Girl Scout Sample Quilt Done

I got the sample quilt that I made for teaching the local Girl Scout troop how to quilt done. Here's the unquilted top.

And here it is all quilted. The blocks are 6" finished blocks. For the binding, I just pulled the back around to the front, folded it over and sewed it down by machine. I don't know what that method is really called, but I call it the diaper method. I had all the fabric in my stash, so it was just a matter of pulling it all together.

When I meet with the troop on Tuesday, I plan to give them a form to fill out for fabric preferences (ie pinks, blues, purple, animal, flower, etc). They will get to pick 2. Then I'll tally all the votes and depending on the turnout, get the fabric in the categories that got the most votes and pre-cut all the squares. Of course, when I made my sample I used the strip piecing method, but I think the girls will have more fun laying out different designs.

I don't think I'll worry about teaching them 1/4 inch seams. Not many machines/feet have good markings. Instead, I'll show them that its important just to have a consistent seam. I also don't think I'll make a big deal about making their corners meet. I want them to have fun doing this and not thinking that this is really hard and over their heads. Maybe I'll even do rectangles instead of squares (gee, does that mean I need to make a new sample?).

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. DD and I are going to a baby shower out of town today so not much time for sewing.

50's Sock Hop Party

Isn't she cute?

Here's pictures of DD in her costume for the 50's Sock Hop party we went to last Saturday night. I got her costume last Halloween on e-bay when we bought her Halloween costume (she was a Japanese girl for H-ween). She has naturally curly hair, so it was really easy to make it do the up flip. She played a bunch of games and after dinner, danced and danced while the DJ spun the records (or CD's - I didn't get close enough to check it out!). She made lots of new friends (most of them under age 8) and I made friends, too.

We had a great time.

Bad Night....

No quilting or sewing done last night. Instead, I got an email yesterday from DD's 4th grade teacher that we have a bit of a problem. Suffice it to say that our problem is HOME WORK and the HOME WORK is not getting done. So I spent 3 1/2 hours last night working on HOME WORK with my darling DD.

The most interesting part to me is that when I was in elementary school, I lived in Indiana. So we learned things about General Anthony Wayne, Battle of Tippecanoe, Salt Licks, etc. Well, DD has to learn about people I never heard of (Pere Marquette - okay, I know there's a Wisconsin State Park named that; LaSalle, Nicolet - okay, I know there's a High School near Milwaukee named that, etc). What I find is so interesting is that in today's society of very mobile families that the elementary curriculum is very localized in nature. Yes, 40 years ago when I was in 4th grade, the US was not as mobile. Now however, society is very mobile and how will DD ever need to know who was the first white man in Wisconsin? Is that any more relevant than the first white man in Indiana (and I have no idea who that was)? But a fully 50% of her grade for the social studies test is based on the names and accomplishments of these Wisconsin explorers. Very interesting.

Of course, I did get up early this morning and took the backing for the Bento Box quilt (which I had to piece and was sitting on the back of my couch for the past 2 weeks) and ironed it so that its ready to get sandwiched. I had to at least touch some of my fabric. I didn't want to get withdrawal or something.

Have a good one.

Teaching the Next Generation to Quilt

DD is in our local Girl Scout troop. I've always been the mom who helps out with the camp outs and other outdoor activities.

Well, I volunteered to teach the troop how to quilt. So the troop leaders and I decided to take the girls up to the GS camp (about 1/2 hour away) for an overnight camp out with a major theme of learning to sew/quilt. I'm expecting that we'll have anywhere from 8-14 girls age 9/10. I have 3 machines, the camp has 4 machines, and we'll find out how many of the girls can bring their machines.

My plan is to have them understand the historical nature of quilts (I'll bring along a couple of my older quilts for show and tell), have time for them to do design work, then sew together a simple lap quilt and tie it. I'm hoping we can get it all done.

I'm putting together a couple of samples so they can see what they will be doing and so that I can get some votes on colors and fabric themes so I can go shopping for the fabric for them. I started the first sample last night after I spent about 20 minutes going through my stash. I found a fun fish fabric that I used as a backing for a baby quilt I made several years ago and some solids to coordinate. I need to get the sample done by next Tuesday for the GS meeting. Pictures to follow.

Any ideas or hints on teaching children to sew? Several of them learned basic machine sewing at summer school last year, so not everyone will need machine instruction. Also, has anyone hit up fabric stores (like Jo-Ann's or WalMart) for fabric for a project like this?

Thanks and have a great day.

Laurel

Whirly Giggle Done!

