some candy striped binding

in 2016, my middle daughter (d3), then 10 years old, wanted to make a christmas quilt. she picked out 12 fat quarters and we planned to make an enlarged version of my six and one half dozen quilt pattern, which i'm calling two dozen, please, because it involves 2 dozen blocks of fabrics. it was her first quilt, and even at 10 she had no problems putting it together. i photographed her making the top so we could create a tutorial for the beginner-friendly pattern.

from the time we purchased the fabrics, she knew it wouldn't get done in time for that first christmas. that was an understanding we came to when she was picking them out. we were getting a jump start for next christmas, and that was fine with everyone.

and while she did get the top completed quite quickly, the rest took a lot longer to complete. like, a few years. we've worked on it sporadically in chunks about every 6-9 months.

here we are 3 years later and she has been begging to not go another christmas without her christmas quilt complete. i've actualy been thinking about it as the christmas season approached. my sewing room was such a wreck for most of october and november that we couldn't even get in there to do any sewing until i had some time to clear off surfaces.

i've had her do almost every single bit of the process: piecing, backing, quilting. now we've finally got the binding made, and she will be handbinding the quilt herself.

the binding was actually part of the hold up for quite a while. we had no idea where the binding fabric we had picked out went! she would pester me every few months to work on the quilt, but i couldn't find the binding.

and, honestly, in seasons when i'm not fitting in much quitling time or if i'm deep into a project of my own, i'm quite selfish about giving time to a kid project that needs monitoring or handholding from me. sad, but true.

a few weeks ago i was fabric shopping and picked out some new binding fabrics for the quilt. i got 4 different stripes in the colors of her quilt top. i figured she could choose one or all of them for a scrappy look. she went scrappy.

and now that we have the binding made and attached to the front, d3 is learning how to handbind! she's actually enjoying the process and is quite content to do it on her own. i've been working on some of my binding right alongside her. usually, we put an audible program on to listen to as we stitch.

i really enjoy this time together and am so pleased with how she's taken to handwork. admittedly, her stitching is not too sightly just yet. that's alright. i think it will get there as she practices. and if she wants to redo it at some future date, that's easy enough to do.

i didn't want this quilt to be perfect - i wanted it to be hers.

she's already got a few other quilts she'd like to make in mind. i hope she gets more independent with the process so i don't slow her down as much next time around!