There's a New Quilter in Town!

On Thursday, Hayden and I finally got around to putting together his fabric for a quilt we cut out a while ago. He successfully wrenched me away from my project (grid quilting the all-blue monster) while I had enough patience and calm to teach him a few basics. He learned how to thread the machine, pull up the bobbin thread, and sew a straight seam. We both agreed that for now, I would be the one to do the rotary cutting, and the ironing.

It was a lot of fun! I'm normally not the most patient when it comes to kid projects (a horrible admission for a full-time mom!) but Hayden listened very patiently and accepted his inability to do everything perfectly. The best part about the whole eneavor was his enthusiasm, demonstrated by his patented "happy jump" -- the pogo-like vertical two-foot hop he does on the soccer field, and at the carnival, whenever he is really excited and happy.

Yesterday he finished the quilting and sewed on the binding. The next step will be to teach him how to blind stitch the binding to the back side. He was a little resistant to hand-sewing, but I think it will be a good skill for him to learn -- and will also free up the sewing machine...for me!