I had older Girl Scouts and we did quilting. We cut the squares ahead of time. If the pieces aren't square, that is an aggravation for the kids when they don't go together correctly. They worked in groups so they weren't sitting the entire time. Each sewed a row then helped each other as they sewed the rows together and put the border on. They then birthed the quilts and tied in the corners. They were all given the same amount of squares but it was fun to see the different designs each group came up with. These were all donated when finished.
With my 4H group, they each did a block and I put the blocks together and quilted it so it could be given to one of the moms who had just had a baby. This was one of their first projects. We only had an hour to work.