The Big Haul

 The Fair of the Heart big county fair was here once again. All of my sewing girls entered their stuff, from sunhats to backpacks and quilts of course.  They earned oodles of ribbons, and sewwww much information to learn from. I am so proud of them for all of their hard work and for representing their parents and sewing class and theirselves so well.

This table is full of all of the girls' sewing projects.  Almost every one of them is theirs.

 This is a homemade doll made by a 7 year old student of mine. Don't you just love those lips? Well the judges did too. She got first place and Champion.

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 Here is a beautiful mug rug made by an 8 year old. She drew it on paper first and made it come to life in fabric.

To the left here is a flower pot pincushion that is very adorable made by a teen student, and a backpack that was certainly challenging and conquered by a 17 year old student.  The judges loved both and it was such a joy to see them on display!

This is a jean dress made by a 6 year old student too.  Her choice of embellishment is wonderful.   We had a fashion show when we made these and the girls got to add whatever they wanted to make their dresses beautiful.                                                                                      

 This was thread painted by my 17 year old student, and it is exquisite. If you can enlarge this you might get to see how pretty her painting is on fabric.

 These are pocket pillow quilts made by students.  They quilted them and enjoyed the satisfaction of making a quilt quick with this pattern.

This folks is an original quilt pieced and quilted by hand by my 12 year old student. She put a big red button in the middle and that just made the whole thing even more darling. I am so proud of her for designing her own pattern and making it all by hand.

a Six year old of ours got Best of Show, Champion and a first place ribbon for her water bottle carrier, Her picks of color and design were perfect.  If you knew the story of this little girl in this past week and her winning these, your heart would melt.

Helping these girls keep sewing and quilting alive with their talents and original art is one of  the most rewarding things I've ever done. I am honored to be a part of their lives in this way, giving them the opportunity to experiment, try a little of this and that, because how else will they know. How will they know what they love and what they want to pursue. Soar my girls, have fun, and thank you for letting me come with you in your dreams.

Getting Ready for the County Fair

Well these girls are rockin' it! Getting their fair entries ready for the County Fair...They're finishing up their last minute stitches, refining their closures, making sure everything is clean and ready for judging. Our first picture here, is a Pocket Pillow Quilt on the machine getting quilted.  Below is some thread painting getting done on a little Lamb that will be stuffed.
Aren't they just special?

This is such a wonderful time of year where the children get to show their crafty loves and be proud of themselves! Intent on furthering their craft by seeing the judges remarks and making things better next year. Because as I tell them, "It's not all about winning." It's to help learn and improve ourselves for better tomorrows.

I like to think that the judges' remarks are just their opinions, but as we choose our future projects, we ultimately decide what our craft is and how our art turns out, with the judges opinions just a wee part in the back of our head, of which I'm so thankful for.

We hope that Everyone is enjoying their local County Fairs as much as we are!

To Inspire

To Inspire is what I enjoy doing most of all. Teaching young girls to love the art of sewing and quilting and designing for themselves and just doing what makes them happy while creating.

Just by letting them 'jump in' and start sewing I can almost see their wheels turning in conjunction with the whir of the machine. I imagine their projects being designed in their head almost immediately.

I've been teaching up to 15 girls how to sew and quilt and this is a mug rug that one of my 8 year olds designed and made for her mother. I've pinned her sketch to the sewing room wall and it hangs there still to inspire me and all the other girls that come through.

I have these girls for about 3 hours in groups of 3 or 4 , 2 and 3 days a week. There is research for the snack to be had, and making the snack for them of course. Pinteresting for hours looking for just the right project for them, that they'll all love and shopping, that's always fun. Then the gathering of supplies and sorting them out. All in waiting for the day that they come and we all get to sew together.

This has really felt like such an adventure to keep the art of sewing alive!

My next class will be 4 girls ranging in age from 6-11 and we are finishing up some sun hats that we started last week. I'll be back to let you in on the snack I chose and finished projects at the end of the week. See you then.

Just what I've been looking for

Well here I was just looking for a way to get to know more new bloggers and Patchwork Allsorts posted on Facebook about a cute little Blogmeet at Lilysquilts. SCORE!

If you have less than 50 followers and would like to meet more bloggers just go to her blog via her button that I've added off to the right and get more information on how to join us! It's easy!