Nine Patch Bunting Tutorial

There’s nothing so happy as a little string of bunting. It’s my favorite sort of party decoration, and it makes a sweet addition to any space -- especially a sewing room. With Easter coming in a week and all of us stuck inside, I thought it was just the right time for this Nine Patch Bunting Tutorial to give us something pretty to decorate our indoor spaces. The pattern will give you a short length of bunting as written (a little less than a yard), but double or triple the materials to make your string of patchwork happiness as long as you like!

This is a wonderful project for fussy cutting, especially for the tiny little details in a print that can be overlooked. I chose to pair light and dark shades of the same color in my 5 nine patch blocks, but you could also match up low volume and colored prints. Linen makes a sturdy backing and string, but you can also substitute different prints for the backing squares to make your bunting reversible. If you want to make the project even simpler, just use 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares for both sides of each flag on the bunting strips.

This is a great pattern to make with kids if you're looking for something to add to your homeschool activities this week. It also makes a sweet party or holiday decoration. Try making a different string for each month of the year to hang somewhere special in your house. It's a fun way to celebrate a new month and bring a little extra handmade love to your home.

Nine Patch Bunting Tutorial 
Finished Size: 29 1/2" x 3 3/8"

From a 5’’ square each of 10 Prints in 5 color pairings (light blue/dark blue, pink/red, light green/dark green, pale yellow/gold, lavender/purple), cut:

(5) 1 1/2’’ x 1 1/2’’ squares from the dark prints for nine patch blocks (A)

(4) 1 1/2’’ x 1 1/2’’ squares from the light prints for nine patch blocks (B)

From 1/4 yard Natural Linen, cut:

(5) 3 1/2’’ x 3 1/2’’ squares for block backings (C)

(1) 30’’ x 1 1/2’’ strip for hanging string (D)

Additional Supplies: matching thread, embroidery floss (optional), binding clips, chopstick

1. Sort the A and B squares into five groups, one for each block. Arrange the squares as shown. Sew the squares into rows, pressing toward the darker fabric, and then sew the rows together, pressing the seams open.

2. If desired, use embroidery floss to sew a cross stitch at the 4 corners of the center square on each block.

3. Place a nine patch block right sides together with a C square. Sew around the sides and lower edge, leaving the top open. Turn the piece right side out, gently pushing out the corners with a chopstick, and press. Topstitch 1/8’’ from the edge around the sides and lower edge. Repeat with the remaining 4 blocks.

4. Fold the short edges of the D strip toward the wrong side of the fabric about 1/4" and press. Next, fold the strip in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and then fold the long edges to meet at the centerfold line, press, and then fold along the center fold again with the long raw edges sandwiched in the middle.

5. Slip the upper edges of the 5 nine patch blocks inside the folded D strip as shown, starting with the center block in the middle of the D strip, and then spacing the remaining blocks 1’’ apart from the others as you go. Hold the blocks in place with binding clips.

6. Sew just inside the edge of the fold closest to the blocks on the D strip, stitching the blocks in place and sealing the folded edges together. Backstitch at the start and finish to secure everything in place.

If you make one of these, be sure to share your photos with the hashtag #ninepatchbunting and tag me @fabricmutt. I hope this will bring some happiness to your homes this week!

A Quilt for Snuffy

Oh my friends, what a week it's been. Little Mouse came down with what we thought was a stomach bug last Saturday night. Unfortunately it was a more serious virus than we knew, culminating in a long day at the emergency room on Thursday so that she could be treated for dehydration. I'm very grateful to say that she's on the mend, but we're still taking it a day at a time. She's in that delicate place right now where she's getting her strength back but still needs to stay quiet (no easy feat for this little bundle of energy), and it's a challenge to keep her calm so that she doesn't relapse. The hardest part of all is that our church is having it's Christmas children's program and festival tomorrow morning, which she'll have to miss. Breaking the news to her last night was painful, after her long week of hoping against hope that she'd get well in time. After she spent a while sobbing in my arms and then in her Daddy's, I told her that maybe we could sew something special this weekend together to make up for it, perhaps a quilt for her beloved stuffed dog Snuffy.

It was a game changer. There were more tears before the day was over, but it was definitely the turning point. I sit here now and think back on how many times the prospect of "sewing time with Mommy" saved the day with my girls. It has so often been a way to help them through difficult moments.

