Not sure if even the dogs would want to sleep on this mess!
Here's my problem, relying on my not so great memory to miter this corner, rather than reviewing from the many online tutorials as to how to do it correctly. It could be a mattress cover!Now, here's the way it is supposed to look. Came from "self-binding baby quilt" of which there are several (if not dozens) of YouTube tutorials on how to do it correctly. When I made the second one, at least I reviewed the directions as to how to miter the corner a couple of times, so as NOT to make two dog blankets.
Here's the mitered corner, as it is supposed to look.
My 6 going on 16 year old granddaughter is in first grade, and her teacher just had a baby. She was interested in making a quilt for her teacher's baby, so I thought, why not try out the Self-binding baby blanket, and I let her help me pick out fabrics, measure, cut and press. I did the sewing. I finished it up while she skipped off in her capricious way to do something else, and was so embarassed by the disaster I created.
I want to pass on to my granddaughter the love for sewing. I think this creative endeavor skipped a generation in our family, because my own girls have their "own" creative expressions, but it isn't sewing. Monkeygirl, #1 daughter is a paper crafter extroidinaire, and Daughter #2, M & M's mom, is a wonderful and creative cake decorator. So, they have talents and use them. But the sewing machines I've given them are dusty, and in one case, given back to me because of lack of space for storing them. (She uses that as an excuse as to why she can't sew!)
So my hope is my grandchildren, which out of 6, I have one girl. Oh, and one darling great-granddaughter, who has many grandmas and great-grandmas, maybe one of us will teach her to sew someday!
My granddaughter has shown an interest in sewing, and we've purchased a succession of toy to real sewing machines for her to learn on. The first one was a disaster, because it was impossible to thread, it had a shield around the needle so the kid wouldn't get her fingers sewed. Great safety feature, but I could never rethread the thing. And of course, the first thing she wanted to do was change the thread color! That one entertained her when she was 4 because she liked to press the foot pedal and see the needle go up and down.
On to the next adventure. We went from a $25 toy to a $50 cheapie. It sewed exactly 4" and then would never sew another stitch. So back to the store it went.
Next, I found an inexpensive light, small Janome on sale at Hancock for about $80. I've used it and it sews fine. It has a nasty habit of unthreading the needle if you don't have a long trail of thread under the presser foot, which could be problematic for a youngster just learning. This little girl has a low threshhold for frustration, so I can see this being a problem.
But, Grandma had to take it one step further. Janome makes a "Hello Kitty" line of sewing machines. The price point starts around $100, and in the line of three different machines, each successive one is about $100 apart. I opted for the least expensive one.
To really begin motivating her, I found fabric from the Hello Kitty line to make her a comforter, and she spotted that in the UFO pile yesterday when I was babysitting her. What she didn't spot was the Hello Kitty sewing machine that had been delivered while she was at my house playing in the basement, and I managed to sneak it in the house and hide it. I want the comforter and the sewing machine to be a "grand opening" event! I don't know if I'll wait for her 7th birthday, which is this summer, but maybe I will. I ordered some more Hello Kitty fabric, maybe cutting that into charm squares and letting her sew them together for her own quilt will be an incentive to start to sew, just like Jenny Doan did with her 7 year old granddaughter.
By the way, I also realized after I ordered the Hello Kitty machine that it is the exact same machine as the cheap--NO, INEXPENSIVE Janome I already have! Oh well, Grandma and Granddaughter can sew side by side using the same machines! The extra cute blue paint on the Hello Kitty machine was an extra $30, but what the heck, what are grandmas for if not to indulge and spoil their grandkids?
3 comments:
It looks great. You two did a great job. Maybe the dog will like his new blanket.
I have three grandsons and the oldest who will be four in April wants to learn to sew. I told him that when he can sit in my sewing chair and his feet touch the floor then I will teach him to sew.
I have a dog or two who would be very proud and happy to sleep on your messed up quilt!
And to clarify, I "can" sew but I am impatient and don't like to do things like pin and measure. I watch the master fly through things with the greatest of ease and think I can do the same! Who knows why I have incredible patience when it comes to paper!
MonkeyGirl--you are a perfectionist when it comes to paper! I admire your patience and skill at papercrafting. My kitchen contractor looked at one of my quilts, and said, "I could never do that!" I told him, "You do the same thing, only you use wood!" We all have our media, just different products evolve!
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