Ally Winds Up in Stitches

My granddaughter Ally is almost 11 years old, and from her birth she has been my special connection to the wonder of the universe and majesty of God. Grandchildren happen at just the right time in your life, right when you have started to become jaded and forget just how awesome the world looks through the eyes of a child.

A week or so ago, Ally and her brother AJ were visiting, and I had my sewing machine out. I remembered there was a stash of fabrics cut into quilt squares, albeit Christmas fabrics, and I figured Ally would like to try her hand at sewing. She had never run a machine before, but she loves being creative.

I showed her how to use the machine and sew a bunch of squares together into a chain, then sew them together, etc. to make a simple pieced quilt. There were only enough pieces to make a little one, but she just caught on like wildfire. Her mom was really into sewing when she was in high school, so it must come naturally. It was nice that she could finish the entire small quilt and even sew a muslin backing on it, before she had to go home. She couldn't wait to show Mom and Dad what she had accomplished on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes we get into projects that we don't get finished before she has to leave, and they seem to be the ones that don't always get completed later on. She told me about the quilt exhibit that had been at her school a few weeks earlier, and the whole concept of quilting and sewing was much more vivid to her. Guess what she wants for her birthday........a sewing machine!