Crumb Snatchers

Crumb Snatchers is the name of our little sewing group - my two eight year old granddaughters and me. They first learned about seams by sewing together old sheets I had ripped apart into strips. Now they have moved on to crumbs and strips and are making their parents a little pillow for Christmas. And after that they will make a hotpad for them.  Here Belle (aka Isabelle/Izzy/Bellarina) models with a chunk of mushroom fabric she chose to work with because her family loves to go mushroom hunting.

Here she is with the front of her pillow which is stuffed but the opening not yet sewn shut. She picked fabrics with things her family loves...birds, hot peppers, roses, and anything Irish...

...and here's the back of her pillow with fish and mushrooms and a special strip on which she wrote some lovely sentiments as well as the date she made it.   I think she also noticed she her pillow had a big indent in it which we decided to call character.

 And here is Crumb Snatcher Kayla still working away on her pillow back. Unfortunately the pins in her seam were facing the wrong way and after I told her that her smile was not as big.

And here is the front of Kayla's pillow.  Of course her main fabric has hearts. That is so Kayla.   And now I'm wondering why Belle is in the background looking so grouchy.   I think she wanted me to show her how to hand stitch her opening shut and I told her she had to wait until slowpoke Kayla had hers stuffed so I could show them both at the same time what had to be done.

Sewing Seams

I'm off this week. We were supposed to be camping with extended family; however, my husband has had to have hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments unexpectedly (2 hrs a day for 20 days) so that threw a wrench into our plans. Instead, the granddaughters (aged 7) are camping with us in the backyard out here in the country.

Today I set up the sewing machines I bought on sale for them a couple of months ago and they got their first lessons in learning to sew straight seams. I tore up some muslin I had into strips as well as a  45 cent sheet from the thrift store and they spent a couple of hours learning about sewing machines and sewing seams. They think they are ready for pillow and/or pillowcase making but I told them I need to see quite a few straight seams before they advance on to that.    Groan....

Remembering Grandma

Grandma is the patient lady who taught me how to sew and embroider. I was lucky enough to inherit one of her quilts. I will try to fix it one of these days. The batting is bunched, some butterflies are pulled loose, some loose butterflies my aunt "fixed" by zigzagging around them instead of blanket stitching around them. And the fabric is foxing (turning brown and spotted). Before I fix hers I will make my own butterfly quilt using the same pattern. I don't care much for applique but I hope to get better as I go. I need 54 butterflies and now I have one. They will be made of 30s reproduction fabrics which always take my mind back to good times on the farm with grandma.

She's not curvaceous enough! I'll have to work on that with the next one.

While stitching I thought of grandma. She didn't have air conditioning either. I know now why she wore house dresses - air can circulate under there and through there. And, when worn out they can be cut up into nice quilts.

Samplers

My spool block for the Farmer's Wife Sampler (see link on sidebar). This is a pretty wild looking block even for me. I think it was the only 30s repro striped fabric I had in my stash and I wanted the spool to look like it had thread on it with the stripes going a different direction. And then...after I had the block together I thought I should have sewn small scraps together to make the spool thread. Maybe next time, next spool block. I have about 60 calico spools in a WIP bin.

I chose 30s fabrics for this quilt because they remind me of grandma who showed me how to quilt. I loved looking at all the pieces of clothing she used in her quilts. She told me stories of how many times a piece of fabric was used before it finally ended up in a quilt and other stories of how they survived during the Depression era. She was sort of a bitter, cranky old woman - nearly 40 when dad was born and each year, according to stories, made her a bit crankier. I must say, though, that when she was showing me how to sew or smock or embroider that she was a very pleasant, loving, beautiful grandma.

And this is my Farmer's Wife Snowball block. Of course I had to use fabric with circles on it. I hate snow now. Well, sometimes it looks beautiful, especially when there is hoare frost, but most times it is dirty and too cold for me. I've been meaning to make snow ice cream with the grandkids when they are here after a fresh snow but it hasn't happened yet. Snow...when I was younger I used to love tobaggoning down Fejervary Park hill with friends and then go home and drink hot chocolate. Sometimes my memory starts tricking me and I wonder if I just wished I went home to hot chocolate or if I really did. With an absent mom (who went off somewhere to find herself...with other men) and a dad rarely at home (either at work or out drinking somewhere) I think I wished it. I know hot chocolate in a pouch didn't exist in the olden days and I don't remember much milk in the frig, now that I think about it. I'll have to ask some of my siblings what they remember in re hot chocolate.

And this is my Seven Sisters block for the Civil War Sampler (also see sidebar). I'm not much for applique since I'm not good at it and don't really know what I'm doing, but I won't ever know how to do it if I don't try. So I tried. I know...wonky stars. I can imagine several civil war era ladies had the same.

I think I will start on another sampler soon - Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I don't think I will use reproduction fabrics for it but you never know, er, I mean, I never know. Stay tuned...

Learning to Sew

After a brisk swim yesterday the granddaus. and I sat on the deck and did our sewing - the girls on their cards and I on my CQ.  The weather was beautiful.

And last week Kayla sat near me in the sewing room while I worked on a sane quilt. She loves the button box and spent most of her time making food items. No wonder she's always hungry!

Learning to Sew

Whenever the 4-year-old granddaughters see me sewing they beg me to teach them how. I bought some lacing cards for them and they have had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to go up one hole and down the other. But they have the whip stitch figured out pretty well.

Here's Isabelle in deep concentration. Kayla wouldn't let me take her picture. I'll catch her next time.