Sewing with Grammy (3)

If you are one of the few people who does come here often, you might be wondering if this has morphed into a sewing blog now or something.

No, it hasn't; but I am a Grammy blogger (not to be confused with a mommy blogger, which was a popular thing to be back in blogging's heyday).  And sewing with four of my granddaughters--the offspring of our firstborn son--is currently one of my favorite Grammy activities.  So there you go.  (I will blog about something else one of these days; but this is not that day!)

For the past three Monday afternoons, I have been holding a little Sewing 101 course at my kitchen table for four young budding seamstresses. 

Each week, I've tried to plan projects that are fun for them, but as an added bonus also give them something to bring home at the end of the lesson (doll-related items are always a good choice!).

On Monday, I had the two oldest (10-year-old twins) do a review of one of the skills we worked on last week and practice machine sewing straight lines on paper.  They did so well that I had them graduate to sewing straight lines on double-thickness squares of fabric on which I'd drawn a series of lines.

They pretty much aced that task, so then I had them sew up some simple 5x7" American Girl-sized bed pillows I'd cut out for them ahead of time.  They sewed the seams leaving an opening for stuffing, clipped the corners, and turned them inside out.

When they had accomplished this, I called their two younger sisters (8 and 6) up from the basement playroom to stuff the pillows and hand-sew the openings closed.  

When I went online a month or so ago to figure out the best way to go about teaching young kids to sew, one of the bloggers whose site I visited stressed the need to be okay with their efforts being imperfect, in order to let them learn without too much interference.  I knew that with my tendency toward perfectionism I might hamper their learning by itching to take over too much.  So I've been trying really hard to let them do their own work and make their own mistakes.  (Sewing with Grammy will be a good learning experience for me as well!)

These sweet granddaughters are so generous with each other and don't appear to have that need to be in complete control of the outcome that their Grammy struggles with.  The older girls were perfectly happy to have the younger girls do the finish work on the pillows, and they did a bang-up job.  So it was truly a wonderful team effort.  I am so proud of this little sewing circle of mine!

Yes, someday, I shall write about something other than sewing lessons...but here's the problem these days, you see:

and I do mean HOURS!!

Sewing with Grammy (2)

Our oldest son's four homeschooled daughters came to our house for their second weekly sewing lesson on Monday afternoon.  I had an easy hand-sewing project for all of them to work on: adding buttons and flower embellishments to simple felt vests I’d made for them ahead of time (sized to fit their American Girl and/or baby dolls).

I love to see the joy that working on such projects produces in these sweet young ladies!  And I am determined to make sure that they have something fun to bring home with them after each sewing lesson.

Once the dolls were looking spiffy in their new vests, it was time to get down to brass tacks: teaching the older girls the basics of using a sewing machine. So the two younger girls went down to the basement playroom to play with their little brother, and the twins (aged 10) began their lesson for the day: sewing straight lines on paper.  (Thank you, Internet, for both the genius idea and the free printable pages to practice on!)

It did this Grammy's heart so much good to see these girls, my two oldest grandchildren (who are maturing into poised young women at an alarming rate!), growing in confidence each time they sat down at the machine.  They were somewhat intimidated at first, but quickly got the hang of it.  The younger of the twins (by a few minutes!), Cutie Pie, was heard to exclaim, "I love this.  I feel like I was born to do this!"

Born to sew!  If that's the case, I'm so glad that I have the unique opportunity to help these girls learn a useful new skill (one that has served me well over the years)--you know, so that they can do what they were born to do.

Sewing with Grammy

Our oldest son's wife asked me this summer if I'd be interested in having a weekly sewing class this school year for her four homeschooled daughters (aged 10, 10, 8, and 6).  While the girls have done a bit of hand-embroidery and hand-sewing, she hoped that I could give them a basic course in how to use a sewing machine.

Would I be interested?!?!  Of course I would!

