Thursday, August 5, 2010

Rainey and her Featherweight Singer

This was my first opportunity to have time with Rainey one-on-one, and we did some really fun things. One of the first was, of course, have a tea party. Check out our hats, and don't forget to notice the flowers on the table. Before the tea party we had to make magazine paper flowers, like the ones I made with Paisley. Those are so cool.

But, my main project with Rainey was teaching her to do a little sewing. Her mom and her grandma both have one of these darling little Singer sewing machines--called featherweights and made in about 1955. Michelle's belonged to HER grandmother, so it is quite precious.
Rainey had never done any sewing before and was very excited to learn. Here she is making her first stitches on paper without thread.

She already knew she wanted to make a quilt and she knew she wanted it in rainbow colors. So, we had a fun trip to Joann's Fabrics to buy a 1/8 yd strip of each of the rainbow colors. It took some time, but she had a good eye for what pieces would go together, even though she felt Joann's had a bazillion to choose from.
She did most of the sewing herself. She was a very quick learner and a hard worker. Here she's about halfway done. I thought we would get it started, then she could finish it after I left. BUT, we completed the whole project in 2 days!
This is when the top was finished. Her dog Abby insisted on being in the picture. We had cut out all the squares, then Rainey arranged and rearranged them until she came up with this plan. I think she did a great job.
This is the final showing after we added the back and binding. Isn't it cute?

Another thing I've enjoyed doing is exploring a couple of Austin's nature trails. Brian took me on one yesterday and today Michelle and Rainey took me on a different one. Both were in wooded areas along a creek--different, but similar.
Yesterday we girls went to a farm to buy some local produce. It was rather rustic, but the veggies were great. We bought okra and eggplant, both of which we grilled for supper (yummy!), and red sweet peppers.
Not sure why, but I loved this picture of the workers' gloves hanging on the porch to dry. I just had to share it with you.
Have a great day!

5 comments:

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Unknown said...

Margaret what a wonderful time you two had and the quilt is beautiful and I am sure she is so proud of it. Yes, you both looked great having the tea party. Rainey will surely treasure these times spent with you doing so many fun things and she is so cute. Have a wonderful friday and weekend.

Susan said...

I love all your tea party photos. What a great time you look like you are having visiting all the families! And tell Rainey she is an inspiration for me to finish some of my sewing projects.

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