Friday, July 16, 2010

She Is Obsessed!!


I did mention that I have a daughter who is a perfectionist, right?

Well, she is so obsessed with this little quilt that she is almost done with it!


After she had sewn her strips together, she laid
them out in rows on the counter.
Yes, she is sitting on the kitchen counter.
I am a rotten mom.

(I did the ironing, ok?)


She must have changed the order of those strips about 50 times!


At last, she finally decided she liked the order.

She pinned them together and sewed the strips together 
and then when she was clipping the threads,
she accidentally cut too close and cut a HOLE in
one of the seams! 

Yes, a half inch HOLE!

She fell on the floor crying and it took a few minutes before she calmed down enough 
to show me what had happened.
She started screaming, so I told her it was time for bed.
No more sewing when kiddos scream!
But I also told her that since we planned on her "signing" the quilt,
she could embroider her name on some fabric and 
applique it onto the quilt and it would cover the hole.
As the sweet ladies on Sewing Mamas would say, it was a 
"Design Option", not a mistake!
I like that!


So yesterday, as soon as she got up, she started back to work on her quilt.
Here she is pinning some side panels onto the patchwork.
Those are her very own pincushion and pins. 

She adores them!


After she sewed the side panels on,  I gave her my 
disappearing ink pen to write her name on a piece of 
fabric, so she could embroider over it.
She got very frustrated because the ink faded several times before 
she finished embroidering her name.
The embroidery is NOT perfect, and she is ok with that!!!!

WOOHOO!!! 
No fits about the embroidery!!! 
YAY!!!

We had to take a little break from sewing because she wanted me to make a video of her
and her quilt so Grandma and Nana could see it.

Then she told me that she wanted me to enter her things in the Fair.
I had not yet submitted our entries and TODAY 
was the deadline so I dropped everything to get on the computer and
submit our entries.
The drop off date is August 5 so we have time to finish everything.

India is entering her quilt and hopes to make a skirt and nightgown 
to enter as well.

After that, I took the girls to go see "Toy Story" and 
then I got smacked with another migraine, 
so no more sewing happened yesterday.
(Yeah, I cried during Toy Story, alright?)


Today, we had to drive to Sacramento to some hospital appointments for India.

Ahnalin had already laid out her quilt top on the batting 
and basted it on. 
She insisted on bringing the quilt top with us in the car so she could
hand sew on her name applique. 
Sewing in the car........wonder where she learned that one......

Did I mention that she was obsessed????
We just got home and she is dying to finish her quilt tonight.
I said, "NO!" as it is after 9:00 PM and she needs to go to bed!


Can you see her name on the heart applique? 
She insisted on using lime green embroidery floss, even though it blends in too much to the fabric.
But again, she is happy with the embroidery and NOT having a fit about it, so I am thrilled.

She is hoping to finish her quilt tomorrow. 
Who knows?
She just may do it!


This is India's patchwork top.
She is going to add some side panels and she has
chosen a yummy brown Minkee fabric for the back.
She wants to get working on it now, 
so I had better get back to her.

Oh, her hospital appointments went really well and 
she is feeling good! 



As for me, this is my current project! 
I am IN LOVE with this Amy Butler vinyl coated fabric
and have been dying to make the Oliver & S  School Days jacket
since it came out. 

And about my previous post.....
Thank you all!!!
I LOVED every response!! 
I walk a very fine line with teaching my girls. 
Ahnalin's perfectionism and anxiety sometimes interfere
with her passion for sewing. It is hard!
And so I often struggle with my own perfectionist tendencies and 
want to help her just relax and enjoy creating.
(She is supposed to be in bed, but just yelled down the stairs that she wants to
finish her quilt TONIGHT!! NO WAY!!)

India is really enjoying the quilt top and seems to want it to be really nice
but is not freaking out. She is doing a really great job and is excited to finish as well.

Thank you again everyone. 
Now, if you could all just pray that I could figure out a way 
to encourage Ahnalin, so that we can hopefully NOT have
tantrums when she makes a mistake. 
I wish she would not take it all so seriously, 
but then, she does have me for a mama so my poor habits
regarding my own perfectionism are rubbing off on her.

Happy Sewing. 
I may show you more pics tomorrow!

11 comments:

doreen said...

I think that you worried for nothing. It's obvious that they are loving what they are doing, and taking pride in it and having some fun along the way. Mom should be proud and great job girls.

Debby said...

She is just fine. Little girls that age loved "there ducks all in a row".
As more life happens she will calm down about mistakes.
Beautiful quilts. Hope that India is okay. Have a fun summer.

Red Hen said...

Your girls are doing beautifully! And yes, I can see her name.

Glad you had a good day but sorry about the migraine.

I did a post yesterday and pictured your monkey girl skirt. I am working on 2 of them now.

Just a quick question. Have you tried them in the heavier fabrics? Like corduroy or denim? I'm thinking of that for winter. I know the pattern says you can use that, but I'd love to see a sample if you have one.

Mona @ la la by mona said...

Absolutely awesome! Their work is wonderful. Bravo to you for teaching them an almost lost art! As for her tantrums and perfectionism - most of it is due to age. She may want to finish because she is so intense with her project, but she will have to take an age appropriate break now and then. As we should. Ha, right! Those characteristics may be tough to deal with now, but will be strong points in her adult life! Long distance hugs to ya!

Anna said...

I am super impressed at how well Ahnalin has done on her quilt. And I love the colors India chose.

Good job teaching them to sew. I can barely help my 5 year old with homework without us both throwing a fit, I couldn't imagine teaching her to sew right now.

Karen Platner said...

Good luck getting everything done for the fair. I decided to forgo any entries, I have enough to do without trying to fit that in. The quilts look great.

Julia said...

I get mad at myself when I make mistakes, too, but I've made so many over the years that I have learned that most of them can be "fixed" someway or other. Ahnalin will learn that too.

Marika said...

the quilts look wonderful! my grandmother was a perfectionist sewer, and my mother a very accomplished one. i hated learning with them because they were so picky. nothing ever seemed to be right, and i used the seem ripper more than the sewing machine. i think my mother finally gave up trying to correct me and just let me sew. now i love it, and is very therapeutic. note that i don't sew with her now, because i don't press every detail nice and smooth and i tend to change the pattern slightly as i go- both things that would never, ever happen with her. there are times now and then that i wish i had paid more attention to instruction, but i learn as i go. i love sewing now, and everything seems to turn out for me. for ahnalin i think it is better not to correct too many things. let her leave it if she is happy with it. over time i'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to help her fix mistakes/teach her the correct way.

glad to hear that india is feeling well! at least one of us is then. what are her plans for next year? i just realized how long this comment is... oops. that's a mistake i'm going to leave. :) happy sewing!

Bunny said...

Ahnalin has done a remarkable job on this quilt. She is still a little girl. While I can't remember not sewing, I sure know that at her age I was not doing such demanding work. I am very impressed and I know you are so proud. Does she dress dolls? Barbie?

Simple Home said...

Both quilts are very nice, and I loved the cute video. My youngest daughter was a bit like Ahnalin when she was younger, but I want you to know it's gotten so much better as she's gotten older. She's such a joy, and a great helper too. She was my 4th child and it really threw me for a loop, as none of the others threw tantrums.
I loved how you solved the "hole" problem too :-)
Blessings,
Marcia

Jennifer said...

Sivje Look at the beauty you are passing down!!! Your girls are doing a tremendous job..love what is going on here!!!