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Saturday, June 28, 2014

"Nana Cindy" Days...Teaching the Girls to Sew!



I have the privilege of being Nana Cindy to my two favorite granddaughters...Chloe and Samantha.  I decided that this was the year I could finally spend some time teaching them to sew by creating their very first quilts!  I spend half a day alone with each of them, take them out for lunch and ice cream and then we spend the rest of the day working on their quilt tops.  This was week one...I wanted to show the process of how I've pulled this off hoping it would provide inspiration to the rest of the Nana's out there in case they want to do the same thing!


First things first...gotta have a sewing machine!  I thought it was very important that they learn how to sew on their very OWN machine...not Nana Cindy's.  When I teach at shows I try and request Janome machines as they are so user friendly and I have fabulous classroom support.  At several shows on the east coast I have been fortunate enough to have David LaValley from the Bittersweet Fabric Shop supply the Janomes for my rooms.  He and his support staff are over the top. 

I have taught for the Vermont Quilt Show twice and they have a special category for the youth...first time entrants.  At each awards ceremony David has gifted each and every youth entrant a new sewing machine.  There's hardly a dry eye in the room when this happens.  I've never forgotten that.

Soooo, when it came time to buy a sewing machine for Chloe and Samantha I went directly to David.  He highly recommended the Janome "My Style 100" and he assured me this machine could stay with the girls forever.  Sold. 


The machines arrived last week but I had to wait until I was home THIS week to give them to the girls.  They were SO excited and I have to admit the learning curve was very easy and the speed easily controlled by little feet. 

So now we have to take a step back to show you the process of getting the quilt top started. I created half-square triangles on white card stock and colored each half.  I gave a bag of squares to each of the girls and told them to create a design for their top and have their mom, Jenny, take a picture of it. 






Then I gave each of them a piece of paper with the rows of the quilt all drawn out.  They had to color each block to make the design.  This was going to be our "road map" when assembling the top.





 I decided it would be best to have the girls make large half-square triangles...6" to be exact.  These would go together quickly to complete their tops.  I ordered the half-square triangle paper on a roll, precut all of their fabric into strips and pinned the paper to it.


Each of them sewed the paper to the fabric following the dotted lines...sort of! 

Oh, you're probably wondering how those little feet reached the foot pedal????  A long basket of course!

Once the strips were sewn together I cut them apart but the girls had to rip off the paper and cut off dog ears...I pressed the squares and then they were ready for the design wall.  VERY cool to watch this part!





This is turning out to be a fabulous summer project and a great way to spend quality Nana Cindy time with each girl on their own.  They will finish the summer with their very first quilt that they have sewn on their own (kind of) with their very own machine.  Life is good.

A very special thank you to David LaValley for ALL he does to support our youth. 

Big Hugs, Cindy :)


15 comments:

sherry said...

what a wonderful project you are doing…raising up quilters

Barbara Sindlinger said...

What a great grandma and you put a lot of thought and effort into this. These will be some great memories for the girls.

Raewyn said...

Awesome to see what you are doing here - how exciting for the girls. I'm looking forward to when I'm a Nana and can do things like this!

Karen M said...

What a beautiful Grandma memory you are creating for your girls. In addition, you are giving them a skill that will serve them well throughout their lifetimes.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Oh how nice for you and the girls!!!

Dora, the Quilter said...

Warms my heart to see these projects. What great memories you are making for your granddaughters!

Karen said...

What a couple of little urchins. Such cutie pies.

Frog Quilter said...

I love seeing the younger generation get hooked early on.

Hugs!

Barbara said...

Oh your Granddaughters have no idea how lucky they are but Grandma well Nana knows how lucky she is...

Seams French said...

My baby is pregnant with my first grandbaby. So ... I've just bookmarked this entry for future reference, (even if it's a Tim, Tom or Tod!!! Thanks for that.

Leeanne said...

Oh exciting! I look forward to the day when I can do this with my granddaughters.

Jennifer Scantlebury Vienneau said...

I have just returned from the Vermont Quilt Show and was so, so impressed to see 40 Youth quilts displayed! When I discovered that each first time entrant gets a new machine courtesy of Mr. LaValley, I was astounded. Such a wonderful way to encourage a new generation of quilters! I really like how you are approaching teaching your own granddaughters - how exciting for you and for them.

Vicki Crooms said...

Who kmows? They might be the next generation of globe-trotting quilt star teachers!

Marilyn McKitrick said...

This is just awesome, Cindy! Not only creating lifelong memories with your granddaughters, but developing our new generation of quilters! You are always so inspiring!

Nedra said...

Thanks for using Triangles On A Roll Cindy! May I quote you and link back to your blog post?

By the way, I'm now the Sales Manager for TOAR :) Nedra