Category Archives: Nana fun

Kids Sew Jumpers

6 year-old Kennedy hard at work in her Mimi’s sweat shop

Few activities delight a sewing Nana more than sewing with a grandchild.  Of course, we encourage this interest in all of our grandchildren, but some take to it like the proverbial duck to water.

Six year old Kennedy is one of those ducks.  Not only does her mother sew fabulous things for  her, but her grandmother, Judy Day, is an extremely accomplished “sewist” who sews almost around the clock for her three grandchildren.  Kennedy has reaped the benefits of matriarchal stitchers and observed that it is fun.

The little Snow Princess with her doll–doesn’t she look proud?

This summer, she and her cousin Courtney spent time with their grandparents and loved working  in the sewing room.  The girls made matching sundresses and were thrilled with the results.   ( The proud six-year old cousins will be featured with their sundresses in a later post.)

Recently, Kennedy spent a week with  “Mimi” and “Papa” and was more than eager to tackle another project or two.

Careful planning and extensive preparations are critical when sewing with children.  Having years of experience teaching sewing classes,  Judy knew how to guarantee her little granddaughter’s success.

Her choice of materials and pattern were suitable for Kennedy’s sewing skills. Polar fleece is a forgiving fabric and the jumper pattern was the quick and easy Lucy from Children’s Corner.

For American Girls doll Rebecca Judy drafted a similar style using a bodice pattern from Martha’s Doll Dressing book.  It features patterns for dolls 13″ -19″.  Continue reading

Christmas Kid Towels

Pillowcases have always been my extra touch for my grandchildrens’ holidays.  Judy Day goes a step further and makes seasonal towels for hers.

She doesn’t spend a lot of time on these.  Judy simply personalizes the towels with their names and adds a little holiday motif to the letters.  These motifs might be extracted from other designs or they might be independent miniature designs.

The children, of course, enjoy having some holiday decoration in their bathroom.  And Judy, of course, enjoys knowing they think of their grandmother “Mimi” every time they wash their hands.

I could do this!  On my computer, I maintain a folder of miniature design sets as well as designs from which I could extract elements for such uses as this.  Brother, Babylock, Viking, Martha Pullen, Amazing Designs, Cactus Punch, OESD and Embroidery Library all have miniature collections.   And they are not the only ones.  Continue reading

Gingerbread House Party 2010

Rebecca, Alastair and the house he wants to get his little hands on!

The day after Thanksgiving, my precious daughter hosted her annual family gingerbread house party and what a party it was!

Rebecca was especially excited about Cousin Robert’s hand-me-down John-John.  Smocked with gingerbread boys and candy canes, it  looked just as good on Alastair as it did two years ago on Robert.

Like so many of the brother-sister outfits I have made for them, these garments were both ready-to-smock.  It’s very rewarding to see this outfit have a second life with my second grandson. Of course, Robert and Laurel have been raised in our family’s gingerbread tradition and made their first  houses that year.

Laurel and Robert, wearing the gingerbread John-John now worn by his little cousin Alastair

Since my children were little, we’ve always made gingerbread houses for Christmas.  For several years, the PlayGroup Mamas gathered to make houses for the children, before they all left home. But that was before the handy kits with pre-baked walls and  roof panels, frosting mix and a generous supply of candies.  Continue reading

Early Thanksgiving

Saturday was a day of treasured memories.  Norman Rockwell himself never had it so good.  With their families, both of our children  gathered around the dining room table in the home where they grew up.  Bob and I were again grateful beyond words for all of our blessings.

The menu was traditional, with turkey, dressing, pumpkin and mincemeat pies and all the trimmings. A few years ago, we added a new item to the table and due to popular demand, it has become a regular.  Cranberry-orange relish is easy-peasy, can be made in advance and keeps for one week. The recipe is posted below.

 

The day began with everyone watching football as our beloved Gators tried to improve their performance in a disappointing season. At half time, the crowd moved outside for some action in the front yard.  Alastair surprised us with his strong 20 month old arm and both Robert and Laurel ran some pretty good routes.

