I also decided it was high time that I let my little guy do a little bit of sewing. He really wanted to be involved in the baby present for his teacher and when I pitched the idea of making a quilt together, he was totally into it. We picked out a pattern he liked, my Xs and Os quilt pattern, and got to work, picking out fabrics. He's always liked to play with fabric, from arranging form scraps on my design wall to helping me pick out fabrics in fabric stores, so it was a lot of fun to dig through fabric with him and talk about it. In digging through my novelty prints, we found a boatload of boy prints from Children at Play, Sarah Jane's first collection for Michael Miller a while ago, and a print from Castle Peeps that played nicely with it. Then we picked out some nice solids to balance things out, Kona Leprechaun and Moda Bella Sunshine, and I got to cutting. I did all the pressing and cutting, because he's only six, so I'm thinking a lesson on rotary cutting is a bit of a ways off just yet.
We got started sewing Saturday afternoon, and worked on O blocks. Because my sewing table is so tall, I used some scrap boxes to raise up my foot pedal so he could reach it easily. We talked about right sides together, and keeping the fabrics lined up nicely, and even chain piecing. He had a great time and was super proud of himself. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched him progress...
Not surprisingly, after a few blocks, he wanted a break, and if I'd managed to plan this gift far enough in advance, I would've set the blocks aside and picked them up at a later date, but since his teacher's last day is this Friday and he promised that he'd bring her the quilt on Monday, I kept working, just doing the stitching and flipping on his behalf.
I saved the straight seams for the kiddo, and let him go to town on them. He really liked the sound my Juki makes when it goes fast, but the super fast speed was a little much for him, so he kept his pressure on the foot pedal pretty light...until he was ready to clip the threads. He'd scoot his foot over to the big red button on my foot pedal and slam his heel on it, which he thoroughly enjoyed doing.
We sewed the top together in record time, quilted it up and bound it, and brought it into school with us yesterday morning. His teacher was so thrilled, and I could tell the kiddo felt mighty proud of the gift we were giving. I'm so proud of this little quilt and what it represents. It was positively the perfect way to spend Mother's Day weekend! I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!
Quilt Stats
name: Miss Seymour's Xs and Os
size: 36" x 48"
pattern: Xs and Os quilt pattern by yours truly - newly refreshed and updated!
fabrics: Children at Play prints by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller Fabrics and Kona Leprechaun and Moda Bella Sunshine
quilting: simple meandering stipple in white (#2024) Aurifil 50 wt thread
Lovely quilt! Perfect for a baby boy!
ReplyDeleteHi. I tried to do the same with my 6 years old boy, also as a gift for the teacher. He had done one block, a crazy web block, and that was it. I let him use the iron, not the cutting. He burned himself once, and now he understand when I say: caution, the iron is on. As you, I limited the speed of the machine. Nice gift !
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun project to do together...it turned out great!
ReplyDeleteThat is just a super sweet gift!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea to quilt together! My son (now 21 so not at home any more!) was always very helpful with the fabric choices when he was younger and he loved to put his foot to the floor on the sewing machine!! Lovely quilt. I am sure the teacher was delighted! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic! What a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing that feels better than passing on the love of sewing to the next generation. Great job both of you. Wonderful quilt!
ReplyDeleteawww, that's so sweet! glad you could have that bonding time together :)
ReplyDeleteSo cute. I had my 8 year old grandson help me make a quilt and he loved it.
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute quilt! I love that your son did some of the sewing, too!
ReplyDeleteMy girls are 8, and I haven't let them iron or rotary cut yet, either. Scary! And sewing on my Juki seems so fast for them, they usually like my old smaller machine better. Your post has reminded me that I haven't done any sewing with my kiddos in awhile -- I'll need to work on that this summer!
oh my gosh, cutest post ever! i LOVE LOVE LOVE that you worked along side your SON and i think it is charming. what a beautiful and thoughtful gift you made for the teacher - but you taught and shared so much more with your boy. i wish my mother had sewn with me when i was little so i didn't have to teach myself from scratch at 47...but i am certainly already planning on teaching my grandchildren if and when they ever arrive! :)
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt! My 2 yrs and 8 month boy loves sewing with me. We are working on a big amy butler cushion for his room - he can hand me the pins, while I pin the pieces, and then sits on my lap while I sew. His dad couldn't believe it when he saw Samuel putting the foot up and down, turning the hand wheel and pressing the reverse button on cue!!! He even tells me to keep my fingers out of the way of the needle!
ReplyDeleteLove the story about you and the munchkin. Be sure to tell him that we are loving the quilt! Enjoy his interest in quilting for as long as you can.
ReplyDeleteSweet! All around sweet!
ReplyDelete