So while the rest of the family went to Saturday lunch at our favorite Mexcian restaurant, Mouse and I went upstairs to sew. Miniature doll quilts are such a wonderful project when you want to sew something with a child. You don't even really need a pattern. Just pick the fabrics, choose a shape or design, sew the top, and then cut a backing print to fit. I like to use a piece of muslin or cotton fabric instead of batting so that the quilt isn't too stiff. Instead of binding, I just sew the front and back together, leaving an opening for turning, and then once it's turned right side out, I tuck the raw edges inside and stitch 1/8" from the edge all around. So simple!

We made a little pillow to go along with the quilt, adding pom-pom trim at Mouse's request. She was absolutely delighted with the finish, and immediately wanted to tuck Snuffy in for a nap.

She's spent the rest of the day resting on the couch in the family room cuddling with her little pup and watching old episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies. I love to hear her giggling from the next room.

After a week like this one, it's the most beautiful music in the world.

The Blabberwockies Learn to Sew (I Sew for Fun Tour)

It's been almost a year since the Blabberwockies first entered my life. My three girls were goofing off in the back of the car, moving their hands as if they were wearing invisible puppets and talking to each other in funny voices. "What's going on back there?" I asked as I glanced in the rear view mirror.

"Oh, it's just our Blabberwockies," they answered nonchalantly.

"Your what?" I glanced again in the mirror.

"Our Blabberwockies."

"You mean Jabberwockies," I corrected, "from Alice in Wonderland." The girls looked baffled, shook their heads no, and tried to explain.

Apparently one day my oldest came up with the idea of having their hands move (walk) as they talked to each other (blabber) -- they're "all mouth" as she says -- and the Blabberwockies were born: Tommy, Stuart, Sarah, Sylvester, Millie, Dude, Edison, Sammy & Hannah -- just to name a few of the characters they love to play. How my girls keep all those personalities straight is beyond me. It's a blessing and curse at the same time, of course. On the one hand (pun intended), they can bring their own entertainment with them wherever they go, but when things get wild, I can't take their toys away from them since they're permanently attached to their bodies.

So when I was contacted by Nancy Zieman Productions to see if I'd be interested in joining their I Sew for Fun Tour, which encourages grownups and kids to sew together, I immediately went to my daughters and said, "How about if we teach the Blabberwockies to sew?"

And there was great rejoicing.

I've shared with you several times on this blog -- and in my book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl -- about sewing with my daughters, who (for any newcomers) are affectionately referred to as Bunny, Bear, and Mouse to preserve their privacy. It's something I love to do, but it takes lots of preparation and a very different mindset from sewing by myself. I really wish I had owned a copy of Nancy's book back when I got started. I own several books about sewing with kids, and this one is definitely my favorite. It's so practical, easy to follow, and especially helpful for sewing with very young children. Even though my girls are getting older (Mouse is 7, Bear is 8, and Bunny turns 11 this month), they got a kick out of the fun names that Nancy and her granddaughters came up with for the different parts of the sewing machine, and since they're a little more advanced, we were able to go into more depth about the features of my machine and how everything works.

Along with the book, we received a package of notions from Clover that Nancy developed to go along with the book. There are some fabulous goodies in here. My favorite is the retractable seam ripper which turns into a thread cutter -- something I'll definitely be using myself. My daughters loved the large seam guide that makes it super easy for them to keep a straight seam allowance. Having their own set of Clover clips which we kept in the lid for the heart shaped pincushion was also a big hit. Adding or collecting clips is the perfect job for little kids, and it's probably what Mouse loves doing most. "This heart is all filled up with joy," she chirped happily as she kept adding clips to the lid while we were sewing together.

The projects in the book are each awarded a 1, 2, or 3 button difficulty rating (1 being easiest) to help you pick the right challenge for your child. My girls could probably have handled a 2 or 3, but everyone immediately went crazy over the cuteness of the stuffed animal sleeping bag, so we decided to go with that.

I let the girls choose their fabrics from my stash, and they had such a great time going through my color bins, which leads me to another lesson I've learned about sewing with kids: let them use the pretty fabric. The things they sew will be sitting around your house for the whole world to see, after all, so they might as well look good. I always make sure that the girls run their choices past me in case I'm saving a print for something special, otherwise everything is fair game. After the girls chose their combinations, I cut out the pieces for each sleeping bag, and then I had an appointment with each of my girls to sew their projects.