 

our own sweet Sugar Plum Fairy

Half time also gave me the opportunity to pin up the hem in Laurel’s Christmas dress.  I think she will be prettier than the Sugar Plum Fairy herself when we attend The Nutcracker next month.

All three children clowned around, but as always, Alastair dodged the camera like a wide receiver outrunning a tackle.  Continue reading

Quilt Label

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

6-Year Old’s Quilt Progress

 

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

Crayola Fun

This topic is mostly Nana Fun and only remotely sewing related, but I think it’s wonderful.  To see the needlework connection, you will have to read to the end of the post, beyond the explanation. This program turns any digital photo into a coloring page!  And you can even add fun extras, such as hats or funny hair or mustaches.

Before the start of the school year, I bought new boxes of Crayolas for  Robert and Laurel.  Though I hadn’t noticed the box cover promo for this free–except for the cost of the crayolas–program,  Robert spotted it immediately and couldn’t wait to get started.  That boy can spot a .com from across the room.

#1--digital photo

Much to my chagrin, I just couldn’t seem to get around to checking this out until this past week.  Robert was delighted and so were Laurel and I. It is soooooo neat!

Just go to the website www.crayola.com/colorme and click on the free  trial or log in with the code stamped inside the lid of the crayola box.

We’re starting a diary/coloring book of memories from this school year.  Laurel’s sewing and Robert’s “shopping”–his term for shop class–will be documented and recalled even more vividly as they relive the activity with crayons.  Here  is an example, using a photo from our trip to North Carolina.  Continue reading

6 year old Quilter

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

Nana Fun–Spaghetti and Cupcakes

This is NOT pasta and meatballs. It is cake!

Having just returned from a week with my grandchildren, I am more eager than ever to do things simply to delight them.

In an earlier post, I featured some cupcake fun from my friend Suzanne Sawko (see Nana Fun category).  This is another of her bakery delights, inspired by the same books shown in  that article.

Note the realistic sunflower cupcakes.  They were actually made for the grandchildren.

The spaghetti, however, was made as a birthday cake for her adult daughter Amy.  Can you believe this Italian pasta dish is cake and frosting?!#$!??? Continue reading

Mountain Times with the Grandchildren

he historic Mast General Store, Valle Crucis, North Carolina

The historic Mast General Store, Valle Crucis, North Carolina

 

I’m in North Carolina at our cabin  enjoying my three grandchildren, my daughter and daughter-in-law and sweater weather. Well,  it just doesn’t get much better than this.  The only things missing are our three guys, Bob, Ryan and Harvey, all at home working hard.

Yesterday was  chock full of activities.  We spent time at the famous, original Mast General Store which has been in operation at the same location since 1883.  There are others in downtown Boone and Waynesville, but they cannot duplicate the charm and history of this historical building.

 

Laurel, 6, Alastair 18 months, Robert, 5. We have a 1988 photo of Rebecca sitting on this same swing drinking a soda. She attended a summer camp just down the road from the Mast General and Candy Barrel. After we picked her up from the healthy-eating camp, she chose this as her first stop.

Laurel, 6, Alastair 18 months, Robert, 5. We have a 1988 photo of Rebecca sitting on this same swing drinking a soda. She attended a summer camp just down the road from the Mast General and Candy Barrel. After we picked her up from the healthy-eating camp, she chose this as her first stop.

 

This remnant of early 20th century mountain life features creaking wooden floors and stairs, shelves stocked with mason jars of homemade corn relish, pickles, blackberry jam and other preserves, bins of nails, sensible clothing, a vintage 1883 working post office,  an ancient reach-in, waist high Coke cooler stocked with cold sodas.

Touring this old market was a great history lesson for Robert and Laurel.

 

Laurel, 6, Alastair 18 months, Robert, 5. We have a 1988 photo of Rebecca sitting on this same swing drinking a soda. She attended a summer camp just down the road from the Mast General and Candy Barrel. After we picked her up from the healthy-eating camp, she chose this as her first stop.

To his mother’s relief, he spilled the almost full bottle shortly after the first photo was taken.

 

For Alastair, it was his first taste of soda, Cheerwine.  He liked it. Continue reading