye holes weren't properly spaced and I couldn't see all that well. Creepy! I didn't even know then who Little Lulu was but I did not like her or that mask.

October 31, 2004

I'll never forget the Halloween of 2004. My husband had cancer and was in the hospital with a high fever. The doctors did not know the cause of the fever after four days and a variety of tests. He slept most of the time. I was worried. Very worried. The doctors told me he might not make it through the chemo and the radiation and we were only at the midpoint of his treatment. I had taken time off work to stay there with him and spent some time crocheting baby booties, sweaters and hats because my daughter and my son's girlfriend were both pregnant and due soon.  I was worried not only about my husband but about my daughter too because she had preeclampsia.  The afternoon of October 31, 2004 the phone next to the bed rang because this was a time before cell phones- my daughter was in labor across town on the east campus of the same hospital.  I told the nurses, all dressed in costumes, that I would be at the east campus with my daughter should they need me and across town to the east campus I went. And then I waited and waited and waited some more. There were some complications but those of us in the waiting room were not told exactly what they were so we waited some more.  After several hours I was overjoyed to be holding a beautiful and perfectly healthy baby girl, my first granddaughter, Isabelle Alana.

The Haunted Barn

Down a couple of blocks and up the hill on the way to my friend's house was a big house with an old tumble down barn beside it. We could see it from the sidewalk and heard stories about a little old man with a shotgun who would chase away anyone who tried to get near his barn. And we heard the barn was haunted. We really, really, really wanted to peek into that barn. But we really, really, really didn't want the little old man with the shotgun to see us so we always just walked by and speculated as to what might be in that barn.   Strangely enough years and years and years later I found out that little old man was my husband's paternal grandfather. 

The Plan

The plan is to make a lap quilt with all the houses made of ticky tacky.  The houses may or may not be separated by alleys and streets (sashing).  The backing will contain some patches of house fabrics mixed with some patches of stories.  The houses finish at three inches so I have lots more to make. 

Happy Halloween!