Ok girls, I asked my daughter what she wanted for her birthday thats coming up and she says "I want to be able to buy fabric that I like and you teach me how to make a quilt" :D I am so excited and ready to just leap right in, but I do have one question that I figured you gals would be able to help with. What is a newbies quilt pattern that doesn't look "too easy" She doesn't really seem interested in the charm quilts, so I would need something else. Thanks to all who can share this excitement with me and others who can help me with a pattern.

That is so exciting!

How much patience does she (and you) have?

Maybe something with comparatively large pieces?

I would say, even if she makes something small, she should start simple. Anything a little complicated before she as the skills will get her disappointed and may not want to go on quilting. My daughter started at 13 with a 9 patch. She learned to cut, match corners, strip piece, coordinate fabrics, all in one project. She now doesn't quilt much because she doesn't have the time, but goes back to it any time she gets a chance.

If she wants to start with blocks, maybe you can take her on a tour of The Quilter's Cache, and together, find a block that she can pick out, with your advice, of course. She can see lots of colors there also. This is a wonderful thing. Pam

I made my first block at 12 and my first quilt top at 13 what made it memorable to me was my mom took out graf paper and let me design my own quilt with colored penciles. we went into her stash and I picked out a color palet then we went shoping for yardage that I liked within my color palet.(we figured out how much ou each color before we went!)This progect took a while. has she any friends who might like to do a block party? (a party of friends who all make a block turn it into a pillow and then it turns into a sleep over with new pillow!) I did that with my 2 best friends and it was so much fun we rented a movie and poped pop corn and stayed up talking about boys and stuff as long as we could keep our eyes open!

simple squares would be good. just depends on the size she wants to make. let her go to jo ann and pick out some fun fabric to use. simple cuts are the best to start with. when she gets that done then if she still likes it then she can move on to a harder pattern.

Warm Wishes, Rail Fence, Log cabin--all look complicated but they're not. Irish Chain, Trip Around the World.

What about the four patch like the Downey quilts? It is easy and very attractive.

I think a nine patch is the best to start with. You can modify it to make it as simple or complicated as she wants or as her skills dictate. Also, you may want to start with a lap quilt so that she doesn't loose interest before it is done. I know that when I am getting to the end of doing a big project I am anxious to get it done and more on to the next.

D9P!. That's the one my DGD is making right now.She just turned 7 last month ans she found sewing the 9 patch blocks fun for a little bit but when it came to cutting them to rearrange them, Wow! that sparked her enough that she wants to sew all the time.She is getting excited and can't wait to see it all together.