....at our li'l house on the hill. Each afternoon the school bus hurtles along our country road, screeches to a sudden stop at our front gate, ejects excited li'l earthlings, who burst through the bright pink door in readiness for a fun afternoon; getting lost in a plethora of all things creative.
Yes indeedy, each afternoon I teach kiddos in all matters 'creatin'...machine stitching, hand sewing, knitting, beading and oh so many, many more fun things pertaining to the subject of 'craft'!
I have been looking through photos recently and am amazed at the projects that the kiddos have created. The kiddos have made so, so many wonderful projects; from denim bags, denim wall hangings, denim quilts, denim pencil cases, patchwork quilts, softies....scottie dogs, owls, dolls, bears, monsters etc.....cushions, Christmas stockings, Christmas Advent calendars and some are now beginning to sew clothes......the list just goes on and on and on.
It seems that denim is a favourite choice of them all.
The girls and some boys have made quilts from big patches cut from recycled jeans.
Some funky bags....ooh-la-la!! The girls have made a couple of original bags, designed by themselves, to sling on their shoulders when out and about town. A pair of jeans goes such a loooooong way! All the kiddos have made a wall hanging from hessian with denim pockets so that they can stash their bits and bobs. This wall hanging is the first project they make as it is a fairly easy project on which to learn the basics of straight and zig zag stitches. A fun and easy project to take home with them on the first or second lesson.
One of my girl's (Holly) mum sent me this photo of her bedroom, showcasing a few of the projects that she has stitched.......a denim quilt, a personalised hessian cushion,where I photographed Holly's face, transferred it onto fabric and Holly designed herself within the scene, and appliqued and free-hand machine stitched to fill in the details. Amazing as she was only 8 years old when she stitched this! A lot of my kiddos have attempted free-hand machine stitching, sketching what they will, with no fear! Also there is a cute, cute owl, a hessian & denim pocket wall hanging...AND...have a bo-peep at the Babushka doll bag, complete with a hand beaded wire handle! Our Holly is one very clever li'l girl!!
A personalised denim pencil case in the making.
This school term, more denim quilts are being stitched. It seems that every kiddo who visits my li'l ole abode wants to make a denim quilt. A few of the boys have made a simple patched quilt with no embellishments; whilst the girls always seem to want to make one with flowers and butterflies weaving their way in and out of the denim pockets.
A baby quilt for a new little baby sister and a table-top quilt for a mum for Mother's Day.
More Mother's Day presents for grandmothers. Some of the girls designed a picture, traced them on to canvases and long stitched and back stitched the design with tapestry wool. With the embroidery finished, they then coloured in the background with watercolour pencils, then added water with a brush to resemble a watercolour picture. When the canvases are dry, buttons will be added to some of the flowers. Instead of the girls embroidering on fabric inside a hoop, I came up with the idea of using canvases instead. The girls have had so much fun creating these priceless works of art. Quite the 'artistes', aren't they!! I think they look very, very cool!!
So, all in all it has been a very busy school term. A lot of time has been spent preparing and organising each day's projects so that when the kiddos arrive everything is organised and ready to go. I must say that I do enjoy teaching the kiddos. They keep me in the loop of all things children. I am continually amazed at their imaginations and what they dream up. I always find it fascinating when the kiddos come for their first lesson, they are tentative in all things stitching, but with each week their confidence grows; seeing in the eyes and demeanor their amazement at the projects they create. "Did I really make that!!" Yes indeedy, in no time at all they are whirring away on the sewing machines as if they have been sewing all their young lives.
But....I am very thankful that here in Australia there are 10 week school terms with two week holidays in between. I find that I need this time to recharge the battery, clear out the cobwebs from the brain pan, dream up new ideas; perhaps stitch a li'l stitching for li'l ole me.....and just be.
One more week then it's...... holiday time !!
