Sunday, January 3, 2016

Over Too Soon

As always.  Brady and Brianne are winging their way back home as I type.  It was a wonderful 8 days, as every visit is.  Magical.  Yes, I'm his nana, but this child is something else.  Everyone who meets him comments on his poise, his character, his intelligence, his engagement in the moment at hand.  He told his mum he wanted Nana to give him sewing lessons.  This was what we created one of the mornings.

A Quilt for Caramel, his stuffed (but breathing!) sleeping puppy
I had a little bit of Olaf fabric scraps still left, so I said we could cut out some squares.  He wanted to put red with it.  (but of course)

I told him he needed to draw a design.
He went right to work.
So pleased with his plan
I gave him my Ziploc bag of smaller red scraps and showed him the plastic drawer of larger (quarter yard-ish) red pieces.  It didn't take long. He picked that rich red you see under the Olaf fabric.  Then he picked two more reds out of the smaller scraps Ziploc.

I pressed them, and at that point we came upstairs, away from Bella.  He is very allergic to cats.  I drew the lines with a Micron pen and he cut them out.  Boy, did he do a great job for only 7!
Planning the design
I showed him the checkerboard pattern with the Olaf squares, all of which he'd cut. I cut the red ones.  He made the pattern: two reds in each column.  I'd showed him to spread them out, and had the first two reds randomly placed, but he rearranged them to be in columns!  "This is how I want it, Nana."  We stitched them together, me "steering", he on the gas.  This is my old Elna I brought upstairs for him.  She still sews like a dream, although she doesn't want to zigzag anymore, despite 3 weeks at the "spa".

We did the pillowcase turn method.  For the backing I sewed together some scraps from the pajama bottoms he's wearing that I made him along with some scraps of the Cat in the Hat fabric from his I Spy quilt.  Scraps of Warm 'n Natural was the batting.  I "steered" while he pushed the gas to sew the three layers together, leaving an opening for turning...

Excited to turn it right side out
We poked out the corners, I stitched the opening closed, but not before I picked it apart so that I could sew on a label!!  Then we started on the quilting.  I started steering while he did the gas, 1/4" from the seams, and then he wanted to steer.  And he took to sewing like a pro.
Here he's doing the wavy, aka "craggly" (his term) lines down the centre of each square
I was so impressed with how well he managed to keep the 1/4" seam!  I tried to teach both of my daughters to sew...with limited success... Dayna actually did fairly well, but Brianne, Brady's mummy, did not enjoy it.  I took a video of him, too, for the DVD I always make of his trips.  Such coordination he has:  operating the foot control, guiding, whether it's following the seam line with the edge of the walking foot, or trying to remain centred, doing the wavy lines.

"When I grow up, I want to work in a sewing shop, Nana."

Along with playing football in the NFL.

All done!  It fits Caramel perfectly.
Once that was done, he got back to being a boy-boy, lol:
One of his favourite presents, a plastic hockey stick and puck he bought with a gift card to Dollarama from Santa!  The J.J. Watt jersey from Auntie Dayna is of course, #1.
The back
It washed up so lovely!  I just love the red with the Olaf fabric!  I would not have thought to put the two together, much as I love aqua and red...
So simple, but so effective.  Hours that I will treasure forever.  Linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

Quilt Stats:
Size:  11 X 14.5"
Fabric:  cotton scraps
Batting:  Warm 'n Natural scraps
Quilted: on my Elna, with a walking foot
Threads:  Pieced with Mettler cotton; quilted with Isacord in deep turquoise

22 comments:

  1. Wow, great job, Brady! I'm so glad he wanted lessons and obviously took to them seriously. It sounds like a lovely visit. Any idea when you will see them again? That always helps me with sad goodbyes.

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  2. What a wonderful memory! I love to sew with kids. They come up with the best color combinations. Thanks for sharing Brady's quilt with Oh Scrap!

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  3. Nana, you must realize that his NFL career will be seasonal (although there will be year round training) so working in a quilt shop will be perfect :) And let's face it all the ladies will flock to the store to learn to quilt from him. He did such a great job with his quilt for Caramel and what a great eye for color! He must get that from you. So glad you got to spend that special time with him and that he has inherited your passion for quilting.

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  4. AWWWW!!! Man, Sandra, that went fast! I know, you are thinking no sh1t Sherlock! So cool that he wanted lessons AND that he loved it! Tish has a point, lots of time off when one has an NFL career! Love his craggly lines! Well done, Brady!!

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  5. So adorable, Sandra, and definitely good memories for both of you! I once taught an after school group of 4th and 5th grade girls to make something very similar, and Brady did just as well as they did! Thanks for sharing your special time!

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  6. What a great little quilt. Glad that you had a wonderful visit.

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  7. Sewing with your grandson...priceless. A memory made that you and I'm sure he will always treasure. Great job Brady.

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  8. Wonderful post Nana. Brady did an excellent job and I think it's great that he likes sewing as well as boy, boy things. I'm hoping I have some little one in my future who want's me to share my love of sewing with them.

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  9. What a beautiful memory you two created! I am impressed too! I see a larger project next time he visits!

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  10. What a fun team project...he certainly has a great eye when it comes to fabrics/colors and design! Can't wait to see what he creates during his next visit!!

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  11. What a fun team project...he certainly has a great eye when it comes to fabrics/colors and design! Can't wait to see what he creates during his next visit!!

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  12. What an amazing idea! I need to do something like this with Panda.

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  13. So proud of my great nephew, taking after his Nana and Nanny and Great-Nana!!!
    Oh how I love that child! :)

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  14. Memories like these are so precious and something both of you will treasure forever. He did such a wonderful job on his quilt!

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  15. How lucky you are to have such a sweet boy in your lives, and you both in his!

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  16. This is the most darling thing I've read in months! I love his little quilt and am going to adopt "craggly" as a new quilting term :-)

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  17. Brady is so adorable Sandra and you are right - he is unusually full of personality and poise for one so young! I'm so glad they had this visit and that you two shared this wonderful time and built precious memories together. Brady's quilt turned out really cool too!

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  18. What a great week you had. Brady is a cutie and he will always remember this time with you. The quilt turned out just great.

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  19. He must take after you being so coordinated and having fine motor skills! And patience! But I see a lot of his grandpa in his sweet face :)
    It must have been rough saying goodbye, but just think of the next visit.

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  20. I am a newly retired, back-to-sewing-again quilter (and I even started practicing yoga upon retirement). I so enjoy reading your blog and am so inspired by your projects. Just used your binding tutorial to sew the binding on a small lap quilt - everything went so smoothly! Thank you. Carol

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    1. Carol!!! You have MADE MY DAY/WEEK!!! Year!! Awww, and I cannot tell you privately by email because you are a no-reply blogger, and you don't have a blog... :-( I DO hope you will come back to this post (what's not to adore about my beloved grandson!) and see that I responded to you. EEEK! One of my tutorials was used and worked so well, that is just ... I have no words. Thank you SO MUCH for writing this. I hope we can connect; sounds like we have a few things in common!!

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