It has been really nice to have some time at home this summer and I have been able to spend time in my studio with various friends and family.  Claire fits into the “friend” category!!

Claire is 9 years old and goes to my church.  She and I were talking a few months back about hobbies and she expressed an interest in making a quilt.  I asked her what her favorite colors were and she responded that she didn’t have favorite colors but that she loved horses.

I hopped onto Fabric.com and came up with this fun panel to base the quilt on……

When Claire arrived we picked some fabrics and she took off with the sewing…..

At first we had some problems with the horse fabric crawling because it was so soft but a quick shot of Spray starch fixed that problem…..

My machine proved to be very easy to set up for her…… we turned the speed down to “Turtle” so that it didn’t run away with her and between the 1/4 inch foot and a magnetic fabric stop, she was able to keep a very even 1/4 inch seam……

Claire particularly enjoyed seeing how long of a chain she could make……

This is where we were at the end of the first day…..

Day two started with sewing the blocks together, adding two borders and then came the hard task of picking fabric for the backing…..

When she left after day two, it was basted and ready for quilting…..

Before she arrived for day 3, I put the binding on and did a bit of quilting, just to make sure that we got it finished.  While I was getting things set up for her she had a fun time creating “Pin Cushion Woman”……I particularly love the hair bow!!

The quilt was soon finished……

….and used for a silly picture…..

I really had a wonderful time working with Claire and found that she has a quick wit, is encouraging, fun and extremely creative.  I cant wait to spend more time with her in  the future and to see what other creative ventures she finds in her life!!!

 

Thanks Claire for letting me share in your project!!!