School started on Tuesday where I live, and on Monday my niece Hailey came over to work on her quilt. Next up was adding the borders, preparing the back, sandwiching the pieces and then tying the quilt. Here she is tying the quilt. She said she liked the tying part, as it’s easier than handling the whole top on the sewing machine. She has to finish tying and then bind the quilt before she can enjoy using it. I think she’s doing a fabulous job!

Tuesday evening my eight-year-old niece, Nicole, came to spend the night. After she helped cook dinner she wanted to sew, so we looked through The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids by Nancy Smith and Linda Milligan with Possibilities. Nicole decided she would make scrunchies and a cloth lunch bag for school, which starts next week. She headed off to my fabric stash to select what I thought would be a couple of pieces for the scrunchies. Well, she came back with enough for ten. And that’s what she made. Here she is at the sewing machine.

Her skills have improved since she made her first skirt this spring. She’s more careful about the seam allowance and pays more attention to the project. And, while I cut the fabric, she followed the directions and worked without my guidance after the first few. She made two scrunchies that evening. The next morning shortly after breakfast she said, “I’m bored. Can we sew now?” Do you think she’s after my heart?! So she continued and made eight more. We took a break in the afternoon, went to the movies, out for ice cream and to visit the alpacas at the end of my street. After we got back, she wanted to make the lunch bag. She had picked out fabric for two bags, but we only had time for one. When her mom arrived about 6:15 to pick her up, she had just the top edge to turn and sew to finish the bag. She’s so excited that when people will ask about her bag or scrunchies, she can say, “I made it.” Here she is with the array of scrunchies.

Sewing has been a joyful experience my whole life. Family legend has me threading needles for my great-great-grandmothers at the age of three. I want to share that joy with my nieces and nephews. For the past year my niece Hailey has been working on a quilt. She still has to add the borders and tie the quilt, but I wanted to share her progress. Her skills have improved and while I was relegated to presser in the past, now I just work on my own project until she asks for help. Here she is with the top ready for the borders. And, we’re hopeful to fit in a day before school starts to finish.

Her sister Nicole also wanted to learn to sew. She decided to make a skirt. She selected all the fabrics. I cut the fabric, but she did all the sewing. I also made a bag to match, using Lazy Girl Design’s Runaround Bag.

My 10-year-old niece is at work on her own quilt. The one I made her years ago is just too short! She’s making a rail fence in yellows and browns. She gets better and better at cutting and sewing as we go along. I’m now the presser, so I actually have something to do while she sews.

Instead of cutting all the strips first and then sewing strips and blocks, she’s cutting eight strips at a time and then making enough blocks to make a row. That way, she can see her progress. She’s already planning overnights once school starts so she can work on her quilt. Stay tuned….