I had originally used the idea of teaching their Blabberwockies to sew as a gimmick to get the girls excited -- not that they need any help with that when it comes to sewing -- but it wound up being surprisingly helpful. Instead of saying, "Keep your right hand here and your left hand there," it's so much more fun to say, "Let Tommy hold that side and Stuart can hold the edge by the seam guide." And while my girls might be distracted at times from paying attention, they had a great time making their Blabberwockies the most diligent students in the sewing room. "Sylvester's asking all my questions for me!" Bear laughed.

It's important to remember that sewing with kids is completely different from sewing by yourself. Everything takes at least four times longer with kids...at least...so be sure that you budget enough time rather than become frustrated because you're in a hurry. You can do almost everything more quickly or easily by yourself, but fight that urge and let the kids do it. The seam allowances aren't going to be perfectly straight and the points won't all match up. It will drive you crazy, but I promise, the kids won't care. They'll look at it and say, "I love it!" Because what matters isn't getting it done quickly or perfectly. You're making a special memory by sewing something with your child.

The best thing about sewing with your kids is the conversations you have together while you do it. We talked about why caterpillars shouldn't smoke (thank you, Alice in Wonderland fabric), weighed possible fabric options for the Jet-Set Case (from my book) that Bunny wants to make for our summer road trip, and discussed all the plans for Edison and Hannah's upcoming wedding reception in the dollhouse this spring. And in between listening to their Blabberwockies crack their little jokes ("I had an extremely fun time, but the fabric tasted awful.") and stitching away at our projects, I get to see more of my daughters' hearts. I get to hear what they're feeling and doing and hoping for the year ahead. I've heard it said before that when children spell "love" they use the letters T-I-M-E. I truly believe that. My girls appreciate that I'm choosing to spend my time with them because I want to. They know that I enjoy sharing my fabric, knowledge and tools with them so that they can do what I do, and it means a lot . . . to all of us.

I was heartbroken when I heard that Nancy passed away last year, partly because I missed the chance to know her. I never had the opportunity to take a class from her or talk with her, even though we both designed fabric for Riley Blake Designs. It was only a month later that I got the invitation for this blog hop, and I can't tell you how grateful I was to finally meet her through the pages of this beautiful book. Her heart is so obviously in every chapter, reminding us that no matter what age, we all sew for the same reasons: for the love of it . . . for the love of the people we sew for and with . . . for the fun.

I can't think of a more fitting legacy for her to leave behind than that.

Sewing Saves the Day

"What if," I said as I pulled a tearful Mouse into my lap, "we made a pillow together? Would you like that?"

She lifted one hand to knuckle away the tears...sniffed...nodded.

"You could pick out the fabric, choose a pillow size, the whole thing. Sound good?"

Another sniffle...another nod...the beginnings of a smile.

My 7-year-old had come wandering into the loft while I was sewing one night last week, looking for a special stuffed friend that she hadn't seen in a while. I took a deep breath and broke the news to her that the friend had been in the line of fire during Mouse's bout of flu several months back, and I hadn't been able to save it. A torrent of tears and several long hugs later, I had done my best to salvage the situation with the offer of a mommy-daughter sewing project. To see my girl move through the stages of grief in approximately 3 minutes flat and then start chattering away about her new pillow...it was reason #347 why I'm so thankful that I sew.

So Mouse picked out a pillow form at Joann Fabrics and a Rifle Paper Co. linen print from my stash, and soon we were stitching away at my machine. I fleetingly wondered how many more times she'll be able to sit on my lap while we sew together, as she -- like her sisters -- is growing up so quickly these days. It took all of ten minutes before she was trying to hug her finished pillow and me at the same time. And with a quick, "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you so much!" she was off and running to share her new friend with the rest of the house.

And there you have it, I thought. Sewing saves the day again.

Simply Strippy Sewing Kit & The Next Big Thing

This project has been on my Must Make list for a while now. Scrap Happy Sewing by Kim Kruzich (also known as Retro Mama) is full of adorable projects to make with your leftover bits of fabric happiness. You know that I can never refuse another sewing kit, and the Simply Strippy version is adorable.

Most of the patchwork pieces for this kit came from my scrap bins, though I tossed in a few pieces of Foxglove by Aneela Hoey which came in my last fabric package -- such a beautiful collection. I added some Art Gallery Fabric denim in Adobe Clay for the inner pockets as well as an extra pocket using more Foxglove.

