Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 6

Let's begin this wrap up with Isabela, the quilt named after this character from Encanto whose "gift" is to make flowers bloom.

This is the front of the finished quilt.

61" wide x 73" long

Liberated free motion all-over spiral fans using Glide thread in Rose Pink (top) and Pink (bobbin).

This is the back.  The green sections were added because I typically purchase four yards for backing (based on quilts 48" x 60") but that was not enough yardage for this larger quilt.  

Backing - Rainbow Flight/Hello Angel licensed to Wilmington Prints plus green "Marbella" from "Piece and Joy" line by Paula Nadlestern for Benartex.

Binding - Sangria stripes in pink by Marisol Ortega for Figo Fabrics.

The second quilt was named Mirabel for this character from the Encanto movie.  Mirabel's "gift" turned out to be the restoration of "the magic" to La Familia Madrigal (the Family Madrigal).

This is the front of the quilt.

55" wide x 72" long

Liberated free motion all-over spiral fans using Glide thread in Graphite (top) and Sky (bobbin).

This is the back, again with additional fabric from a Dan Morris print for QT Fabrics to accommodate the larger size quilt.

Backing - A Bird in Hand by Laura Heine for Free Spirit 

Binding - More of the Sangria stripes in pink used for Isabela.

Now, about my take-aways from our nineteen day quilt making adventure.

I'm going to make myself a sign listing what I call Little Man's Studio Rules and put it on the magnetic board in front of my sewing machine AND somewhere obvious in my design studio.

1.  Worry less and PLAY more.

2.  Scraps are super fun.

3.  Laugh more, plan less, and HAVE FUN.

4.  Enjoy the journey, including the detours.

To these I will add one more:

5.  Stop "stirring" and MAKE

I cannot remember when I have felt so much pure joy in the studio!

* * *

Both quilts were presented to Mommy and Daddy with much flourish and excitement on Sunday Feb. 13.  They were indeed surprised.  

One quilt is being used their living room and the other is laid atop the duvet on their bed.  

And on Sunday Feb. 20 I was able to give them their copy of a Shutterfly book I put together documenting Little Man's Camp Sefton quilt-making adventure using lots (!) of photos and words.  (I ordered a second copy of the book for myself so I can recapture the magic if I ever feel it slipping away)

* * *

I have enjoyed reading the many, many comments on these six posts.  Thank you for taking the time to leave them.

To those who do not yet have grandchildren, don't give up hope.  We spent ten years being told "no children" only to be happily surprised with our one and only Little Man.  

And to those who have mentioned using some of these ideas with your own children/grandchildren, I hope you have as much fun as we did.

p.s.  If you look closely enough, you will find a butterfly in each of the two quilt tops.  For those who have watched Encanto, you will understand why.  (Here's a link to the official trailer for the movie.)

Quiltdivajulie

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“One thing I’ve learned in my brief career:  It’s the side projects that really take off.  By side projects I mean the stuff that you thought was just messing around.  Stuff that’s just play.  That’s actually the good stuff.  That’s when the magic happens.”

Austin Kleon

Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 5

On Friday 2/5 while Little Man was home from school (too much ice and too many power outages across the city), it was time to pin baste the quilt sandwich for his second quilt named Mirabel.

This time he knew just what to do and did a good job of helping pin and add the Pinmoors.

When we talked about thread for quilting, he quickly told me "I want blue thread this time."  

This is the color he chose for the bobbins (from the three blues I offered).

And this is the color he chose for the quilt top (again from three blues I pulled out).

Both of us were happy with the selections.

On Monday 2/7 I started quilting while he was at school.

Tuesday morning 2/8 before school we visited the studio so he (and his dog's favorite toy "Lion") could check to see "how the quilt was coming along."

His smile says it all.

Mommy and Daddy came to get Little Man after dinner Tuesday evening but he made me promise to "finish the rest of our secret project" after he went home.  

And I did.

After finishing the FMQ, Mirabel was tamed.

Little Man had already decided he wanted me to use the same binding for both quilts and we had cut the WOF strips in preparation so I was cleared to move forward with the binding process.

Mirabel was finished Wednesday 2/9.

Isabela and Mirabel, the quilts, were photographed and documented and prepared for Little Man's gifting to Mommy and Daddy on Sunday 2/13.