As I was largely self-taught (and learned through years of trial and error--I tell you, the seam ripper and I got to know each other very well!), I went online and typed in "teaching kids how to sew," and I got lots of great pointers on how to proceed: YouTube videos and blog posts, some of which offered printable pages--not just patterns, but also sheets of dotted lines on which to practice machine sewing.  There were sheets of straight lines, and curved ones, and geometric patterns that will help them practice how to change direction.  (I never would have thought of having them practice machine stitches on paper; I would undoubtedly have given them material scraps instead.  But for true beginners, this appears to be a great way to get them comfortable with the way the machine works before they graduate on to sewing on fabric.)

Aside from how-to advice, I was tickled to find some free printable beginner's patterns.  The first one I will have them use, after they become adept enough at working the machine, is for a very simple sleeveless dress that will fit their beloved American Girls.  (I made one up and it's being modeled by one of my 18" porcelain dolls, and I will keep it on display during our classes as an incentive for them to keep learning.)

We had our first class on Monday, and we started with a couple of introductory projects for all four girls. They hand-sewed some buttons onto fabric scraps, on which I'd made pictures using fabric paint, and then they slip-stitched the opening of a small stuffed puppy dog closed.  In future weeks, the 10-year-old twins will be working with the sewing machine while the younger girls do more hand-sewing projects.  I did let the twins try doing a few lines of straight stitches on the machine, but otherwise decided to keep the first day fairly easygoing.

We had an impromptu tea party after the lesson, with peach tea and shortbread cookies.  And then they all got to go home with little stuffed puppies (pets for their American Girl dolls?) and fabric painted pictures they'd finished off by sewing on the buttons.  

The only thing I forgot to think of was making a little fabric square picture for their 3-year-old brother, who played in the basement while the girls were having their sewing lesson.  We did have a stuffed dog for him, though, and promised that there would be a car with button wheels in his future.

I think day one would have to be considered a success! And I am so excited to see these girls grow in confidence as they learn new skills each week.

This opportunity to do a weekly sewing class with my granddaughters is something that never would have happened if we hadn't left our longtime home in NH and made the move to VA in 2017. I can hardly count the blessings that have flowed from that decision!

Look for updates on my little seamstresses' progress in the coming months.

Life Imitates Art

In October of 1979, I did a  9x12” acrylic painting on canvas board, and that Christmas I gave it to my future in-laws as a gift.  (This painting was created with less technical ability than love...but there was lots of love involved.)  The piece was inspired by the view of Lake Champlain from the back yard of their New York house, with the outline of the Green Mountains of Vermont visible in the distance.  I had spent so much time, during the previous six years that I was dating their son, enjoying this view from their lovely lakeside home, and I painted it from memory. The little girl standing by the fence was meant to represent my then-boyfriend's three younger sisters, whom I had grown to love dearly.

Fast-forward 42 years (gulp! 42 years!!).  And I found that life was definitely imitating art.

You see, I married that boy who lived by the lake.  And we had five sons, who grew up and got married and have so far produced 17 grandchildren for us to cherish. Five of these grandchildren, the offspring of our oldest son, were visiting us with their parents for a week starting at the end of August—staying with us at their Papa’s childhood home, which has become our summer residence.  (Thankfully, this amazing house has stayed in the family, even though my beloved in-laws are no longer with us).

I snapped this picture of our boy’s girls (twins aged 10, along with their younger sisters, 8 and 6) the night they arrived, when they ran out to look at the lake they hadn't seen since the summer before last.  And I was immediately reminded of my little painting.

There are more boats moored out in front of the house these days (one of them, in fact, belongs to their Papa and me). And the old split rail fence has been replaced by a much fancier steel railing on the giant concrete sea wall that the family had built a few years ago, in order to keep the bank at the edge of the yard from eroding. But that beautiful view hasn’t changed one iota.

I didn't blog much over the summer, even though there was so much I could have shared here.  Life was kind of imitating art back in July, too, when our four other sons and our 12 other grandchildren came to spend a crazy, fun-filled week with us at our Oyster Haven VRBO house, which we’d blocked off for personal use. 

