Quilt Camp, Day #5

Today was the last day for Quilt Camp, there was still plenty to do: getting the binding attached, and then, learning the fine art of finishing. She was an eager beaver this morning! Even though we were winding down the week, we still packed in a full complement of activities. After the binding was carefully sewn into position by machine, she designed a few quilt blocks that she might like to stitch up in the future using a wooden block puzzle that I keep in the studio.

Before lunch she settled down to begin the handwork; she likes hand-sewing, and carefully began folding the binding back to the "soft side" and catching it one stitch at a time. I was able to squeeze in reading one last quilt-related children's book while she stitched away.

And then, all of a sudden, it was time to go. She's still got three sides left to finish stitching down, but she left here today with thread and needles; a boxful of scraps and, most important of all, she's still smiling! I'd say that's a glowing testament to a week well spent. I couldn't be happier. 

'Bye!

And it's a wrap... 

💗

The quilting world is growing, 

one quilt camper at a time. 

💗

Life is Good!

Quilt Camp, Day #4

She did it! She quilted her quilt, on the longarm, by herself! 

Wouldn't the first thing to do, after it's removed from the rails, 

be to wrap up in your quilt that's backed with royal purple Minkee? 

You betcha!

💗

Each one of these snapshots is worth 1,000 words!

💗

Life is Good!

Quilt Camp, Day #3

Day three of Quilt Camp was a momentous one! As you can see by the clock on the wall, all twenty blocks were completed before 11:00 AM! This was reason for celebration, and a well-deserved break before lunch.

Today was a perfect day, weather-wise; jump roping and spending some time outdoors was a great outlet for expending energy. We had story time after that, time spent with my all-time favorite children's book.

She loves it as much as her Nana does!

Someone left a little surprise this morning. 💗

The afternoon was spent joining the rows together. She was unstoppable. 

She monitored her own progress, keeping track with this tablet parked beside the sewing machine!

In an effort not to tire her out too much, our afternoon break was a card game. That "poker" face! 😂

She finished piecing her top shortly after that, this is a portrait of pure,  proud accomplishment!

She couldn't wait to wrap up in it!

And what could be better to top off the perfect day than some backyard s'mores after dinner?

Life is Good!

Quilt Camp, Day #2

Today's Quilt Camp session saw great great progress in the quilt block count! One of Lynnleigh's most frequently asked questions today was: "how many blocks do I have done now and how many more do I need?" She sewed up a storm and loved arranging her warm, freshly-pressed blocks on the design wall. 

I'm very proud of her can-do attitude! For the second day, we followed the same format as the day before; keeping the sewing sessions productive but not overtiring. There were plenty of other activities sprinkled in. 

The theme of her quilt is "camping". As you can see there are plenty of S'more related fabrics. 

Following that theme, "quilter's fuel" was at the ready in a "quilty" snack cup to keep her energized.

Lots of this...

Balanced with lots of this... puzzles, stories and games, not to mention lunch and dinner...

Led to this conclusion for Day #2. Fifteen (of twenty) blocks on the wall and one very happy camper!

Life is Good!

Quilt Camp, Day #1

Quilt Camp for our youngest grandchild began here this morning. Lynnleigh's been so eager to start her own quilt! At eight, having only just completed the second grade, she's the youngest Quilt Camper that I've had; but, probably, the most enthusiastic by a mile!  (And by no means does that imply that the others haven't been excited, not at all!) Lynnleigh is artistic by nature, she's all about color, value and contrast. Sometimes it's easy to forget that she's eight years old! She knows what she likes. For her pattern we chose a Nine Patch, she's webbing the blocks as she goes. All of her energy and interest in color and design was thwarted, in the beginning, by her reluctance to have a hand at the machine. She's not really sewn on the machine before, that took some time and practice. "I'd prefer to do these by hand" she said. I encouraged her, "I know that you can do this", I assured her.  I told her that I would be right here with her, there was nothing to worry about. She was willing, but still a bit timid and doubtful and, I suppose, intimidated by the machine itself. 

She started out without thread or bobbin, learning to stitch on paper and how to follow a straight line. She learned how to stop with the needle down, raise the presser foot, and pivot. She was ready to go after that!

From there it was an easy jump from the paper to the fabric and she was on her way!

Block #1, done!

And... how she spent the rest of the afternoon! 

She is so proud of her accomplishments after day one; and so is this Nana! For the once-reluctant machinist I have to say that she's the most precise and deliberately conscientious stitcher that seen in quite some time. We kept the sewing sessions short today, had snacks and lunch at the appropriate times and our "breaks" consisted of a rousing game of Uno and story time. She'll be back in the morning for day number two. I hope that she's just as excited as she was today; because I, for one, can not wait! 

