Away for the weekend and "Quilter in Progress"

Well I went to my sister's for the weekend to help out with the kiddlets again. Things for the most part were pretty quiet. My nephew continues to have some very difficult times and had one outburst while I was there that resulted in a broken door. He put his fist through a closet door. I don't think he was prepared for the fact that that action had a few consequences either... I don't think he was ready for the bloody mess he made out of his hand. We are just hoping that things for him will come about sooner than not. (sigh... so much for that). Now onto the fun quilty part of the weekend. I took along with me (of course) my current quilting project. So I was able to stitch away for quite a bit of the weekend during the down times. Yesterday my sister took me to the new LQS I have been telling you all about. I bought a couple of yards of a to die for boarder print. Or maybe I should say it was perfect in my mind's eye for a quilt boarder I have in the brain cell jumbles. :). My little 3 yr. old niece was thrilled at the 'pretty store' and wanted to of course touch everything in site. So I took her by the hand and showed her things on the wall and different patterns and such. Of course I was being very careful with those little hands and that inquisitive mind of hers. When she was small quilts on the walls that looked like some she has seen of mine she got so excited and would jump all around wanting to know if we could take my quilt home with her. Try explaining that to a three year old. Now for today. I do believe we have a 'quilter in the making' in my little niece. She spent a good part of the afternoon with me today quilting. I would push the needle into the fabric and she would pull the needle out with the thread, holding them just right so the thread would not come out of the needle. She is so proud of herself. She even believes me that the needle is sharp after she had to gently test it for herself. So she asked me for a needle that she could use to quilt with that would not hurt her fingers. So I think it is time to get some sewing cards made that look like quilt blocks so she can 'stitch in the ditch' and learn along side of me. We were having so much fun. You would have laughed so hard watching her little hands pulling the needle and thread through each little bit. Her eyes would get so big when she saw what was coming out. Though she was a bit confused on how the color was different from the fabric, not quite getting it that the thread was a different color from the quilt top colors. But when she looked on the back and saw the dark brown thread against the yellow/orange fabric she was tickled but still didn't quite understand how the 'little dots' got there. She said she wants her own quilt now to make. I believe we have another young quilter that will bloom over time and in no time at all. She even reminded me that I gave her her first quilt. Then went in and bought it out to me. She came home with it after she was born. She still sleeps with it all the time. It is such a tickle to me. She does make me proud. She is also having a hard time keeping a 'secret' about the quilt we are making for her mom for Christmas. I told her she will get to sign the label on it and that she has to keep working on her name real hard so when we get that one all done she will be able to sew on the label with her name. That had her jumping up and down! She loves the idea that you make quilts for someone you love and she is soooooo happy that she gets to help with her mom's special quilt. (not the one we were working on over the weekend but another WIP). juliasb