dear all,

an acquaintance at church yesterday approached me about giving her 10 year old daughter "quilting" lessons. When I asked the girl did she want to learn how to hand quilt (piece) or machine quilt (piece) I quickly learned that "quilting" to her was anything that had to do with a needle/thread/yarn. I am not that good at crocheting and don't knit.

She is a bright child, but not sure how long her attention span might be. I thought an easy plastic canvas project might be a good place to start. (dull needle and no hot iron LOL) Does anyone have any ideas? I don't think a tissue box would be "cute" enough.

If she does well with this, we might graduate to hand or machine piecing, but the hot iron with someone else's child makes me nervous.

thanks for your advice,
Rose

There are lots of patterns for plastic canvas where she could make small purses, coasters, placemats.

a purse would be a great idea. I think that would be girley enough. I'll have to start looking.
thanks!
Rose

I was looking for another thread I wanted and got side tracked by yours! I taught a 9 year old girl to do my confusion crazy quilting. It is basically the same as the crazy crumb method. It was easy for her and we made several projects with it. One of them was a drawstring purse. You just need two rectangles or squares and hem the top leaving space for a string and sew the two together like a pillowcase.

It was really easy for Niccole to do! She took her projects to the fair and got a gold ribbon! If she had been 10 instead of 9 she would have gotten to go to the state fair with her projects!

Crazy quilting on the machine is a great way to start a child on the machine because with my method or the crazy crumb method you don't have to have straight seams.

As far as the iron just have the mom or you do the ironing with or without the girl helping.

I'm new but have been reading this forum for a few months. I decided to register so I could post a reply to you. Have you considered a rag quilt. the are simple and quick. I have made several and taught two others to make them. I even have an elementary student in the fourth grade, I teach computer to K-5th grades, that has made one. She brought it in to show me and it was beautiful!

Angie,
hi! let me be the first to "officially" welcome you!

I actually just bought a new "die" for my die cut machine--it's a 6" rag die. I have been making fleece blankets with it--the ABC quilt I posted in a thread awhile back was made with it. A rag quilt would be a fast, easy project. I guess I can give her several project ideas and let her choose. I am soo excited that she wants to learn to sew! It seems like so many that age only care about boys!
Rose

I think a nine patch would be great. You may be surprised at her attention span. If she is really interested it should be ok. My five year old grand daughter spends about a half hour at a time at her little sewing machine. (She doesn't do the iron yet.)

Oh this subject touches my heart strings. Teaching a child to sew/quilt is so special. What a contribution to her life you are making.

I was honored to teach someone to sew about seven years ago. It is something she does all the time even making her own clothes sometimes. Her grandmother gave her a sewing machine and there is no stopping her and her step sister she taught. You just never know how far what you do will go.

I taught her with a large crewel needle, yarn and felt. It was a cute animal pillow for her bed. It worked out good because of her tiny hands being able to grasp the needle well.

Good Luck on your venture with this. I envy the chance to work with little ones.

I taught my 6 year old granddaughter and we started with charm squares and just sewed them into rows. If she like it she can move on from there. You may be surprised at how long they stay on task, Maddy always wants to sew but with 4 brothers it is hard to get her alone.

A simple pillow made from fleece and no sewing is a great start.
Cut two pieces about 6 in bigger than pillow form all around. Clip edges in toward the center on all four sides about 1 inch apart and in about 5 in. in toward center.Then you just tie the back and front ends togather around the pillow form.