Making Room for Two

A few weeks ago, my 16 year-old came home from school and announced she wanted to learn how to quilt.  When I asked why the sudden interest in quilting, she said she needed to come up with a big art project for art class.  This project would need to be completed by May 2015 and would count toward a huge portion of her mark in that class.

I was thrilled that my daughter was so impressed by what I do as a hobby that she would consider doing quilty for art class!  So I drove to the cottage this weekend to pick up my second sewing machine and re-arranged my sewing room so she could have her own little spot.



I cannot wait to start our lessons!  The next step will be to find a pattern that is easy enough for a beginner, but striking enough to warrant a really good mark.  :-)  Do you have any suggestions?  If you do, please leave a comment.  If you have advice on teaching a teenager how to quilt, please leave that too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Izzy

Comments

  1. Oh how fun!! Smart girl too :) I would say maybe a sampler, that way she can pick blocks she likes and start easy, maybe a nine patch? And then progress on to different skills. She could also chose the final layout. I think that'd get her more points than following a regular pattern. Also gives her a chance to explore different patterns etc? Maybe she could pick different blocks to represent different things? Enjoy! Xx

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  2. Eeek!! So excited for you! Just what you wished would happen! For pattern ideas look around pinterest. Then she can get inspiration while deciding what color schemes most suit her. The Moda Bakeshop is also a great source for patterns because they give you a difficulty rating and are free!

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  3. How wonderful! I taught my 8 yo to sew when she was just 4 or 5. She likes to sew stuffed animals, but we've made quite a few quilts together. I'd suggest a sampler quilt (does she have to write any kind of essay or do a presentation in conjunction with the project?) and she could mention the tradition of samplers in the sewing world as a method of instruction. Then I'd go to quilters cache and look through the 12.5" blocks. Figure out how big she wants the quilt, decide to make 1-2 blocks a week to stay on schedule, and start with 9 patch, churn dash, the log cabin variations. Also, within reason, I'd let her do her own thing if she has an idea how to pin or put colors together that isn't quite how you'd do it. Sometimes it nearly *kills* me, but the most important thing is to have fun and foster creativity, and you can always square the block up or points don't have to look good, it's the process that matters! I think the freedom to experiment has made my daughter love sewing. Just the other day she brought home art work with her hand traced and a sewing machine with a quilt going through it in the center of her hand, because she is "good at sewing." Makes my heart melt! Good luck!!!

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  4. Ps doing a sampler might keep it interesting and not as repetitious.

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  5. That is awesome that your daughter wants to quilt. My daughter who is 4 love me to make her simple skirts and to play with charm squares on my design wall. I hope that as she gets older she want to learn too. I have a bunch of patterns that are beginner friendly, just take a look through my etsy store and if you see any you think might work, just let me know and I will send them to you.

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  6. C'est l'fun. Mes gars sont encore trop jeunes pour faire un vrai projet. Peut-être de l'improv quilting. Ça fait jeune. Ou sinon un "disappearing nine patch", pas trop compliqué mais l'effet est amusant si beaucoup de tissus différents sont impliqués. Un sampler est aussi une bonne idée mais j'aurais peur que maman doive finir le travail à cause d'un découragement hâtif.

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  7. So exciting! I think a sampler would be fun. She could find some great patterns that interest her. My mom used to teach sampler class that included piecing and machine appliqué. That way you are learning different techniques and it changes things up a bit. My girls are each making a quilt, one is using strips and doing something like a rail fence design. The other is making a scrappy tumbler. They seem to keep interested because the fabrics are fun. I hope you will share her progress with us! Just remember to have fun!

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  8. You might check out a Stack-n-Whack project where the blocks are different depending on where they are cut out on the fabric. One fabric, many different looking blocks.The book I have is Magic Stack-n-Whack by Bethany S Reynolds. Good luck and I hope you both enjoy the project!

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  9. That is so much fun! My grandmother taught me how to sew when I was that age. She started me on regular paper that I had to follow some crazy pattern to learn control, then let me use fabric once I got the hang of it. We did a simple squares pattern to start and it was fun arranging the blocks. A sampler would be fun to try out. That way she can work on each block and if she doesn't like them she can put them aside. Have fun :)

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  10. I love traditional quilts and always think Log cabin is striking, due to the number of combinations you can have. Also a fave of mine is Jacobs ladder, looks really difficult, but very easy.

    Hope you have loads of fun with her, I'm still having to wait for my 4 1/2 year old God daughter to want to sew - though I think I'm going to have to get over my control issues around MY fabric :o)

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  11. This is great Isabelle. I hope she will enjoy it. Maybe a pattern by Heather Jones. She has some new simple but striking design: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HeatherJonesStudio. Or maybe something improvisational? Have she seen quilts from the Gees Bend?

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  12. Good luck with the lessons and the art project. I wish I could have done quilting and textile work in Art when I was in high school. I thought I was crap at art because I couldn't draw or paint. But I have an eye for design and colour. Why didn't they recognise that? Haha. I hope your daughters enthusiasm continues.

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