* * *

I'll be back on Friday with Part 6 (of 6) including photos of the finished quilts and some of my thoughts from this amazing nineteen day adventure.

Quiltdivajulie

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“When you’re touched by magic, nothing’s ever quite the same again. What really makes me sad is all those people who never have the chance to know that touch. They’re too busy, or they just don’t hold with make-believe, so they shut the door without really knowing it was there to be opened in the first place.”

Charles de Lint

Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 4

After the interruption of Winter Storm Landon (we lost power for about 8 hours), by Saturday 2/5 Isabela was fully quilted and ready to be "tamed."  

Little Man helped by holding the long ruler (with his fingers far from the edges) while I trimmed away the excess binding and backing.

After due consideration, Little Man chose his binding fabric and helped me cut eight WOF strips.

After I sewed the strips together and then we tested to see just "how" long the really long strip of binding was - it stretched all the way from the door of my sewing room to the door of Uncle A's room at the far end of the upstairs!  Little Man ran back and forth along the binding strip several times to assure himself that it "really IS that long!"

He supervised as I started sewing the folded/pressed binding onto the quilt's edges.  "This takes a really long time, doesn't it, Mee Mah?"  (a sentiment I'm sure we've all felt)

On Pajama Sunday (2/6) we returned to the studio.  I sewed and Little Man played nearby where he could keep an eye on what I was doing. 

When it came time to stitch the final few inches, I called him over and explained how the next few minutes would feel just like putting in the last pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  His face lit up and he started bouncing up and down.  "It's almost done!  It's almost done!"

And this is what happened when I pulled the finished quilt away from the machine . . . 

He quickly spread Isabela out on the floor and "tested" it.  Then he jumped up and hurried downstairs to find Dee Dah.

"Come see!  Come see my quilt!  It's all finished!  Hurry, Dee Dah!"

The two of them measured the quilt (more practical math) and even checked to make sure it was square (it was).

"I love it, Mee Mah."

"And Mommy and Daddy are going to be so surprised . . . "

* * *

I'll be back on Wednesday with Part 5 (of 6). 

Quiltdivajulie

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“It's all a matter of paying attention, being awake in the present moment, and not expecting a huge payoff. The magic in this world seems to work in whispers and small kindnesses.”

Charles de Lint

Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 3

Once the first quilt top was sewn together, I moved the sections for the second quilt to the design wall by my sewing machine so I could ponder what would make it better.

(done while Little Man was at school on 1/27 and 1/28)

I rotated the large center section 180 degrees and inserted two additional "really long strips" to break up the two darkest verticals.

The squirrels were removed and a full length column of Little Man's combinations was added on the left. Not to worry, the squirrels will be used to make a pillow cover as my own keepsake of our adventures.

Other existing segments were sliced and diced to fit into the remaining spaces.

And when Little Man came home from school Friday afternoon, he gave the new layout an enthusiastic two-thumbs-up. (shown here after being sewn together)

After dinner we talked about names for the quilts and ultimately settled on Isabela and Mirabel, two characters from the Encanto movie.

As an aside, Little Man did a fantastic job of keeping the floors in my rooms thread-free. Who knew a hand vac could be so much fun!

On Saturday 1/29 after he helped me unpack  the new "giant" roll of batting and load it onto its storage rod, we created a "quilt sandwich."

He found that term positively hilarious and rolling the top, back, and batting onto pool noodles was even funnier.

He learned all about pin basting to hold the layers together and did a very thorough job of securing Pinmoors onto the sharp ends of the pins.

He and Stuffie (and the green exercise ball) supervised me finishing the final rows of pin basting - while goofing around on the frequently moved stretching table.  That's the top for Mirabel behind him.

(He and Mommy used hand weights at home so he used mine to demonstrate some of their exercises.  I explained how mine are used to keep the quilt sandwich from sliding off onto the floor - which, of course, he found "okay but silly.")

When we finished pin basting, it was time to wind bobbins for Max. What a perfect opportunity to practice his fledgling math skills. (2 bobbins plus 3 bobbins equals 5 bobbins!)

And finally it was time to start free motion quilting Isabela.

Little Man sat beside me and handled the pins/pinmoors as they were removed, sorting and counting as he worked.

While I quilted, he was busy on the other side of the room.

