Best-laid plans...

Big Sis finished quilting her doll quilt this weekend and we squared it up. I showed her what we needed to do for binding, and brave girl that she is, she told me I could start it this week, but leave her two sides to finish herself. Little Sis, however, lost momentum completely, too excited about a play date immediately following to have the patience to make doll clothes, which is what I had planned. She chose instead to start laying out the charity quilt on the design wall.

That lasted about five minutes, and got cast aside for pretzels and a session of Little Pet Shop on her iPad, which was fine because it gave her mom and me time to caffeinate and catch up. When they left, I put off all the things I was supposed to get done around the house that afternoon, finished laying the marble triangles out and started sewing them up. I can always cut more squares next week for the girls to design with if they want; I know better than to ignore the mojo if it knocks on my door.

I figure not all these sick kids are five- and six-year olds; older ones might want a quilt that's a little more sophisticated. This one's at the other end of the spectrum from the manic Wonder Quilt I finished last week. The triangles finished at 6", so it went very quickly.

I found backs for both tops, so it's on to basting and quilting this week. And trying to figure out what I can do with Little Sis next weekend that will rival Little Pet Shop.

My Wonder Quilt...

I finished this top yesterday. It's definitely going to be a happy quilt, and hopefully will help raise the spirits of a sick child stuck in a hospital bed somewhere.

The bubbles remind me of Wonder Bread, and also do wonders to calm these busy blocks down. Without the sashing, they were downright dizzying together; now they might just elicit a minor swoon or two. Maybe that's not a good thing, given where it's headed?

It'll take a couple nights of TiVo viewing to pick all the tiny pieces of foundation paper out of those points on the back, then on to getting it quilted. I'm already cutting Marbles for the next charity quilt to make with my two little proteges. We probably won't get to these tomorrow, but I need to be ready in case they blow through another lesson plan.

Gotta keep the momentum going -- Easter isn't far away!

Charity quilt time, plus a lesson update...

We're getting snow in Chicago today. While it's hard to believe at the start that those tiny flurries are going to amount to much, the flakes are getting bigger by the minute and it's quickly starting to accumulate on the grass and car windshields. The gusty winds and general gloominess makes for a good sew day as the white stuff keeps falling.

I'm still working on my Comma Spikes, but in shopping my stash for some additional fabrics to include in that project, I found these orphan blocks I made eons ago from this book not long after I started quilting.

See? My love of precise, spiky triangles goes way back.

It's a tad busy for my taste now, but seeing as it's Lent and I have some charity quilts to make, I figured this would make a good one, seeing as it's 30% done. It needs sashing and borders to calm it down, and a few more squares to be big enough for Quilts for Kids. Fortunately, there was a Ziploc of leftover fabric under the blocks, so I don't even have to cut anything. The template for the paper piecing was still on my computer, so no excuses -- other than maybe "Archie's napping on it, I'll come back when he's moved."

In Lesson Land, we're chugging right along. Little Sis finished quilting this past weekend, so this coming Saturday we're on to American Girl pajama pants. I'm going to do the binding on her quilt unless I can find a really simple tutorial.

I'm spending a lot more time on technique and the whys of sewing with Big Sis, and it shows in her work. Her blocks didn't need a ton of trimming, and her four-patch joins are spot-on. She chose to do a little more quilting than her sister, so she's a little further behind -- something sassy Little Sis chooses to remind her of whenever the topic comes up.

Big Sis is catching on really fast, and she's eager to get this done and move on to the next project. At the same time, she's old enough to have the patience and understanding to finish. It's fun to see when somebody this young gets it -- and wants to keep going. I think there's a big-girl sewing machine in her future!

Lessons, week two...

Man, these girls are just blowing through my lesson plan -- or as close as I could come to a lesson plan!

Archie supervises from on high -- he isn't sure what to make of little people

I figured we'd get a couple rows done of their doll quilts during their 90-minute sessions this week, but they both motored through and got their tops completely finished. Little sister even started quilting hers!

It's a little wonky -- not many seams match up perfectly, and the rows are a bit crooked, but it's a great first effort and really good for a seven year-old! We squared it up before quilting and will probably have to do some more trimming once she's done. You can tell she's really proud of herself, and wonders out loud how much her American Girl Doll will like sleeping under it, and how jealous her best friend will be when she finds out she made it all by herself.

