One of the things I enjoy the most of having the grand kids here is being able to share artsy time together. I myself did not have a quilting mother or grandmother to show me the ropes, so sharing this knowledge with grandchildren is certainly very rewarding. I can easily envision how they, in turn, will probably pass this love of quilting down the line.
With another summer going by way too quickly, I am also reminded of the passing of time, and of the changes in all of us. This is particularly true of my darling Alexia. I am struck with how much she has grown. Gone is the little girl in love with flowers and unicorns and fairies. In her place is this teenager, truly verging on womanhood. For the time being, gone is that inclination for flowers and bright fabrics. The quilt Alexia has designed and chosen to work on this summer is… all black. Of course. Probably everyone of my kids wanted to paint the walls black at one time or another.
This time around, Alexia has needed very little assistance. She is now very, very familiar with the rotary cutter and sewing machine, and is tackling a large quilt. There was a little struggling with the pieces she was appliquéing (all that bulk!), and doesn’t feel ready to machine quilt her project. It’s certainly too much to a first-time machine quilting project. So I will do that for her, while she practices her machine quilting skills on a couple of smaller projects.
I so enjoy watching her…
Now, that’s a lot of black!
I am a self-learner. I taught myself to sew and to quilt. And I taught myself how to draw. I am learning how to dye my own fabrics and am dabbling with mixed media. I am a quilt designer and teacher, and design and publish my own line of quilt patterns. With this blog I would like to share the bits and pieces of my life.