He was adamant that I could NOT throw away all the colorful scrappy trimmings because "they could be used for something" so we came up with this idea.

Tiny scraps plus lots of tape on colorful paper safely tucked inside insertable plastic pages = his "super special scrapbook."

And once the scrapbook was finished, he brought one of his puzzles upstairs and worked on it while I kept quilting.  

The studio was filled with SO much fun . . . 

* * *

I'll be back with Part 4 of 6 on Monday.

Quiltdivajulie

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“The very best gift... is that anyone can experience those unexpected twinkles of joy that make a magical moment. At these moments, you feel true, deep joy because of a great new insight, a beautiful prospect, or a glimpse into the radiance of another soul. They are the magic moments when life seems better than you ever realized.”

Richard M. Eyre

Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 2

By the time Little Man came home from school on Monday (1/24) he had decided that we should make TWO quilts - one for Mommy and one for Daddy.  

Well, we have plenty of scraps to work with so why not!

"And promise that you won't send them any photos so my quilts will be a surprise."  (From then on, he reminded me about "their surprise" and to "not tell them" every time I took a photo . . . )

One happy maker and the eight crumb boxes that were emptied.

On Tuesday 1/25 while he was at school I shifted the slabs and sections around to create the beginnings of two quilts with one on the wall in my design studio (above) and the other on the wall near my sewing machine (below).

Tape measures were pinned in place to help me gauge how much more area needed to be over-filled allowing for seam allowances and eventual squaring.

More slabs were sewn together from his  filled trays in sizes that were needed and that night Little Man helped me arrange them on the walls.

I also pulled out four potential backing fabrics and asked him to pick the two he liked the best.

"Easy Peasy" he told me.  

At bedtime, this was the plan for one quilt with its backing fabric on the left.

(He and I both agreed that this one still needed a little more work to help the parts "play more nicely together.")

And the plan for a second quilt with its backing fabric on the left.

This one was given a delighted two thumbs up.  He told me it was ready to sew "all together."

And then he asked, "Mee Mah, can we sew again tomorrow after school?"

And of course I said "yes we can."

* * *

I'll be back with Part 3 (of 6) on Friday.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Magic exists.  Who can doubt it when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind, and the silence of the stars?”

Nora Roberts

Camp Sefton Quilts - Part 1

And so it began . . . 

(If you missed the "introductory" post, click HERE)

Little Man had the most fun sorting through four crumb boxes of scraps on the studio floor. 

The printout in the foreground was the original inspiration image.

But when Little Man opened his Encanto book (with character figures) he asked to add the enclosed poster to the design wall.

He told me the "colors played nicely together."  

(oh my goodness - be still my heart)

Little Man earned highest honors for his pinning.

If one pin was good, five or six pins were better.  

He was diligent about placing the scraps on the wall so he (and I) could see what we had to work with.  

He was fascinated with the "really long" (aka WOF) strips.

As he pinned scraps to the wall, I started sewing the WOF strips together in the order he chose. 

I told him he was the designer and I would be the sewer.  After all, the project was his idea.

Late in the morning, I thought to get out the trays so he could arrange combinations on them and then bring the filled trays to the sewing machine.

He went faster than I did so we soon had quite a stack of filled trays.

DH stopped by and snapped this photo . . . 

At one point Little Man told me "we need more colors to play with" so he carefully chose four more crumb boxes of scraps and happily dumped them out on the floor.

 

All day Saturday (1-22) and Sunday (1-23)  Little Man continued to sort, pin, and arrange combinations while I continued to sew those groups together.

This photo shows how the second design wall looked late Sunday afternoon.  He was so excited and proud . . . 

Later, as I tucked him into bed , he very seriously asked me to 

"please keep sewing on our quilt while I go to school tomorrow."

And (of course) I promised him I would.

* * *

I'll be back with Part 2 (of 6) on Wednesday.

 

Quiltdivajulie

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“There’s a flame of magic inside every stone & every flower, every bird that sings & every frog that croaks. There’s magic in the trees & the hills & the river & the rocks, in the sea & the stars & the wind, a deep, wild magic that’s as old as the world itself. It’s in you too, my darling, and in me, and in every living creature, be it ever so small. Even the dirt I’m sweeping up now is stardust. In fact, all of us are made from the stuff of stars.”

Kate Forsyth