What could be cuter than a lineup of small children smooshed together, with their little legs dangling over the edge (of a hammock, or a dock, or whatever they happen to be sitting upon)?  That vintage Jesse Wilcox Smith painting up there has always been a favorite of mine.  The photo of our gang might have included a cat, too (our youngest son and his wife brought their two along with them), if it wasn't for the allergies in the Pearl clan.  Therefore, the kitties spent their vacation in the basement!

We have been back in VA for several days, where we will be living until summer 2022 draws near and we head north again.  We will miss that glorious lake--a work of art to be sure; but we are happy to be reunited with all of our sweet grandchildren, whose darling faces are nothing short of masterpieces.  (Said their very objective Grammy.)

It's so good to be back!

Seems Like Old Times

We spent last week in VA, checking on our house and catching up with the four boys who live there and their families, and also with our youngest son and his wife, who have recently moved to Nashville and had a little time between jobs and grad school to visit with us. What a great week we had!  

I plan to share pictures from that family-packed week in a future post, but today I have a different topic to tackle.  Today I'm talking about school days.

Our oldest son and his wife homeschool their kids, so I don't know their official "start date" for the 2021-2022 academic year. (But I'm happy to report that I'm planning to hold a weekly sewing lesson class this school year for my granddaughters!)  Our middle son's oldest two children started their first week of first grade and kindergarten at a small private Christian school while we were in VA.  Our second-oldest son's firstborn was set to start his first day of kindergarten yesterday, while we were on the road, northward bound.  When we saw him and his family on Sunday, our son told us that his boy's Catholic school uniform is gray pants and a white shirt--just what our boys had to wear at their Catholic grade school back in the day.  Wow, did that bring back memories!  

We are back in NY now, where we will spend the rest of the summer keeping tabs on our VRBO rental house (and boating around Lake Champlain).  Thinking about our grandson's Catholic school uniform, I decided to find a picture of his dad wearing his gray-and-white get-up to show my daughter-in-law, and I realized that I had one on an old post here at the blog.  I did some digging through the archives and found that post, written 10 years ago when our youngest son (28 now and married) was about to graduate from high school and I hadn't even become a Grammy yet.  So much has changed in those 10 years!  And yet, with grandchildren it's almost like you get to live those sweet early years with your own children all over again.  In a way, it seems like old times.

Here's that heart-tugging archived post, if you're interested.  (Meanwhile, I'll just be here crying into my coffee.)

A Date to Remember, A Life to Celebrate

Yesterday was the 48th anniversary of "Will You Go with Me?"

August 6 is a red letter day on my calendar every year because it's the day my husband and I officially started dating, when we were just a couple of crazy 15-year-old kids way, way back in 1973. (I blogged about this memorable date nine years ago--see link above--and here I am bringing it up again.)

When we were 15, we could never have imagined what was in store for us in the coming decades.  We could never have predicted that we would actually stay together forever and how very blessed we would be.  We were the best of friends, and quite smitten; yet we couldn't know then that we would end up married seven years later, become the parents of five incredible sons, and one day get to play the best role of all, as Papa and Grammy to 17-going-on-18 beloved grandchildren.

We thought 63 was older than dirt, simply unimaginable; and yet here we are.  We blinked a few times and 63 happened.

Youth is marvelous, but fleeting, and some spend their later years trying desperately to hang onto it; but there are perks that come with getting older, gifts one can only receive after numerous trips around the sun.

One such gift was a recent phone call from our oldest son, with the happy news that he and his wife are expecting baby #6, which is especially wonderful after two tragic miscarriages in the past year or so. They have gotten through the first trimester and heard a healthy heartbeat, and we are all over the moon about this precious little soul who will be the 18th grandchild with us here, God willing.  (We also have five wee saints in Heaven, watching over all of us.)