This little kit was so fun to make and a really fast sew -- about two hours of sewing in between afternoon errands and dinner with the family.

The next big project on my list is setting up a sewing station for my three daughters who are finally getting their own machine. It's exciting and yes, just a little bit scary to think about how quickly they're growing up. My oldest turned 9 in February, and she's been begging for this privilege for at least a year. I'm taking a deep breath, stocking up on band-aids, and getting ready to become Sewing Teacher Extraordinaire this summer. Because as I spent a bit of time thinking about this whole motherhood thing during the big day yesterday, I realized that doing all that we do to take care of our kids -- while exhausting and overwhelming -- is really not the hardest part of our job. The hardest part is teaching them to be independent enough not to need us so much anymore. This stage has been quietly creeping up on me this year, and though I've never considered myself a control freak, I'm learning that it's not easy to let go. No, my girls aren't headed off to college for almost a decade yet, but now is the time to teach them that there are already things they can do for themselves. Things like folding their own laundry and helping with dinner, studying for tests and sewing birthday gifts for friends, knowing what they believe and standing up for what's right. If they can tuck these things away now, I know they'll be habits by the time they're ready to fly off on their own wings.

So yes, it's time to let my girls learn how to use a sewing machine all by themselves. And I'm excited and nervous and a just a wee bit emotional.

And so proud I can hardly stand it.

Sewing School: Tiger Lily Doll Quilts

It's been a while since I've sewed with my daughters. With the move, I just haven't had the time. But earlier this year when I first laid eyes on Heather Ross's Tiger Lily collection, I knew that this would give the girls and me something to look forward to. After weeks of hearing little voices ask, "Is it here yet, Mommy?" our package showed up earlier this month, and last Friday we finally sat down to sew.

My girls wanted to make doll quilts for their American Girl friends, so after measuring their IKEA toy beds, I decided we would make simple patchwork quilts using 16 blocks, each a finished 4" square. I cut a stack of squares for each girl which they got to arrange any way they wanted.

It was fun to observe my daughters as they walked through this creative experience, especially since they're at least a year older since the last time we sewed together. They were all big fans of the planning stage. Bunny even brought her doll in to consult on placement decisions. Bear put in a lot of time on arranging before finally coming to me with a brown square and saying, "Mommy, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but this fabric isn't really my style." We quickly replaced it with something pink. Mouse insisted that she had a matching theme to her quilt, since she tried to make sure that similar designs in different colorways were placed right next to each other.

For the first time, I let Bunny sew by herself at the machine while I watched, and she was so proud. I got to hear all the details about a future sewing room of her own. This girl has big plans, let me tell you.

Bear and Mouse both sat on my lap during their turns, placing their hands over mine while we sewed and quilted together. I let Bear take the wheel for a few seconds here and there, but it was definitely a team effort.

We decided to do a different style of quilting for each quilt. Bunny chose wavy lines, Bear used a zig-zag stitch, and Mouse had simple diagonal lines across the squares. I've found that even though kids can tell their projects apart by the arrangement of the quilt top, it helps to use variety in the quilting designs too.

The bottom line: sewing with kids is not really something you do for relaxation, because honestly, that's not the point. It's always a challenge to keep little hands away from the hot iron, to explain what a bobbin does for the fifteenth time, to make your peace with a five-year-old's design decisions and the inevitable mismatched seams. But time spent sharing your passion with your children and seeing it become their passion as well...it's time you'll never regret.

Celebrate the end of National Sewing Month by sewing with a kid. I promise, you won't be bored.

Sewing School: Pillowcases

It's been a busy week of jumping back into a school schedule, which is both a tough adjustment (no more staying up until midnight watching Burn Notice with my husband) and a good one (little girls who are busy with classwork have less time to drive each other bonkers). Bunny has been begging me for another sewing lesson, and a special fabric package gave us the perfect opportunity for a new project. Illustrator Missy Kulik sent me a few of her cute designs on fabric this summer so that I could sew something up with them for my blog. Bunny immediately fell in love with the strawberry print, and we spent an afternoon making a new pillowcase for her bed. I even let her do a little sewing all by herself for this one, and I don't think I've ever seen her so proud.

Bear and Mouse were indignant to be left out, of course, but I still have this girly Diamonds & Rubies print left. I have no doubt that it will become a set of pillowcases before the month is over...

