My Young Seamstress

My daughter finished a quilt making class and this is her quilt. It is actually not the first quilt she's made. My mother, an avid sewer and quilter, has worked on numerous projects with her, but they have been the size for her American Girl doll. She has her own sewing machine and supplies and is quite motivated to create things. I couldn't be prouder. My grandmother loved Vogue patterns and making fashionable clothes. My mother made many outfits for us, whirring away on her Pfaff sewing machine, an early gift from my father. It was sturdy and made from steel, like the kinds you'd see in a factory. It was a scary machine with the middle speeds burned out so it went from barely moving to full race car. It had a tempermental knee pedal and that is the machine I learned to sew on. Now I am not a great seamstress by any means. To me, sewing is a creative activity for exploring stitch and texture on quilts, fabric or paper and mixed media. I sew up the binding on a book mock-up, make bags and totes, and shorten jeans, basic stuff. But I do know the difference between a raglan sleeve and a set-in sleeve and some parts come back to me with just a little reminding. And as for the old Pfaff, well today my mother does most of her sewing with her smooth-purring Bernina on numerous creative and contemporary quilts, making colorful, textural art pieces.

So I am very happy to see my 10 year old daughter have an interest in sewing. When some friends were over for dinner the other night, her friend had a small rip in her dress that started to spread. My daughter got out her sewing machine and fixed the dress while the rest of the kids were swimming in the pool and having fun. Sometimes I think she is 10 going on 40. She looked satisfied that she could do it and I didn't help her at all. She creates projects in her mind to make. Is this something that is passed down and is in your blood? I can feel the influence of generations of women in our family that have sewn and created with fabric and thread.

And all of it made with love.