Teaching Quilting to Youngsters

A reader asked me for a lesson plan for teaching quilting to youngsters. She was asked to work on a project with first graders and thought of having them color quilt designs on paper, then transfer to fabric.

This sounds like an interesting idea, one that would work with youngsters of that age…or any age.

She didn’t say how many sessions she’d have for this project, or how much time for a session. So my suggestions below would be adapted to the time you have available.

*Introduce quilting to the children by showing quilts or pieces you bring with you. Tell them a little about the items if there is a story or person associated with them.

*Tell them a little about the history of quiltmaking and reasons for making quilts.

*Read a story about quilts that might tie in with this project.

*Demonstrate the process for the project they’ll undertake with you. Have steps you’ve done beforehand…choosing a design; drawing the design, coloring the design, fabric with design transferred to it. If you plan to sew the fabric squares together, you may not have a finished project, but can explain what you’re going to do. You might do a rough sketch.

*Then work through the steps with the children. If you don’t have much time to spend with them, or only have one session, see if the teacher will follow up, allowing the youngsters to finish in another class, then giving you the pieces to transfer and sew together.

Adapt these suggestions to meet your needs. And have fun!

©2005

(If you have any questions or projects to share, e-mail me at: me.allen@juno.com. Type “Quilt Blog” in the subject line.)