Overnight With Aunt Jayne

What fun we had earlier this week when my twin nieces Anna Rose and Mary Jean came to stay the night. They will be 8 next month and have never stayed over at our house. We just don't live a convenient distance from them, and we aren't in the direct line of travel from their parents' work.

The Highland County Fair began on Saturday, and all local schools close down for fair week. Anna Rose was showing a steer in the Open Class show on Sunday evening (Mary Jean opted out), so I headed over to Hillsboro to see the steer show.

Here's our little cowpoke all decked out in her finest glitzy, glamorous steer-showing duds. Those are sequins on her shirt and belt, and even the pink boots had some sparkle. That rump roast you see behind her is Betty, the steer that AR showed. Betty had been given the treatment, too, and was fluffy and clean for her performance.

After the show, we ate some fair food and drank some fair drinks - it was H-O-T! - and at around 10:15 we loaded up the girls and their bags and stuffed animals and began the trip home. They were exhausted from a full day at the fair and were up much later than their normal bedtime.  Next morning, though, they were bright-eyed and bushy tailed! Ready to sew before the pajamas were off.

I had two tubs of fabric that were my daughters' from over the years. Whenever my girls went to the quilt shops with me, they were generally allowed to buy one fat quarter (kept them occupied making a decision). All those kid-picked FQs were stored together in tubs; they were perfect for the twins, so I dumped the tubs out on the floor and let the girls have at it. They loved selecting which fabric they would use to make whatever it was we were going to make. At this point they were talking a lot about Barbie clothes; I was reluctant to start that little stuff with them as novices. We soon had some decisions made.

Mary Jean, seated at the machine, decided she wanted a bag to be made from some blue, teal and purple fabric. You see her above stitching the handle. Anna Rose, seated opposite, is pouting as she was not happy about having to wait for her turn.

Here MJ is hard at work on the body of her bag. She was quite focused and really concentrated on what she was doing.

And before long, she was modeling the bag that she made all on her own! Well, she had some guidance form Aunt Jayne, but she really did do all of the stitching. Should I admit to having to use the seam ripper? It was my fault: I didn't have right sides together on one seam, daggone it!

Finally! Anna Rose had her turn at the machine. She found an old, old piece of fabric that had been cut out with a pattern - it was likely a dress back, from the markings and notches. AR's imagination took over and said it would make a perfect apron! I agreed, so we proceeded to turn under all the raw edges. Here she is doing just that. Those were long rows of stitching, though, and she was bored almost immediately. While I took over some of the stitching, she went back to the fabric tubs and found a fabric that she wanted to make a pocket from. And we did! We added a pocket to the front of her apron and it looks just as cute as can be!

She was so happy to model her finished apron for me! Her sister is in the hallway "tooting a horn" to announce the finish. They are so funny.

After sewing was finished, we headed downstairs. AR wore her apron while we made an apple pie. They made a "fort" of the pile of quilts in the chair behind them (above) and they harassed loved on Rocky, who was here for the week.

We had a wonderful time with the twins here. We are talking about the next school holiday, and possibly doing a repeat visit. Hope it works out!

Happy Quilting, Friends!