Sewing School: Stuffed Dachshunds

I'm sticking to my goal of sewing at least one project each month with my three girls. This month we made little stuffed dachshunds, a fun project that came together pretty quickly. The only part of this project that's actually stuffed is the body -- everything else is nice and floppy. As always, I let the girls pick out their own fabric. Rather than letting them dive into my cupboards, it's easier for me to ask them what color they want their project to be and then give them a matching selection of fabrics to look through until they come up with what they like best. We tried three different methods for attaching the ears, and the third time was definitely the charm as you can see on the far right. I figure it doesn't hurt for the girls to experience the joys of problem solving at a young age.

From right to left we have Fix-It (Bear is a big Handy Manny fan), Puppy, and Snuffy. These doxies are long and skinny, perfect for small hands to hold and cuddle. And let me tell you, there's been a lot of cuddling going on in this house since these little guys showed up...

Sewing School: Zipper Pouches

My little sewing school is still in progress with the girls this year. About every third week we do a project of some kind together, and our latest one was sewing zipper pouches. They had a blast picking out fabric for these, going through every last print in my stacks for just the right pieces. Mouse, who is currently obsessed with ducks, chose one of Lizzy House's first collections for the exterior of her pouch and an unknown yellow print for the lining.

Bear was desperate to use those mixing bowls by Lori Holt on the outside of her pouch, adding a Briar Rose calico print for her lining. She faithfully uses that pouch to store her pencil every single day for school.

Bunny fell in love with these dogs by Heather Ross as soon as she saw them and lined her pouch with one of the most popular prints in my stash as far as my girls are concerned: Mr. Bear by Sarah Jane.

The girls had so much fun making these. While I sometimes find one left forgotten on the floor or table, heaven help the sister who touches a pouch that doesn't belong to her. Now I'm just trying to decide what to do for our next project. Any suggestions?

Stunned

We finished the last of the quilts for my girls this weekend -- the special Mommy-and-me-sewing-time quilts. And when I stepped back to look at the results, I can honestly say that I was stunned. They turned out even better than I'd hoped.

My girls definitely take after Mommy: they love the design step better than any other part of the process. Bear had a blast picking out her scraps, and even though I had to call a halt to the selection process finally ("I want to use them all, Mommy!"), she ended up with the largest quilt of the three. I was amazed at how she really did seem to stick to a color scheme, and I loved that she added lots of neutrals in there. She even inspired me to put together a Fabric Audition based on her choices which I'll share with you later this week. One of many things I've learned through this experience -- let your kids sew with your good fabric. Pretty fabric makes a pretty quilt, no matter who's doing the sewing.

Mouse was a little different. She dove into my bucket, grabbed her scraps, and was done in about two minutes flat. Surprised, I asked if she wanted to add more, but she shook her little head. "No," she said, "I'm good."

Bear wanted to sew with me for quite a while, and then by the time we were on to the binding, she was ready to move on to other things. Mouse, on the other hand, wanted to sit on my lap for almost every stitch. She was even slightly offended that I wouldn't let her do any ironing, and I had to keep chasing her away from the cutting mat whenever I needed to trim something.

It was all chatter and giggles and silly faces with these two little ones as we did our sewing. By the end, I was sewing the binding on Mouse's quilt while the three girls played "Fabric Shop" behind me. I did my best not to laugh aloud as I listened to their dialogue including little tidbits like "I'd like 10 and 1/9th feet of this one," or "So what are you going to make with this: a lampshade or a dress?" When I was finished, I had a mountain of fabric to refold and three happy little girls to tuck into bed with their treasured quilts.

It was a very good day.

Bunny's First Quilt

Over the past week I've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a mother. Having three little daughters is hard work -- God forgive me for all the times that I, as a single teacher, thought that stay-at-home moms had it easy. There have been moments when the responsibilities and resulting exhaustion have been almost more than I could bear. Last weekend I devoured a copy of this book which I highly recommend to all overwhelmed mothers, especially those with young children. I came away with a much needed dose of hope, a few new strategies, and a renewed commitment to spend time learning to really love and understand my children.

I'll be honest: there are times when I use my sewing as an escape from motherhood. While I don't think this is completely abnormal, I know that it's also not the best idea, especially for someone who sews as much as I do. Instead of using my sewing as a way to get away from my girls, I want to use it as a method for connecting with them more deeply. My girls have been begging me for months to teach them how to sew, so I decided that this week we were going to finally start. And today, Bunny and I finished her very first quilt.

