World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of November 23, 1998:
Our question this week comes from Kerry McFall
I'm thinking about leading a project to have the 26 children in my
daughter's 3rd grade classroom make a quilt, but I really want THEM to
do the sewing, not just to draw to a picture and transfer it to fabric, then do the sewing for them. Does anyone know of any books on the
topic, or have any tips on organizing the work, what patterns work well,
etc.
Colleen :
I have used fabric crayons, set with a
hot, dry iron. Each child made a picture
for our retiring principal - teachers
tried to impress upon the children to
leave 1/2" empty around the pre-cut,
6" squares. Then I put all the squares
on a large flannel board in my classroom
and we moved them around for several
days. Finally, using an old sewing
machine in the classroom, and with the
help of a teacher's aide, each child
sewed a strip of sashing to one side of
his or her square. Then each student
joined his or her square to the next one.
I let a few students (with help) do the
pressing. I joined the rows, and let a
few students attach the borders. We all
stretched and pin basted the quilt in
the classroom one day. Then I took it
home and machine quilted it. (We were
running out of time!) The children were
very proud when it was presented.
Peggy :
I do quilts each year with my second grade class. I wouldn't attempt using a machine. Perhaps having them draw lines on pieces for the children to follow would help. Then they could sew with thread and needle. See if you can get some parents to come in and help that day(s). You may be surprised how much the little boys like to quilt. Good luck.
Marge Mignosa :
My advice is KEEP IT SIMPLE. Boys and girls that age love to sew, but get impatient if things are not perfect. You do the cutting and drawing of the lines and let them do the sewing.
Get a teacher's aide to help.
Good luck. Sounds like a fun project.
Jennifer Baker from The Cherry Orchard :
'Step into Quilting' is a a small, inexpensive book aimed at getting children into patchwork. So is 'Kids can quilt'.
Suggest you stick to nine patch blocks for beginners. There are so many to choose, each child could complete one of their choice; then the whole could be sewn together in class. With or without sashing.
SHERRYL COMISKEY :
WHY NOT TRY FREE FORM HOUSES. JUST THIS MORNING I SAW "SIMPLY QUILTS" EPISODE NO. 431 (WWW.HGTV.COM) THE HOUSES ARE PIECED WITHOUT TEMPLATES AND THEN SQUARED UP. IF HOUSE SQUARES ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE YOU CAN USE SIMPLE FILLER PIECES. THE PROJECT WOULD WORK WELL WITHOUT MAJOR SEWING SKILLS ON THE PART OF THE STUDENTS.
Joyce Rollins :
HiI did this for my daughters class.
We did Sun Bonnet Sue.
I had to cut out the pieces because of
the time factor and the only thing each
child could do was use glue to build the
block. This way they all could take a
quilt block home. They picked there own
colors and each one was so wonderful.
No one felt like they couldn't do it.
Have fun.
Franciful@aol.com :
I did a project with my son's third grade class. I sewed light and dark half square triangles together,then the kids made a 12in block of any design they chose with 9 small squares I had sewn.(first they made the design using paper) They hand sewed them together. So, they didn't make a quilt, but they were really pleased with their designs and the pillows (I sewed the backs on). Hope that helps you a little
Sara :
Two years ago I taught a home school group some quilting, they ranged in age from 8-12 yrs. We made flower pots out of tera cotta colored fabric, and yo-yo flowers. I hade some baby pictures transfered to white fabric, and had the girls make covered buttong using the baby's faces. the buttons were about the size of a quarter. Teh covered buttons were then sewn by hand in the center of the yo-yo flowers. The girls did all the work. They then machine appliqued the flower pots and flowers to the squared of fabric, made the sashing, and assembled the entire quilt.
If I was doing this over again I would make sure there were several assistant teacher to help, as I have never taught before. The project turned out well.
Sandy Crofoot :
check out my friend heddi craft's web site on quilting with children
at http://ariel.ccs.brandeis.edu/~heddi
she taught 4th grade for a few years and has done alot with her classes and other children
making quilts in the classroom - she'd be thrilled to help you.
Karen O'Neil, WI :
Hi! I also did a third grade quilt project that we did to raffle off. I just had the kids hand piece 9 patches by hand and I sewed them together. Most of the kids were eager to sew with the exception of a few boys. Good luck.
virginia :
I can recommend patterns & techniques out of the book "Kids Can Quilt" (by Eikmeier/Schnieder, I think) - my son was successful in his first quilt tries in grade 4, using a sewing machine independently. The patterns are really attractive to kids (recognizable animals, etc.).
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