Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Little House in the Big Woods (in fabric)



A few weeks ago, 
I stumbled upon
something I'd been looking for
for several months.


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,
well, I clicked on the link real quick.
And I was delighted to find

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.



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!


9 comments:

  1. How fun! I hope I have an 8 year old someday :) Just so I can do something like that with her!

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    1. You would love it! (and you'd probably be a little more patient than I am ;-)

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  2. How wonderfully perfect that you found just the right project - and it's a quilt along! How fun! (Ohmygoshthehouse!!! How tempting it must be to move in NOW! Who needs plumbing and a working kitchen, anyway? Ha!!)

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    1. and- it's on our own time! No rushing to keep up with a schedule :-) We are REALLY getting eager to be in it...

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  3. Yay for finding that quilt along for your girls!! Amy is so sweet and generous! How exciting about the new house!!

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    Replies
    1. Just think - in 8 years or so, you could do the quilt-a-long with your grandbaby! (yes - I'm predicting a girl :-)

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  4. Now I see!!! How awesome is this? I love her thoughtfulness. I've read the first two LH books to my 3 youngest girls. We're somewhere in book 3, I think. But it's been a while. Maybe we will do the quilt along at some point. But first I need to actually help them make the quilts they are working on or have fabric for already!

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    Replies
    1. we're having a lot of fun coming up with ideas for our own blocks, too :-) and I am thoroughly enjoying the books right along with them. I hear ya - fortunately for me, this IS the project they (or at least Lex') already wanted to work on :-) We are having a smidge of trouble with them not always wanting to work on it when *I* feel up to it, but hey, I'm not going to force them... ( I see you couldn't get to sleep either again. grrrr darn getting old!)

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  5. This is ADORABLE!! And has extra meaning for me because when my grandson who is like Lexi, 8, was visiting me last Fall, we read Little House In the Big Woods out loud. He LOVED it. I might have to make him a quilt...have you seen Karen's at tunaquilts?! And now there's LHOTP fabric--!!!

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