I'm taking a little bit more time with Big Sister, getting her to press and nest her seams and make sure her squares are the same size before sewing them together. She's soaking it all in, and it's really fun to watch. She'll be ready to start quilting her top next week. She'd gotten a kiddie sewing machine two years ago for Christmas and hadn't used it until I showed her how it worked last week; she went right home and made a water bottle pouch for Girl Scout Friendship Present Week, couldn't wait to tell me about it.  I think we have a convert!

The girls's acting classes run through spring, so I have to think of things to keep them busy and engaged long-term. We'll do some matching girl/doll pj pants, and maybe a second quilt. It's Lent, so I think I'm going to solicit their help to make a charity quilt for Quilts for Kids, too. Better than just giving up potato chips!

Quilting lessons...

My girlfriend stopped by a couple weeks ago with her daughters on their way to a Saturday morning acting class in my neighborhood. During their short visit, both girls spent some time checking out the quilts I had out on the sofa, running their hands over them and picking out their favorites.

After they'd left, I sent their mother an email and asked if they might be interested in learning how to sew. Both girls had gotten American Girl dolls for Christmas, and doll quilts seemed like a good way to get started. Mom asked, and girls were enthusiastic, so sewing classes started last week. I have big sister (9) while the other is at class; Mom then takes her to class and brings little sister (7) back, so I only have one at a time.

We're starting out on easy four-patches, with a method I saw somewhere many, many years ago that works really well for beginners:  start with two squares right sides together, sew down the opposite sides, slice down the middle, finger press, nest the seams and sew down each side again. Cut in half and, as we've been calling them, the Magic Squares appear. They're using four-inch scrap blocks, most of which are from my first quilting days, a pre-cut eBay purchase.

I thought they'd spend the first 90 minutes picking out ten pair of fabrics, then we'd move on to sewing next weekend, but both girls blew through their fabric choices in a matter of minutes, so we got right down to it.

I set up a thick Post-It jig to keep them at a quarter-inch seam. Big sis caught on right away and finished all 20 four-patches. Little sis sewed a little, looked for Archie (who was wisely camped out in one of his undetectable hiding places), sewed some more, then Facetimed with her grandmother and great-grandmother in Texas to show them our progress. She made six four patches and got the rest halfway done, and it was time to go.

They both seemed eager to keep going, so I'll try to keep up  momentum to the finish. I'm not the best teacher -- so many things are just in my head -- but they don't seem to mind!

Finally: Hello to a new year...

Well, bloglovers, I am back from my little vacation from the blog, and sewing. Miss me?  Probably not.

True to form, I jammed Christmas sewing projects up to the last minute, making table runners I gifted without photographing, sewing bindings on in the upstairs bathroom between checking on the turkey and circulating among the family. I'm pretty sure my sister in-law thought I had some digestive virus and shouldn't be the one cooking, but I cleared that rumor up once we started opening presents.

Anyway, I came home from two weeks spent with my aging, declining parents, stressed out with worry about their health, safety, and intransigence regarding any sort of move into assisted living, and needed a break. Archie developed his own stress-related issues from being constantly bullied by my mother's cat (who he outweighs by almost four pounds), the five-hour drive, and two weeks of stealing non-prescription food from Sugar's dish when we weren't looking and ended up at the vet two weeks in a row. I didn't sit down at my sewing machine until January 30. I just wasn't feelin' it.

When I finally decided to dust the machine off (figuratively speaking -- don't worry, I have it covered when I'm not using it), I pulled down a very old UFO and got sort of enthusiastic about it but not quite, and then I was browsing through Fresh Modern Quilts and saw this. Now, I have a thing for isosceles triangles, and more recently, spiky isosceles. I'd also seen some Comma quilts recently done up with lights, and I had some leftover precuts from this quilt just begging to be used up. While I love the contrast with the black, I think they go just as well (if not better) with some Kona Snow. The light bulb went off, the UFO got cast aside; I drafted my own template in Illustrator for 2"x6" and 2"x3" triangles and got started.

Capturing the first rays of sunlight we've seen here in Chicago for the first time in over a week

Paper piecing is, for me, pretty slow going, but I love the precision of those points. I like where I'm going with it.

It feels good to be back and creating again. I know part of the reason I was so stressed was because I wasn't making things.  I should know better!