Keep in mind, my girls are young -- ages 6, 4, and almost 3 years old -- so I'm not going to hand them a rotary cutter and my sewing machine and say, "Have fun!" Instead, I let Bunny sift through my scrap bucket, picking out any pieces she liked. We spread these out on the floor and then she would bring me a scrap or two at a time as we slowly pieced together a log cabin. I did all the cutting and pressing, and often she would sit on my lap, helping me guide the fabric through the machine with her little hand on top of mine. We didn't always agree on her choices -- there are definitely some things that I would have done differently. When I tried to give her a little gentle advice about the wisdom of including a certain scrap, she looked at me with big eyes and said, "Mommy, it's my quilt. Can't I make it the way I want it?" I knew she was right, so I backed off and let her have free reign. I also soon learned that if I in any way showed that I liked a fabric she was thinking of adding, forget it -- she didn't want it anymore. I laughed about this later when I shared it with my husband and parents, all the while tucking it away as useful knowledge for future dealings with my independent daughter.

While we sewed, we talked...a lot. I taught her new words like "seam allowance," "basting," and "binding." She chatted with me about school, her sisters, and upcoming holidays. We both shared reasons why we love sewing. When the last stitch was sewn on the binding, I was tired and my neck ached from trying to sew while looking around a six year old's head, but the satisfaction was incredible. And the look on Bunny's face...it was absolute joy.

I had waited so long to sew with my girls because I thought they were too young, but they weren't really. I just needed to adjust my ideas of what sewing with them was going to be. Bunny didn't have to sew every stitch for it to be her quilt. And I gained the pleasure of time with my daughter and some valuable insights into her life.

In the grand scheme of things, that's a pretty good deal.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.

Sewing for Dolly

When I was a little girl, I used to pore over the American Girl catalogs that my grandmother mailed to our house -- she has always been a doll collector and believes in starting them young. The cost of all the items were light years out of our family's price range, but I would spend hours happily turning the pages and making lists of things I wanted to buy. It's given me quite a laugh to watch Bunny do exactly the same thing this past year with those catalogs (which my grandmother is still sending), proving that she is indeed my daughter in every way. Today is Bunny's sixth birthday, but we had her party on Saturday so that the family could all come. And the special package from my husband's parents this year held an actual American Girl doll inside -- the first one that anyone in our family has ever owned, giving Miss Bunny an honored rank similar to the first person in a family to go to college. Since Bunny tells me that Ruthie the doll is in desperate need of bedding and clothing, and since we don't have the Swiss bank accounts that one would need to purchase these items from the people at American Girl, today was the first of what will be a standing weekly mother-daughter sewing date to create Ruthie's wardrobe and accessories.

Today's item was a sleeping bag and pillow set. I had planned to make Ruthie a doll quilt and buy an inexpensive doll bed online, but apparently they don't exist (the cheapest one I could find was $40 -- obviously I'm in the wrong business). My design was based on a tutorial which you can find here.

Bunny begged me to buy a charm pack of Aneela Hoey's new Posy collection last month, so I let her use that for this project. She got to choose the layout for the charm squares and help me guide the fabric through the machine for some of the sewing.  Most of the interior is one of the Posy prints along with a strip of Waffle Pink from Monaluna's Havana collection. I bound the sleeping bag in a grey and white crossword puzzle print by Tim & Beck.

I love the simplicity of this design. There are no zippers to bother with and the buttons are purely decorative. You can make the bag with a single piece of fabric, but doing the charm squares makes a sweet patchwork version that fits Ruthie's 1930's time period quite well. Some of the Posy prints -- especially those bunnies in the picture below -- even have a bit of a vintage vibe, I think. This collection just couldn't be more perfect for little girls.

Since I didn't want Bear to feel left out, I let her pick two charm squares from the pack, and she helped me sew a simple coaster to put under her water cup in her room. We had so much fun making this together, and Bear was absolutely thrilled to pieces with the result. She's been carrying this coaster around with her all day long.

I definitely want to sew with my girls more often. It's great to see the pride they feel in being a part of making something that they're really going to use. Bunny was watching me as I ironed out a few of the seams we had just sewn together, and she suddenly flashed me a blinding smile. "I like sewing, Mommy! I think I'm really getting the hang of this!" Then she reached over and hugged my arm. "You're the best Mommy in the whole entire world."

Need I say more?