Category Archives: Kids Sew

Quilt Label

Posted on November 7, 2010 | 3 comments

Laurel did not finish her quilt before she and her brother went home today. But she did manage to stitch out this quilt label.

While their parents enjoyed a mini vacation to celebrate their 15th anniversary, our grandchildren gave us four  fabulous, fun filled, hectic days.

Aside from doing their regular homeschool work, Laurel quilted with me and Robert worked on a woodworking project with his grandfather.  They roasted marshmallows over a roaring bonfire, made 5-minute artisan bread (recipe below), spent an afternoon at the library….and more.

Grandchildren are such fun.  They make us feel so young when we are with them, and so old–and tired–after they have gone home.  Now Bob and I need a mini vacation.

Today, in a flurry of activity before our time ran out,  Laurel managed to stitch out her quilt label.  Because her sweet little Brother PE 300S machine has only a 4×4 embroidery field, she stitched the label on my ULT2003D, using the largest hoop.  She loved the upgrade but confided that she is more comfortable with her own machine.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts, recipes

6-Year Old’s Quilt Progress

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

 

Laurel with finished quilt top

Laurel with finished quilt top

 

Laurel is so eager to finish her quilt.  Even though she hasn’t taken a nap for 3 1/2 years, she declares that she needs one now and wants her quilt for a cover.   So we are rushing to finish this project so the poor child can get some rest.

Yesterday, she finished joining all the blocks together and today managed to sew on the borders. She is sewing on a wonderful little Brother machine, a Pacesetter 300S.  The machine is probably 10 years old but it is a honey.

This petite sweet thing weighs only 11 pounds, making it very portable.  It has an embroidery unit with a 4 x 4 field, several built in alphabets, more than 70 built in designs and more than 30 stitches, including a pin stitch and other heirloom favorites.  The original suggested manufacturer’s retail price was $2500, and worth every penny.  Recently I saw the new and improved version at WalMart with built in Disney designs for just $450!  If I didn’t have this one in perfect working order, I’d be  tempted to snatch up this bargain.  It is just a great little machine.

 

L sews

 

The quilt design I came up with works so well for children or beginning quilters.  With 7 machine embroidered redwork designs and 8 foundation pieced blocks stitched on 10″ squares, it was easy to cut them down to 9″.  Had there been any major mistakes, they could have been selectively reduced to 7″ or 8″.    Continue reading →

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Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts

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6 year old Quilter

Posted on October 23, 2010 | 6 comments

sewing blocks together

Laurel  is making her first quilt.  I don’t know who is more excited, my little granddaughter or her Nana.

We started this project mid-summer as part of our homeschool curriculum.  While she sewed, 5 year old Robert had shop class with  Granddad.  But one thing and another seemed to impede our progress and by the end of September, she had only embroidered 9 blocks, more than enough for this quilt.  But piecing had not yet begun.

Children do not have great attention spans. I learned long ago when teaching my Rebecca to sew that they need completion in a relatively short period of time.  By Oct. 1, Laurel’s quilt was already in overtime as we began piecing.  She absolutely loved selecting the fabric strips and sewing up those blocks.   I knew we had to keep our momentum and wrap this up soon.

But it’s football season.  On Saturdays, our family gathers here to watch the  day’s games so very little sewing gets done.  The Florida had a bye this week—a blessed relief for the Gator Nation considering the way the season is going—so we could enjoy college football without biting our nails and groaning and wailing.  This also gave me a chance to sew today with Laurel, whose limited but growing knowledge of college football prevented her from understanding that the Gators did not play today.  Still, she arrived decked out with her Gator cap and ever-faithful game day companion, Gator Barbie.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, quilts, techniques

Kid Sew Scarf

Posted on December 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

 For some time now, 5 year old Laurel has been begging to sew.  Yesterday, with Christmas behind us, we finally had a little free time.

Next week she will be going to our family cabin in the mountains of North Carolina so we thought a polar fleece scarf would be useful. She serged the 8″ x 50″ edges with a three-thread wide stitch. This was her first experience with my fabulous Babylock Evolve serger and she took to it like a duck to water. She loved the speed and ease of control.

For many years, I taught sewing to children. There are so many things that I learned about teaching skills and generating enthusiasm. One of the most important considerations is selection of the project, which should be quick and easy, and, in my opinion, foolproof. An earnest junior sewist cannot be allowed to fail. So the scarf seemed to be a safe choice. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun, serger

Homeschooler Sews

Posted on October 9, 2009 | 2 comments

Five year old Laurel declares that she LOVES sewing! Since we began last week, she can hardly wait for reading and math to be finished so she can sew. Initially, I insisted that the entire day’s academic work be completed before we brought out the  machine.

But she was so antsy that we were not accomplishing as much as we had before she was introduced to her new best friend, her favorite little Brother.    So now, after the first two subjects of the day,  she gets to sew and then the remaining academic assignments are tackled without complaint.

Her first project is a set of polar fleece puppets for a show her mother is arranging.   I have embroidered the faces and hands and Laurel is doing the construction of three pigs and a  farmer who make up the cast.   The audience will be a small group of homeschoolers. The story, Pigs in a Rig from Laurel’s first grade reader, is entertaining and brief enough for the 4-6 year old audience.

The value estimate runs something like this:

  • time to edit designs and embroider 4 two-sided puppets (by Nana)—4 hours
  • time spent sewing 4 puppets (by Laurel)—40 minutes
  • time spent constructing props and puppet theater as well as  supervising show rehearsal (by Laurel’s mother) –3-4 hours
  • time for puppet show, start to finish–4 minutes
  • cost of live, off-Broadway theatrical experience and budding enthusiasm for sewing–PRICELESS

Continue reading →

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Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery