Penny finished her Little House on the Prairie Quilt!  I am so proud of her.  I didn’t allow my daughters to sew their blocks until they had completed the Little House book that accompanied them.  So this quilt represents a lot of hours of reading, of fabric selection, of sewing, and patience and perseverance.  It’s so hard to fit time consuming projects like this into our busy lives but doing this was important to me.  So, I am feeling pretty proud too.  I hope I have fostered a love of sewing and reading in both girls.  And I hope they have fond memories of making these quilts with me (and forget the frustrating moments!).

This is Penny’s handwritten label.  She had me add the “and Mommy.”  My older daughter made a similar label for her quilt but she embroidered and had me embroider the “and Mommy.”  These quilts were truly collaborative. I let the girls choose fabrics from my stash but would offer guidance and suggestions.  The decisions were ultimately their’s.  I cut for them but they did all the stitching on each block and sometimes restitching if I seam ripped something to emphasize the need for a 1/4″ seam!  They learned a little embroidery, about HSTs, chain piecing, and fussy cutting.  I sewed the tops together, basted, quilted and bound.  They were not interested in doing that part and it is a lot of work.  So I did that in hopes of keeping the memory fun and leaving them with a desire to sew more!

Ever since I started this project with my youngest daughter, I had visions of a picture of both of my girls with their quilts–one made 3 years ago, and one finished this week.  That will be my last step in this process–hopefully Thursday it will happen!