Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Monogram Project

One evening last week, the new neighbors' kids were over at our house and the eldest, a girl who is turning 9 soon, eventually decided to hang out with me rather than the other kids. At some point, the answer to one of her many, many questions contained the words "sewing room" and she wanted to know what kinds of things I sew. So I showed her a couple quilts, and she was duly impressed. That's why I love making quilts for kids - they think its so awesome that you can do something like that and haven't quite yet developed the "so you didn't have enough money to buy one at the store" mentality that older kids and many grown-ups have. I also showed her a purse I had made and that's when her face really lit up. "Wow! I could sure use something like that,"she said. "I have a wallet but I don't have a purse and my mom always has to carry it in hers." Knowing that her birthday was coming up in just over a week, I asked what her favorite colors were, and she said blue, green, and orange. And was very emphatic about the orange.

I scoured the internet and tapped into the Facebook hive mind, and finally ended up buying this pattern. I used fusible fleece instead of interfacing and used solid fabric instead of jelly roll strips. I actually had an orange fabric with green and blue stripes in my stash and paired it with an old Erin McMorris fabric I bought a couple years ago.



But now that I've made it, I'm wondering if she's allowed to have a purse. She's always telling me what her mom won't allow her to do, and of course they are all things I totally let my kids do. I will leave it to your imagination as to what those things actually are.

So, I might get in trouble, but I've decided I don't care. That seems to be my general attitude these days. I might get in trouble, but I don't care.

I've been thinking about the new year coming up, and I will be glad when this one is over. There have been some good things about it, certainly, but 2010 will forever be the year my brother got brain cancer. And, as I say, good things have come even from that, but even so, I am anxious to leave 2010 behind me.

I started thinking about all the quilting projects I would like to do in the next year, and many of those will be given away. I've also been thinking about wall hangings and about pushing my nascent applique skills further in 2011. I've been focussing on hand applique but I also want to learn to do it by machine, and while I was thinking about this, I just decided - out of nowhere, really - to take a couple of the fabrics from my Christmas quilt and make a big M. Like a monogram. Then it occurred to me that this would be a neat ongoing project throughout the year, or maybe even longer.

So I have decided that for every project I complete, I will take some of the leftover fabric and create an M applique, each with a different font. I may quilt and bind each piece separately, or I may even frame them. Or perhaps they will end up in one quilted piece to be hung on the wall. Whatever the final product, I think it will be a neat way to commemorate all my projects and keep a piece of them with me.


Now I just have to figure out what the hell I'm doing.

21 comments:

Nancy said...

I'm racking my brain trying to figure out why she wouldn't be allowed to have a purse if she already has a wallet. Maybe Mom would be afraid she would set it down and forget it...so you have fixed that with the shoulder strap. I think she will be excited...

Love the idea of an all "M" quilt of scraps...

Sarah Craig said...

Neat idea - and what a cute purse! It's always easier to get forgiveness than permission.....

Staci said...

isn't it interesting what some kids can and can not do. I once watched a little girl for a morning and ended up with her mother screaming at me and never speaking to me again. (which, when it was all said and done, wasn't such a bad thing) I let the little girl give her totally plastic (with no fake hair) babydoll a bath in the sink. There was no mess and the toy was not harmed, and it is something I always let my daughter do. Never occurred to me that the world might be ending over it!
Good for you! Making that little girl a purse! I think it was a lovely and kind thing to do!

Moni said...

I have been messing with machine appliqued landscape quilts - have completed 2 and am working on a new one. Take a look:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31518242&l=1cf25b1203&id=1308584351

and

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31629070&l=40c290192b&id=1308584351

I'd be happy to share what I have so far learned. I like turned under applique for the bigger pieces but use raw edge for the finer ones. Am now working on learning various embellishments, particularly thread sketching to give the scene a little more detail.

Cheers,
Moni

Moni said...

Second and third comments:

Give the girl the purse. She will treasure it. It's so neat.

Sorry about your brother - I have had years that I could not wait to pass and can empathize that this one is such a one for you.

Moni

Anonymous said...

Deborah says:

That is the coolest purse ever! (I like orange, too!)

Definitely give her the purse. If her mother doesn't want her to have it right now, she can always put it away for next year, but at least the little girl will have the great feeling of knowing an adult was actually listening to her. (A gift almost better than the purse.)

Have fun with the M's!

Anonymous said...

Deborah says:

Oh yeah, I too will be glad to be leaving 2010 behind.

My husband got laid off on 1/14/10 and only now just got a part-time job (12/13/10). We've managed, but hopefully things will be a bit better in 2011.

Happy holidays to you and your family!

Dana Gaffney said...

M m m m m m. Is the mom nasty and strict? It's a present and she's old enough to have a purse, she has a wallet. I would definitely give her the purse, it's really cute.

Peggi said...

What an awesome purse! You're such a good neighbor. Be prepared - the mom might be coming over soon with all kinds of things for you to repair and sew. Ha.

I LOVE the monogram idea! My blog was my husband's idea of how to document all my quilts, but I love the idea of having the actual leftover fabrics to touch! Hmmm... might have to copy you....

Vicki W said...

I should do a monogram quilt for myself with the letter "R" for retarded. I actually sat here for a minute to figure out why you were using an "M"!

Cute purse and, yes, I'd give it too!

Megan said...

Well, now that you mention it, a quilt comprised of the letters B and S would be rather appropriate, wouldn't it?

Gene Black said...

What a lovely thing to do! If the mom has a problem with it, she is way too strict.

Anonymous said...

I love th M idea...I'm stealing it:) I make lots of quilts for gifts and have lots of scraps.

quiltzyx said...

She is going to totally love that purse! (Someday, some day, I am going to learn how to get things finished too.)
I like the idea of your Monogram Project...maybe you can do the "B" & "S" one in 2012....

Anonymous said...

Give the girl the adorable purse.
You will forever be her hero...mine too !

Teresa said...

The purse is so cute! She'll love you forever. If her mom has a problem with it, then her mom has bigger problems.

Zazzu said...

Such a cute purse! And very sweet of you to make it for her.

If, for some reason, Mom doesn't let her use it now, I wouldn't judge too harshly. There might be stuff behind-the-scenes we don't know about. You're only hearing Daughter's side to things. What mother would want to be judged solely on what her 9-year-old says?

gale said...

That is so cute. I can't imagine a reason a 9 yo wouldn't be allowed a purse but hey, you never know. I'm pretty lenient with mine too, I think. Anyway it's adorable and I bet she will go wild over it! So sorry about your brother. :( We are such a close knit family I can't even imagine it. LOVE the monogram idea. I might copy it-I love my first initial.

Unknown said...

I love the "monogram project!" Great idea. I have a love/hate relationship with applique too. I actually wrote a post about it in my blog called "Applique Blows." I also just added a link to this blog, cuz I love it so much!

C said...

The purse is too cute. I love love love the monogram idea - it would make a beautiful fun quilt to cozy up under.

Anonymous said...

Deborah says:

So, I'm guessing that by now you've given the little girl her birthday present (THE purse).

How did the mom react? Hope she lets her daughter use it now.

Please update us!