I mentioned that I was helping two youngin's learn to quilt. Friday was fall break so the kiddos spent the afternoon with me. I wasn't quite sure how to go about teaching them. I didn't know which tools to allow them to use and what could be dangerous. I opted out of having them use a rotary cutter. I think second and third grade is just too young, especially since I didn't want to end up calling their dad to meet us in the ER. So after retrieving the fabric they picked out, I gave them a template to use to outline rectangles to cut out. They did a few while I used the rotary cutter to do several more. Once they had their pieces all cut , they placed them into groups of four so we could start sewing. Anna wasn't comfortable guiding her fabric through the machine so she worked the peddle while I did took care of the fabric. After about three blocks, she decided to take a permanent break to play outside. I finished her four-patches and moved on to help Julia.
Julia was much more interested in the process. She was able sew together all of her four-patches before getting picked up for the afternoon. I promised to add the background fabric and finish her blocks. Here is the progress:
We have 12 blocks for Julia that are ready to be laid out and sewn together. I'll probably let her lay them out and I'll sew them together. Then we'll layer everything and I think I'll teach her tie it. I've never tied a quilt so we'll be learning together. It's great to see her so excited about this project. Hopefully I've creating the next generation quilter!
