If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I love to teach others how to quilt, especially kids. When my eldest granddaughter, Hanna was 5, she made a quilt for her dolly – and sewed every stitch herself. It took her two hours and when she was done she said “can I make another one?” I love that girl 😀 !
Her little brother wanted to try it, but I made him wait until he was 6. On a visit here from Washington, Willy made a quilt for his bear. He worked on it over the course of 2 weeks and got it done. It’s not really his thing – but he stuck with it.
My great-niece Lily stayed overnight with us when she was 7. She knew her cousins had made quilts and she wanted to try it too.
Sommer (5) is my “nearby” granddaughter, and we care for her and her brother while mommy and daddy are at work every day. Last summer I said to her “Hanna was 5 when she made her first quilt. Would you like to learn how to make a quilt”. She thought for a few seconds and then replied “no thank-you”.
Well, this past Monday she was home from school with a cold. After breakfast she informed me she was ready to make a quilt.
She chose her favorite 12 squares from my charm square box and arranged them on the floor.
I set up my featherweight on the same bench the other kids used and sat her on a stool. She learned to press the pedal with her foot and quickly caught on to the idea of keeping the fabric edges along the “pad” of painter’s tape.
She kept everything in order on the floor as she sewed.
She sewed all the rows together, picked a backing, helped me pin the layers together and sewed all the way around. After turning it right side out, I marked the quilt with a sliver of soap, and she machine quilted it with a big “X”.
I knew she was enjoying herself when she exclaimed “We’re rocking this quilt grandma!”
She wrapped it around her daddy’s old Cabbage Patch Kid and gave it a hug.
And here’s one more picture of my proud little quilter.
At this point she reminded me that she won’t be 6 until March, so she made her quilt while she was 5, just like Hanna!
And here’s the other kids and their quilts. I think I’ve got this lesson down pat 🙂 .
Before I end this week’s post, I need to add one more picture. Yesterday we had a party for Trey’s 3rd birthday. It’s a tradition in our family that I make the kid’s birthday cakes (I do prefer to make quilts – they last longer 🙂 ). So here’s our youngest with his PJ Mask cake.
I wonder when he’ll be ready to make a quilt 😛 !