Thank you for the memories....

As part of R's year 9 curriculum, she is to coordinate and participate in 8 to 10 hours of community service. After a few wild ideas on her part I suggested that she might like to spend her time back at her old day care centre. She checked with the teacher who agreed it was a worthwhile commitment. She set up her placement, recruiting three other of her classmates who were still searching for somewhere to go. Year 9 girls don't do solo, they do things in packs! Needless to say, did they luck in or what!
The first visit to the centre was an introductory session that included a tour and a meet and greet with the carers in the various rooms. Many of the carers are still at the centre and came out to meet R and remind her that they used to change her nappy and tell to her she hadn't changed a bit! Talk about 'rock-star' treatment.
Over the past 4 Fridays after school, each of the girls has spent 2 hours at the centre, rotating themselves around to the various rooms to get a taste of what the centre offers. They've loved it and I've loved hearing the stories once I pick them up to take them home. All agree that it's been a blast and not like hard work at all. For R it's been a trip down memory lane to a place that she spent her first 5 years of life once I returned to work. She is amazed at how much smaller it is than she remembered! (Of course....you're 10 years bigger!)As a thank you for accommodating the girls, I've made 4 little dolly quilts for each to give the centre. Each one is made completely of scraps and that includes the batting which I cobbled together from wider strips trimmed from the sides of quilts. It never ceases to amaze me how the smallest piece of fabric can turn into a quilt. The quilts have also given me many opportunities to try out some new techniques. This little exercise has exposed me to slab piecing, wavy line quilting using a wide zig zag (gotta love that!) and my Achilles heel....machine binding! Trying out and practicing on small quilts is brilliant....so not only has my scrap bag had a bit of a dent put into it, I've become a bit of a fan of machine binding. I'm ready to give it a go on the next big quilt.The girls will finish up next week and are all talking about returning for work experience next year! Good for them!