Well, I got the Whirly Giggle quilt done last night. I still want to throw it in the washer and dryer to get some of the stiffness out (and let the batting crinkle up a little) and sew on the label, but its now a quilt by all other names.

Here's some close ups of the quilting. I machine quilted it free hand. I drew all the lines on using templates and then just followed the lines. I don't know if I'll ever get good enough to machine quilt without the lines.

Yesterday was great. DD and I played hooky all day; we didn't go to church and we stayed in our PJ's all day. That's probably why I got the quilt all done. Then at 11:30pm last night when I finished it, I went and did my taxes on line. So that's another thing taken care of.

Saturday was a busy day for us. DD had a friend spend the night Friday night and she had to be home for her piano lessons at 8am. So we were out of the house early. Ran a few errands and then had a pedicure (DD had her fingernails painted). The weather was great, so we picked up smoothies and then I dragged her to two quilt shops (in all fairness, she did have her DS - that's a game boy, not a son - with her). I was looking for one fabric of each of two lines that I bought earlier last week and hopefully, quilting stencils for the border of the Whirly Giggle quilt (I didn't find any of the fabric or stencils that I was looking for) Did quite a bit of damage at the first one and only bought a coordinating fabric at the second shop. We had a quick lunch in Cedarburg where they were having their winter festival with ice sculptures being carved on the sidewalk. I felt sorry for them as it was 50 degrees and everything was melting. We drove back home and ran more errands (WalMart and oil change). Then Saturday night we went to a 50's Sock Hop party with the Wisconsin Camping Association. DD was dolled up in a poodle skirt, saddle shoes, and a flip hair-do. She was soooo cute and had such a good time running around with the other kids (they had games for the kids). They had a DJ for after dinner and she danced and danced and danced! So much fun!

Well, I need to get back to work and take care of business.

Laurel

Whirly Giggle and the Tooth Fairy

Sorry I don't have a picture of the Whirly Giggle quilt here today. I got all of the figures outline quilted and last night I started on the open white spaces. I decided I wanted to show movement with my quilting and thought of all those windmills turning. So I'm quilting circles in the white spaces as if the windmills are spinning. I had half of my kitchen dragged out to the family room auditioning plates, saucers, cups, bowls, lids, etc to make the right sizes for the concentric circles. I actually am using the top to a Phily Cream Cheese container for the smallest circle. Last night I got 6 of the 12 blocks done, so I should be able to get the last six done tonight. Then I'll just need to figure out how to quilt the borders. I'll post a picture when I get a chance.

I've been very busy at work this week traveling to visit suppliers. These are 3-6 hour trips (including travel time) so I haven't had a lot of time in the office getting that work done and now its piling up.

On Monday evening, DD lost a tooth while we were eating dinner. She had mentioned that she had a loose one earlier that day, but I figured we had a week or two before it would come out. But no! While we were discussing the plans to put the tooth under her pillow, she told me that some of the kids at school said that there was no Tooth Fairy and that it was just parents leaving the money and putting the tooth in the bottom of the garbage can. I asked her what she believed and she said she wasn't sure. So anyway, we did the whole ceremony with the tooth in the Tooth Pillow under her pillow. After she went to bed, I got a one dollar bill out of my purse and put it on my dresser so that I could swap it out later. Only I forgot to make the swap before she got up. The next morning she came running into the bathroom where I was getting ready for work and said "The Tooth Fairy didn't come!" She was nearly in tears. I said that maybe the Tooth Fairy had a lot of teeth to take care of last night and she just didn't get to our house. DD replied "No, I think she heard us talking about not believing in her and so she didn't come." So I suggested that we both say really loud "I DO BELIEVE IN THE TOOTH FAIRY" and maybe she would come after all. So we did and the Tooth Fairy came last night. So funny. Its only a matter of time before DD figures out that the Tooth Fairy, Santa, and the Easter Bunny are all the same person. She's 9 (okay, 9 and a half) and I've been waiting for that magic to disappear. So far, so good.

Have a great rest of your week.

I Love Saturday Mornings...

It used to be that you would find me in bed on a Saturday morning until 10 or 11am (pre DD). But now I find its my favorite time all week. I can sleep in until 6 or 7am, get up and do whatever I want until DD gets up (yesterday that was at 10am). I had 4 glorious hours of uninterupted sewing time.

I got the Whirly Giggle top done and this morning I took it to church to baste (they have such nice, big tables there). So its already to begin the quilting process. I have two weeks until the shower at work, so I have plenty of time to quilt it and put the binding on. I'm so ahead, I've shocked myself!

Have a wonderful weekend all. We're on our way to a Super Bowl party for the evening (even if we don't care who wins).

Laurel