my youngest granddaughter was 4 when she made her first quilt...we started with a little people (toy-singer) it did a simple chain stitch- and was more aggrivation than worth- i went shopping, found an inexpensive Brother machine that had speed control on it...i think that is a very important feature on a machine a child will use.
she already had her own stash of fabrics...she laid them out on the floor how she wanted them- she worked as if on a design wall- picking up 2 pieces, sewing them together- replacing them, taking next, ect...
some of her seams were 1 1/2" wide, some were 1/8" wide...i did not criticize- or make her change anything- it was her project...
it meant everything to her- her daddy had just been deployed and she was afraid he would forget her...
she even printed her favorite picture of her daddy holding her- onto fabric and included it in the quilt-
when she got the top done i tipped a dresser onto it's side for her to stand/walk on and she used the long-arm to quilt it
we did a folded binding (back to front) so she could do that part too...
the only thing i did through the whole project (took her 4 days) was
i pressed any fabric she felt needed ironing-
and i loaded the quilt on the big frame- she was not big enough to help with that...
she used scissors and cut her own fabrics...
and 6 1/2 years later- daddy is getting ready to deploy again...and that quilt still travels the world..and is looking pretty good.
standing on a dresser to quilt
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