ScrapHappy: The Next Generation

Earlier this summer, the text string went something like this:
 
Millennial Mom next door: Do you have any fabric scraps I could buy from you?
Me: Your family gave me half my fabric, so no.  I will give you back whatever you need.  What’s up?
Mom next door: W. [her 8-year-old] needs some pouches to carry Mixies* around in.
Me: Do you even know how to sew?
…
…
…
Mom next door: I mean….No.
Me: W. is old enough to learn.  If she wants to, send her over.
Mom next door:  She is very excited.
 
And so a time was arranged, and W. was dropped off, with some water and a snack and strict instructions to listen to Miss Gwen.
 
Now I would never go looking for sewing students, but if there is a kid around who is interested in learning, I am happy to help.  I figured we would spend about an hour or so choosing fabric, sewing it up, and maybe doing some decorative stitching.
 
The first thing we did was pull fabric, including some small scrap blocks someone had given me.

Fabric pull for our extensive project list.

 
There is nothing wrong with this child’s color sense. 🙂
 
Then it was time to plan the actual project.  As far as I knew, the plan was to sew one pouch onto an old t-shirt.  W. had her own ideas.
“Alright, there are six different Mixies, so we are going to need six blankets, some sleeping bags, and ten pillows.  We should put some pouches on a belt.  Our goal for today is a blanket and two pillows.” I wrote down the list for future reference.  She chose the small scrap blocks (four-patches and half square triangles) to start with, and after a very serious safety lesson, we started the machine on its slowest setting.
 
W. said, “That sound is so relaxing!” and I knew all would go well.
 
She ended up staying for four hours! I sat beside her the whole time, but she was exceedingly careful, and made good use of That Purple Thang.  I kept checking with her to see if she was hungry or bored, but she wanted to stay and do just a little bit more.  She followed every instruction perfectly, and didn’t complain about any of the steps. 
 

Pressing, with an iron that has now lasted for five generations!

 
It was so much fun to have someone ooh and ah over my thread collection, and enthusiastically try out rayon, silk, and metallic!  That first lesson, she put four scrappy 4-patches together to make a 16-patch, and then added borders to make a doll blanket, and made about six small pillows, but I neglected to get any pictures!
 
Since we both had a good time, we scheduled another lesson for two weeks later.  During that time, someone gave me about ten beautiful fat quarters, and I took them into my sewing room and just tossed them into a random basket, already full of fabric.  When W. came back for her lesson, she headed right for that basket and pulled out some of the fat quarters — “These are so pretty!”  I was thinking, “Are you a bloodhound?  How did you sense what new fabrics have come in?”  🙂
 
She has come back for several (shorter) lessons, and in one of them we did get the originally-planned pouch done. I have enjoyed working with her each time.

Scrappy pouch with decorative stitching.

 
A few weeks later, our contractor came out to renovate our laundry room, and brought his 9-year-old daughter, M., with him.  This is another child I have known all her life.  She was playing with the toys I keep for visiting kids, and I was on the computer — I asked if she needed anything, and she said, “My mom says you know how to crochet, can you teach me?”  Well, I tried, but she is left-handed and I’m not, so I asked if she wanted to sew instead.  Again, it went beautifully, and we had a great time, for six hours!  (I think we stopped for lunch?)
 

Adding a border.

 
M. loved all the fabric so much that she decided to do two completely different looks on the sides of a pillow.

Strong contrast on Side One.

Soft pastels on Side Two.

 
One thing that struck me with both girls was that at some point after the initial fabric pull, they would look at their project and think it needed something else, and then ask me, “Do you have any plaid/pink/puppy fabric?”  And then they would wait very patiently for me to dig through my bins to find what they needed.  My sister says it’s because they’re from the streaming generation — they think everything is available somewhere, but you may have to wait a while for it to boot up.  🙂
 
Even in the short amount of time they sewed, I could see that each girl had a special interest.  W. likes the decorative stitches, M. likes little tiny pieces.  M. also likes to look carefully at all the things I have pinned up on my walls and ask me how I did something, or who the artist is.
 
I was trying to put my finger on what made these sewing sessions so peaceful, and I finally figured out it was because there was no small talk, just sewing.  If I was sewing in a group of women my age, while we were working, we would start talking about new businesses in town and street construction and the price of chicken feed, or if I was sewing by myself, I would probably put on a Missouri Star Company video and listen to Jenny Doan with Misty and Natalie, and have that chatter in the background.  But because there is such an age difference between these girls and myself, we didn’t have any shared topics to catch up on.  They were concentrating on what they were doing. 
 
And also, unlike most people who come into my sewing room, they didn’t point out that I should get rid of things or at least dust!  They were content with all the stacks of stuff wherever they happened to be.
 
So I have had several lovely sewing days this summer, some of my scrap stash has found a home, and I can rest assured that the art of quilting is in good hands for the future.  🙂
 
*”Mixies” are a special brand of small plush toys.
 
ScrapHappy Day is the 15th of each month, when we celebrate the use of scraps. Drop by and see what people of all generations have created with scraps of materials and time!  Our hosts are Kate and Gun, the first two names listed below, and they would love for you to join us!  Just let them know and they will add you to the list.
 
 
 
Category : Quilting
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