Sewing Lessons

I'm finally getting around to showing pictures of our quilt progress.  The girls have been taking over a lot more of the responsibilities of their quilts, and Amy and I are backing away more and more.  We just sit with them, tell them what to do, and watch their progress so that they don't do something horribly wrong.

Sami is surprisingly good at using the sewing machine.  Megan is learning patience and sticking with something, even after it gets "boring."  I'm learning to back off and let the girls do their own work, even if it means that it won't be exactly as I envisioned it.

These are pictures of the girls putting their quilt backs together.  The fabric wasn't large enough to cover the entire back, so they are piecing together four big rectangles with a plus-sign in the middle.  Our next sewing lesson will be pinning the quilt top to the batting and back.  

Quilts and Sewing

We are having another sewing lesson with Amy today.  We had a field trip last week to pick out our quilt backs, batting and quilting thread.  I learned a lot just on that trip.  I learned about the different types of batting that are available, and I learned that there are different types of thread available and that to quilt we needed "machine quilting thread." I was amazed that there were so many different types of thread and that they all had a specific purpose. 

Here are pictures of the finished quilt tops and the quilt backs.  The girls picked everything out themselves.  The picture quality isn't good because it was cloudy outside and I had an awful lamp for lighting.

Sami's quilt is very colorful.  The picture doesn't do the bright colors justice, and several colors can't be seen in the picture.  I will retake the picture later when it's not in the back of the car and I'm not in my bathrobe.     

Megan's quilt is still colorful, but is more muted.

And here is mine.

I want to make a quilt for my bed, but it's hard to figure out what to make that is dog and cat hair proof.  It seems silly to make a home-made quilt that will be covered in hair and will need to be washed constantly.  I suppose I could make one out of burlap and dye it.

Quilts and Sewing

The sewing lessons are continuing.  Our next project will be lap-blanket sized quilts made with simple squares and a border. 

We had a field trip Thursday, and Amy took us to a quilting store in Greenwood called Back Door Quilts.  We got to see hundreds of quilting fabrics that were of excellent quality.  I didn't want to spend to much, but it made sense to spend a little extra to get fabric that wasn't going to shrink and warp as we tried to work with it. 

It was very difficult to choose our fabrics, but we all seemed to like the Batik fabrics.  Here is what we chose:

These are Megan's fabrics.  

These are Sami's fabrics.

These are my fabrics.

Even though we all seemed to gravitate towards the Batik fabrics, we all chose different colors.  As soon as I know what I'm doing, I'm going to make a much needed quilt for my bed.  The hard part will be choosing the fabrics since there are so many choices! 

Sewing Lessons Today

We are having sewing lessons again today, but today it's my turn to sew.  The last two times have revolved around the wood sprites getting their chance to cut, piece together and sew.  Today I get to sew, or at least that's the plan.  I already know the very basics of sewing, but I've got so much more to learn. 

Sometimes the girls see me learning a new skill, such as knitting, and then they want to try it too.  I love showing them new skills, but sometimes they have to be patient while I learn the ropes (or yarns).  At their age and skill level, it's hard enough to teach them knitting unless I know what I am doing as well. When I barely know what I am doing in knitting, it makes it hard to show them and correct them in proper technique.  When they are older, we'll be able to do more in this area. 

With sewing, it's been nice to have someone else who already know the ropes who can help them jump right in and get started.  It's been fun learning sewing together.  I think it's good for them to see a parent excited about learning as well.  It also demonstrates that learning happens throughout one's life.

Learning should be natural and fun, and I think we accomplished that with sewing.  

Focusing on Projects

The girls had another sewing lesson with their Aunt Amy yesterday.  This time the lesson was at her house.  What we didn't anticipate was that sewing at Amy's house, while fun, is really full of distractions. 

The girls were able to finish their aprons by putting on pockets and a little sewing-machine embroidery.  They did a good job and the aprons are beautiful.  We don't work on time-limits, but it did take the girls a lot longer than it could have (notice I didn't say, "Should have").  Every conversation Amy and I had, and every side project we had going, the girls would stop what they were doing and join in with our conversation.     

So is it a bad thing that they took longer but enjoyed conversing with us?  No, it is a good thing.  Women have sewing circles and quilting bees to do the exact same thing.  The girls just aren't at the skill level where they can do both at the same time.  If they had been at school, they would have not been allowed to talk and focus on the project only.  Doing it our way, relaxed in a home, they were able to learn a skill and enjoy the experience. 

The next sewing lesson will be at Amy's house as well, but this time it will be for me to learn to sew.

Sewing Lessons

The girls got their first sewing lessons yesterday, and it went GREAT!

Amy thought they would lose interest after a couple hours of practice sewing, but the girls pressed on and wanted to keep going. They ended up sewing from about 10 AM to 7 PM, and they both have aprons to prove it.

I think that this will be the start of a hobby/activity that they will love. They can't wait till the next lesson, and neither can I because I get to make my apron next. I'm learning just as much as they are.

The bonus was that we got to finally spend some much needed bonding time with Amy. Everytime we get to spend time with Amy there is always a third or fourth or fifth party involved. This time it was just us, and it was wonderful.

Lessons from Outside Sources

When we can fit it into our budget, I like to get the girls lessons for things that I can't teach.

This fall Sami is taking singing lessons and Megan is taking guitar lessons. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of the instructors and the instructors' schedules. Their first teacher had a complicated pregnancy about two years ago and had to stop (and God blessed her with a healthy son). After nearly two years of waiting for her to start lessons again, she announced she was ready; a week later she announced she was pregnant again and had to cancel again. We were fortunate enough to find a new teacher, but he already has family obligations that came up and pushed us back a month. It's always hard to rely on someone else when you need something from them, but it's even harder when you WANT something from them. I sure hope that our patience is rewarded, because I know that the girls will get a lot from their lessons.

My sister Amy is giving sewing lessons to the girls and me this fall. Just out of the blue, she called me and wanted to do this. We were thrilled! I can rely on her to be gentle with the girls and make it a fun experience, and we can relax and be ourselves and speak our minds. The girls and I have barely sewn before, so we are sure to learn something.

It will also be a nice bonding time with just Amy and us. No other family...just us. We never get to see her hardly unless there are at least twenty other people involved in the gathering, which means that it's chaotic and nerve-wracking. I love the rest of my family, but when they are all together it is pandemonium. No one is mean, but it's so loud and confusing and screechy. I always leave feeling heart broken and sad. This will be a nice change to have some much needed quiet bonding time.

Our lessons start today and I can't wait!