Little House in the Big Woods (in fabric)

A few weeks ago, 

I stumbled upon

something I'd been looking for

for several months.

Ever since Lexi finished her first quilt,

she's wanted to make another one.

Since I have a gift for complicating things,

I thought it would be amazing if I could find 

a block of the month type of quilt-a-long for her.

Something that she could work on 

here and there, over the course of  month,

mostly on her own,

and increase her skills.

Problem was,

everything I found

even for beginners,

was too advanced for an 8 year old.

She'd ask every few weeks

if I'd found one for her yet,

so this wasn't just a passing thought.....

Bloglovin adds posts to my feed

that bloggers I follow

 have 'liked'.

I forget who liked it,

but when I saw a picture of a little girl,

holding a big (simple!) quilt block 

of a black cat,

well, I clicked on the link real quick.

And I was delighted to find

a Little House on the Prarie Sew Along!

Two years ago,

in an effort to get her (then 8 yr old) daughter 

to read the Little House books,

Amy bribed her 

by telling her she could make a quilt block or two 

for each book in the series.

And then she graciously shared the blocks with the world.

Now, she has another 8 yr old daughter,

so they are sewing along again,

and Lily and Lex will be reading and sewing along, too!

They've been chomping at the bit to start sewing just as soon as we started reading.

(the three of us are reading the books together.

Sometimes we snuggle on the bed,

and sometimes, 

I sit on the couch and read,

while they lay on the floor.

Yesterday, while they listened,

Lexi played with our new patchwork design tiles

(a generous gift from a super thoughtful quilt-blogging friend :-)

and Lily built a bunkbed for Titus and Amanda

(who have yet to be photographed)

out of cardboard, skewers, and masking tape.

Other times one of them reads,

and I practice my knitting.)

I was a little slow to get started with the sewing bit,

because I still haven't got my fabric mess put away from Jordan's quilt,

and the whole fabric choosing overwhelmed me.

But,

we finished the first book,

Little House in the Big Woods,

yesterday,

so I had to bite the bullet.

Lily was starting to get sick yesterday,

so after picking out about 5 fabrics,

she was done.

Lex', on the other hand,

chose 18, 

which we then whittled down to 13,

and she determined what would go where in the block.

I cut the fabric for her last night

(no way are my babies using a rotary cutter yet!)

and she got started

- and finished -

today,

though she had to take a break part way through

cuz she was getting worn. out.

(so was Momma.

There is really no such thing as 'on her own'

when the sew-er is only 8...)

She did all of the sewing and pressing and thread snipping,

but I pinned for her.

She was quite purposeful with most of her fabric choices:

the dark blue with dots is a starry sky,

and the light blue with white is a summer sky with clouds.

Obviously, the bottom grassy green - is grass,

and the red above it is for leaves in the fall.

The fabric with deer on it was a charm square 

that I got as a sample with a fabric order

(though sadly I can't remember from where)

so there were only a few spots it would work.

(Deer came up multiple times in the book)

The Heather Ross fabric had to be in the block,

because it had Laura, Mary, and Black Susan

and of course a tree (tree /  big woods...)

(never mind that Mary would never climb a tree ;-)

The gold above the 'hearth' square is for the wheat and oats

that Pa and his helpers harvest,

and the fabric on the right is just because she loves it ;-)

 

I'm so glad to have found a quilt a long that is perfect for Lexi,

and the fact that Lily wants to join in, 

and we can all read the series together,

is a fantastic bonus.

Speaking of houses - 

when we were walking back to the house after taking pictures,

we (of course) walked by the new house.

I said, "Just think, Lex'!

Soon, when we're going back in the house 

after taking pictures,

we'll walk right up those steps,

and in that door." 

💙

linking up with AmandaJean,
because a single block is a big finish when you're just 8!