Friday, April 9, 2021

Scrappy Grands--or Grandly Scrappy

"Gramma, can we sew something?"

It had been months since we could be together, but that's one of the first things L said when they came to spend a couple of days with us during their spring break. Music to my quilt-loving ears. She even had an idea of what she wanted to sew: a landscape (lakescape?) like one I had made that hangs in their living room. Woohoo! It was a gorgeous day, and I knew we would want to spend a lot of time outside, so it had to be a quick project--maybe 20 or 30 minutes tops.

I just happened to have lots of scraps handy--especially blue for my RSC color of the month. I quickly cut some small pieces of backing and batting, and let her have at it to choose fabrics for an Accidental Landscape mini in the style of Karen EckmeierTo be super fast and easy for a beginning sewist, raw edge quilt-as-you-go seemed to be the technique of choice.

L found a piece of cloud fabric for sky. Then she cut wavy strips of blue for the lake. Don't you love the star fabric? Like sparkles on the water. I love how kids do art! We pulled out the bin of neutrals for sand. 

She laid them out, and I put a few pins in to hold them in place. Then she got her first opportunity to use the foot pedal to sew them down herself with some wavy lines. She mastered the pedal speed immediately and quickly figured out how to move the fabric to make wavy quilting lines.

I knew binding would be too time consuming for this project, so after stitching around the edge, I trimmed it for her with pinking shears. And done! A cute little mini for her bedroom wall. Didn't she do a great job?!

While we were working, C started sorting through the blue scraps himself. He is a major crafter, and his adhesive of choice is tape. Lots of tape. In no time, he had laid out his first quilt block. 

What a fun way to spend the first part of our weekend together! We spent most of the rest of the weekend outside. There was a little trip to meet up with cousins to hike some trails and play some baseball, more baseball and all kinds of other sports in our backyard, and a short hike in the prairie behind our neighborhood. A perfect way to end our isolation of the last year. Hurray for vaccinations!!

I'll wait until the end of the month to share my RSC blues. But I just had to share these blues today!

I'm linking up this weekend with Angela at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap. Oh, and with Sandra at mmm quilts on the last Saturday of the month because this was a perfect DrEAMi (Drop Everything and Make it) project.

If you live in my hemisphere, Happy Spring, which as far as I can tell from our trees and flowers, is about a month ahead of schedule. I hope you get to do some unexpected projects, maybe with your own little kiddies.

Life is Grand again.

13 comments:

Linda said...

I’m so happy for you! L did a beautiful job. Isn’t it amazing how quickly they master things. Those times in the sewing room will be treasured memories. I love that C wanted in on the fun! This is just the start of better times for you Janine. :)

Bernie Kringel said...

Oh my gosh, your kiddos are growing up so quickly! I love the landscape that L made. It is so pretty. Wonderful idea to pink the edges in lieu of binding them. Smart thinking Grammy.
So nice you had a fun time with the cousins together. I have such fond memories of playing with my cousins. It is a great relationship to nurture. Life is absolutely grand again!!!

Margo Yang said...

What a precious time you had with your grandchildren. So wonderful!! I'm sure they will cherish this time with you. What a blessing!

Jenny said...

What a fun time with the grand children, working together on their projects with some expert help from you!

Maggie said...

She used the Singer Featherweight, what a great machine that is.Fantastic lakescape.

Susan Smith said...

What a lovely way to spend a day with your grandchildren. I did some sewing/crafting with mine when young & bought my nearly 25 year old granddaughter her first sewing machine when she was 12 and now although working full time spends free time running a little business in crafty things. Mine are all teenagers or more now & very grown up with at least 3 in employment.Hope you can now get more time with yours after this terrible pandemic. Take care & stay safe.

Louise said...

What a happy post, Janine! I took Karen's class but L's quilt looks much better than my attempt. Raw edge sewing and pinking finish allows the creative juices to flow more easily, I think. Isn't it great how kids just jump in with both feet? :)

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

glad you got to see your grandchildren again - mine are much older it is different they have never lived near me so we do not have that closeness that I wish we did. I remember though teaching my granddaugther how to use the featherweight and she enjoyed it for a short time and my grandson liked to sit at the quilting frame when he was 3 or 4 - for a short time :)

The Joyful Quilter said...

SEW sweet that L wanted to quilt as soon as she arrived and what a fabulous lakescape she created!! C looks like he had fun making his quilt block, too. Glad to hear that you enjoyed such a wonderful visit!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Sounds like you had a fantastic day! Both kids should be proud of their creations. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Susie H said...

Your post just smiles and smiles. What a terrific day and I think we've got another quilter growing among us. L definitely seems to have discovered fabric & thread.

Preeti said...

Love the little sky and sand mini. Pinking shears was a perfect short-cut idea. I am so glad that your life is grand again. I sense a similar vibe at Mari's today. I get my second shot tomorrow.

Sandra Walker said...

So glad you're chasing the blues away by sewing with blues AND better yet with two of your grandchildren. Most precious. I know I read this post, and could've sworn I'd commented, but such is my life. I love the results of both of their efforts. Aren't kids wonderful with their sense of 'just jump right in'?