First Sewing Project

First Sewing Project

 My daughter wants to learn to sew. So, from the scraps pictured below, I cut a few squares and helped her piece them on the old sewing machine. She was nervous but determined. She is all of just barely six years old. They came out so well, I decided to keep them and make it into a pillow. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the colors of the two fabrics together, so off we went into the garage where I painted this wax design on, bleach discharged, and then dyed in fuschia (her choice). Afterwards, I taught her a few hand sewing techniques and we embellished with a bit of embroidery on the surface. She did the orange running stitch in the middle, cautiously avoiding the sharp end of the needle. Her older brother jumped in with the yellow backstitch. She didn't have the patience to do it all, so we decided to do it together. Voila'!

Warm Days of Summer

Warm Days of Summer

 Standing over a hot electric skillet of melted wax or a vat of boiling water, steam rising, melting the wax off, I am starting the think these are activities for cooler seasons. But I can't help myself, once the muse starts incessant chattering in my head. These are my latest samples, created specifically for my next project. I like them like this; just layed out, side to side, but am not planning to use them this way. However, I might recreate this collection just to use like this as a sampler. The collection grows, now filling a 4' x 8' design wall. It feels good and cheerful just walking by.
These are commercial fabrics: batiked, bleach discharged, and overdyed. Each block is about 6 inches square, more or less.