Life is Good!

I'm Still Here...

Don't send out the bloodhounds yet, I'm still here! It's been a busy, busy week. Isn't that great to think about? A busy, busy week! Yes!! After months on end of nowhere to go and nothing to do, life is ratcheting up again, my calendar is filling every day and it feels so good! This past week Lynnleigh and I made a trip to Pineapple Fabrics to get her supplies for Quilt Camp with Nana! She will make a quilt next week, from start to finish, a camping-theme quilt (a camping quilt at quilt camp!) with her very own special curated collection of fabrics.  

It's going to be great! They're all washed and pressed and patiently waiting to be cut and assembled starting bright and early on Monday morning. Stay tuned! 

The hydrangea are blooming again. This is nothing short of miraculous (to me) after the butchering that happened to them last year when we added the screen porch. This spring, each time they sent out new growth it was promptly halted by killing frosts. That happened three times and they really didn't look good. I wasn't expecting much... and then, this! Joy!

So, speaking of that screen porch: Mr. Goodneedle added a planter wall across the back of the adjoining patio during the construction process. I transplanted some straggly daylilies that had been neglected. These were a gift from Quiltkeemosabe, years ago. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had let them go. Little did I know, they were far from "done"; but were simply looking for a sunnier location to spread and grow. 

They're thriving in their new location!

In three separate locations I have Easter lilies blooming in the perennial garden right now. These have been re-plants after Easter Sunday services for years. This is a portrait of resurrection right here! Aren't we all experiencing our own resurrections right now? Those filling calendar pages are a testament.

Lynnleigh wanted an outdoor, mask-free pic with her fabric purchase. She hasn't yet been vaccinated, her young age prohibits that for now. But we're all emerging, one day at a time. There's life again, and it is GOOD !!

Life is Good!

Quilt Camp Wrap Up

I posted a week ago about the eager-beaver quilt camper that I had hanging out in the sewing room with me! A week ago-- where does all that flying time go? I am SEW very impressed by this young lady's enthusiasm and focus when it came to creating her very first quilt that I can hardly contain myself. She and I chatted earlier in the year about her wanting to learn and I agreed to help her get started. We all want to pass along the love of quilting to the next generation*; or, in this case, the generation after that! 😉 At almost twelve years old this young lady definitely had in mind what she wanted to do; "make a quilt that she could put on her bed"; she arrived filled with the determination to see her vision through! As her quilt camp counselor I truly wanted her to succeed and decided that she needed a project large enough to be usable and small enough to finish, promoting a sense of accomplishment that might fuel her love of the art. We used the Accuquilt cutter and made quick work of cutting tumblers, enough (323 - 4" tumbler shapes) to make a quilt measuring 52" X 64".  She chose all of her fabrics from my stash, she likes bright colors and strong contrasts, no pastels for this girl! I taught her what I could and from there she worked tirelessly laying out all the pieces, creating her rows and assembling the top, hour after hour.

By Friday morning last week her quilt was layered and loaded onto Snowbird for quilting. She took a few passes following the pantograph, just to get a feel for the longarm, before we turned the machine on. She's a quick study and was done with the quilting portion by lunchtime!

This shot is worth 1,000 words!

She made her binding in the early afternoon and got that attached in short order.

She is shown here learning how to fold over and finish the binding by hand on the backside of the quilt. She's a natural.

I took this picture just before she left out the door to go home on Friday afternoon. She vowed to have her binding all finished and stitched down as soon as she could; "by the end of the weekend" she stated.

Her Dad sent this photograph from their home a few hours later; my heart swelled. Isn't this absolutely the very best we can hope for? For this quiltmaker I am not sure much else comes close. 

Yep, it's a WRAP!!

A quilter is born; I'm calling this Quilt Camp an unqualified success!

Life is Good!

* For what it's worth-- I've posted about this before, the subject of passing on quilt knowledge from one generation to another: When I began quilting I tried to learn every. single. thing. that I could from my quilting "fore-mothers". They were just as eager to pass along tips and techniques as those like myself were to learn. I found myself soaking in everything they could teach me like a dried out sponge in desperate search of moisture. This next generation, those the age of my children, seemingly need nothing from us. We are happy to teach, to give back as payment for all that we received; yet this "YouTube" generation have charted their own path, they're learning on their own and happily designing and creating by themselves. This makes me incredibly sad, on several levels, but the greatest might just be that very basic need to be needed. And, SEW it goes... thoughts?