My 4 1/2 year old granddaughter is begging me to teach her to quilt. I have let her stitch rows of designer stiches - with very close supervision - by standing to use the foot pedal. So far, no needles through her fingers (or mine!) and she is exceptionally good about following instructions. What is the youngest age you have ever taught someone to quilt??

My DGD started at five with her own Janome Sew Mini. It is a regular sewing machine and sews pretty slow. She loves it.

You are never too young to quilt and little kids are like sponges learning information. Be patient with her and sh will thrive. Congrats on creating another quilter. And you could teach her to hand stitch easily too by getting her a little cheater quilt to learn to stitch on. Have fun with her. I taught my GD to handquilt when she was 4 and her Mimi taught her to machine quilt. We both belong to the same quilting guild. 8)

My sister taught me to sew on mom's machine when I was three. My dd made a blanket (just hemmed the edge) and a fleece robe (I cut it out) when she was 18months. I let her sit on my lap and I held her hand as she put her finger out on the fabric and quided it through the machine. She's now 11 and I still have both. She said, "Uppy, my do." so I let her.

My four year old grandson has sewn quite a bit on a Janome Hello Kitty machine. He loves to make pillow cases. He is very patient and loves to run the "gas pedal"

I wanted to try to teach my 3yr. old DGD to quilt when she was here for a recent visit, but found her attention span very short. She did set in a chair by me & try to watch what Grandma was doing, but most of the time she wanted to watch cartoons. I'll pursue this again when she comes for another visit in a few months. My DD, her mommy never showed an interest in learning this when she was young, but Ava does want to learn, I'll just have to go Very slow with her.

My 4 y/o niece sews on my treadle machine. She peddles the treadle as best as she can and I help at the top making sure the wheel goes into a rotation. She does really well and up to a good speed. Just make sure little fingers stay out of the way. We have put together blocks but no quilting.
I don't let her use my electric machine as I don't even like sewing on it lol

Its good to teach them young

My 8 yo son (who is autistic) asked me to teach him to sew last weekend. Hes not all that good on following directions, but, we managed to do some decorative stitches and sew a square in the straight thread, with me showing him how to turn corners and which buttons to push to get the stitch he wanted to do. He even used the gas pedal, although I did have the machine running dead slow lol. It was cute, he keft forgetting to guide the fabric.

But he was VERY proud of himself for sewing a square, he took that bit of fabric everywhere and showed and told anyone who would listen.

Must say, I was a bit apprehensive of giving him a go, but Im glad I did, he tried really hard and was at it for almost an hour before he got bored with it. Might be able to teach him to sew a little drwstring bag for his soccer boots next :-)

Both of my daugthers sew. They each have their own Janome Quilter's Companion (the QC6019 and the QC6125). My oldest is turning 8 next month and makes her own shirts (with supervision from across the room--she likes her independence, lol) and my youngest, turning 6 in 2 weeks, likes to just play around with her machine. Each child is different though, so if she shows an interest, I say encourage that. Discouraging her now may turn her away from sewing (and that special bonding time) later.

My granddaughters lived with me when they were 4 and 5. I sewed with them on my lap. I controlled the foot pedal and let them help me put the fabric through and pull out pins. One got my rotary cutter when I wasn't looking and sliced my chair. Fortunately she didn't cut her finger off (small cut, but not serious). They also loved playing with my magnetic pin holders...I had to have two, one for each of them. The 5 year old turned 13 yesterday. Thanks for the memory.