Another such gift was a pair of photos, sent by daughter-in-law Ginger (wife of son #2), of her hubby and our youngest son and his wife. Son #5, who was a captain in the Army, just became a civilian again and is getting ready to start grad school.  He and his wife Babisiu, who will celebrate their second anniversary in September, had some free time before beginning the next chapter of their life in Nashville, and they drove to VA to see all the brothers.   It looks like #5 is trying to emulate #2 with the facial hair; but that (along with his long-ish locks) is actually a mild rebellion after ten years (four of Army ROTC, six of active duty) of having to sport a clean-shaven face and a "high and tight" haircut.

You can't have pictures like these of your children if you're in your 20's or 30's or 40’s.  You have to get as long in the tooth as we are to have a second-born son who is 36 and the father of four, and a baby who is 28...

Or a 35-year-old third-born son who poses in matching polo shirts with his six-year-old firstborn son, the oldest of his brood of four.

How adorable are those two guys? 

I can't sign off without mentioning son #4.  He is the 33-year-old father of almost-four-year-old triplets plus a toddler.  His is a very full and crazy life, as you can imagine, and we are so proud of the way he and his wife have handled it all.

These are my blessings, my life, my joy.  And it all started when the cutest boy I'd ever known asked me to go steady--or "go with"--him, many (I mean many!) years ago.

7QT: Trompe L’Oeil Fireplace Project

My husband and I have been in Upstate NY since late June.  Four of our boys and their families came up here for a week in early July, but otherwise we haven't been with our gang--and I miss them.  On Sunday, we're heading down to VA to check on our house there, and to break up the long summer and see our kids and grandkids.  All five boys and their families will be there, and I'm extremely excited to reconnect with everyone.   

So I thought it was apropos to do a post about our VA house.

A little over a year ago, just after we’d just finished off our VA basement, we got a discarded wooden fireplace mantle from son #3 and his wife.  (A neighbor of theirs had done a renovation and was giving it away for free, and our kids liked it but didn’t have a place to use it in their new house.)  I love a good trompe l'oeil treatment about as much as anyone, so I decided to take that mantle and create a faux fireplace with a blazing fire in it.  Actually, this was something we had considered doing in the basement of our old house in NH, but we never got around to it.  

I  thought I’d post the step-by-step transformation of this mantle project here at the blog.  (I did this a while ago in an Instagram story—back before I deleted my account—so you might have seen it already.) 

TAKE 1

First step: paint in the gray "mortar" that will go behind the bricks.  (I’m sorry.  The first step was really “get husband to expertly mount mantle to wall.”  I forgot that part!  But as you can see from the first photo up there, he did a great job!)

TAKE 2

Add the bricks—using a template made by tracing the bricks on the side of our house!

TAKE 3

Start giving the interior a three-dimensional look

TAKE 4

Create white brick interior.  (Lots of measuring, and using a level!)

TAKE 5

Make an andiron pattern to trace; sketch in and paint two of them.

TAKE 6

Blacken parts of the interior bricks to look “sooty”; add logs in the grate.

TAKE 7

Now make it burn, baby, burn!  (Sorry, that’s a disco-era reference from the 70’s that young whippersnappers won’t even get, and now you know how old I am.)  I kind of wanted to leave it with the logs unlit (you know, so the grandkids would be safe playing near it—ha ha!).  But my husband definitely wanted a fire.

By this point, I was pretty happy with my faux fireplace, and it was essentially finished.   But the flames needed tweaking—they were a bit dull-looking.  So I added some color to enliven them, as well as some more details (such as red-hot embers underneath).

And there you have it: a fireplace safe for our grandchildren’s playroom.  It fills in an empty wall nicely and “warms up" the space considerably!

 

I had originally thought I would distress the bricks a bit, to make them look old, instead of keeping them this dark red.  But I liked the way it looked and decided to leave well enough alone.  (My middle son humorously suggested that maybe I should touch the bricks up a little bit every year that we live here, so they’ll "age" along with the house!  We shall see...)

For now, as far as this “fool the eye” project goes, c'est finis!  Now allez vous, head on over to Kelly's for more 7QT fun.