Quilting Club: Great Summer Activity for Kids

Today, it seems as though everyone is quilting. Even men in lots of places, and the quilts they are turning out sometimes look more like works of art worthy of being hung in a museum than like quilts designed merely to keep someone warm at night.

If your kids have been out of school for less than a week, and are already complaining of "nothing to do," it's time to introduce them to the satisfying art of quilting. And, to keep them at it for more than an hour or two, consider starting a club and inviting other "bored" neighborhood kids to join you. Check with other parents to explain what you are doing and ask if they would be willing to purchase a small list of supplies for their child, including enough fabric for their projects. The finished projects will belong to the club members, or can be donated to homeless shelters or children's hospitals in your local area.

If you know the expense would be a hardship on some, scour the neighborhood to ask for donations of left-over fabric from sewing projects. I always have lots of unused fabric so I don't think you will have a problem with obtaining enough to keep your charges busy. Be sure you have plenty of needles, thread, and scissors on hand for those who show up without them.

If you have never done any quilting yourself, pick up a book at your local library and familiarize yourself with the basic knowledge you will need to show your kids, or your Quilting Club kids, how to make their own quilts. Make a couple of simple doll or baby quilts before meeting with them so that you feel confident in sharing your knowledge. (Even if you are already an expert quilter, make the doll quilts to use as examples to show the kids at the first meeting what they will be doing.)

Gather up some boxes like shoeboxes so each child will have a storage space, and find a shelf where they can be on display when the children arrive. You might want to watch for sales at your local fabric store and grab a few extra yards of appropriate fabric whenever you feel you can afford it. There will always be kids who really cannot afford to provide their own.

For beginners, which most of your Quilting Club members will be, keep the quilts small and simple. Time enough later, (maybe next summer), to move on to something more difficult.

Here are some guidelines to help you get your club up and going. Believe me, once the kids get started, there will be no holding them back.

1. Your first meeting. (Have extra supplies on hand, and enough cardboard pattern guides and outline copies of the quilt pattern for each child.)

Give each child a shoe box to keep his project and supplies in. Label the box with his or her name so it can be easily found at the beginning of each meeting, and have them put any supplies they have brought into their labeled boxes. (If some show up without supplies, provide them from your own stash of needles, thread and scissors, and the donated fabric you collected earlier.)

Spend a little time talking about quilts. If you have some really nice finished examples, show them off. At least show off the miniature quilts you made in preparation for leading the quilting club, and tell them they are going to make a small quilt to get started and that after that, they can choose their own pattern and quilt size.

On a chalk board, draw a simple block quilt pattern. (Or have it drawn on a piece of posterboard ahead of time.) Show how they can make different patterns by moving the squares or rectangles to different spots in the pattern.

Tell them that today we are just going to work on designing our quilt patterns and cutting out the pieces. Everyone's first quilt will have the same number of pieces, and be the same size.

Distribute a sheet of paper printed with an outline of the whole quilt pattern. If you have asked them to bring two colors of fabric, have them start filling in the pattern outlines with which color will go in which spot.

When the designs are finished, have the kids put their fabric on the table in front of them and get a pencil, scissors, and their cardboard quilt block guide. Explain how to use the guide, starting at the top of the fabric and on one edge in order to get the most use out of their fabric. Have them draw around the guide to form their first block, and then place the guide right next to the first block to draw another one, etc. until the correct number of blocks for that color have been made. (If you are using 9x11 inch rectangles, you will need 13 squares of your main color, and 12 squares of plain or contrasting color to end up with a quilt approximately 44 x 54 inches in size.)

After all the squares or rectangles have been drawn on both colors of fabric, have the children carefully cut out each one and place in in a pile of that color. When all the pieces are done, the working part of your meeting is over, and you can serve the kids some cookies and kool-aid before they go home. (After they put their supplies away, of course.)

2. Meeting number two

This may be the most exciting meeting for the kids, and the most nerve-wracking for you. It is the meeting where the kids learn to use the sewing machine. See if you can round up several machines from friends and relatives before the meeting. (You'd be surprised at how many women have an old machine they never use stuck back in a closet somewhere.) This meeting would also be a good time to enlist at least one other person for each sewing machine to help you as the kids learn to operate the machines.

Anyway, have the kids watch while you demonstrate how to use a sewing machine. Then have one who has had some experience with sewing use the machine on some scrap fabric. Give each child a chance to do the same.

Then show them how to sew a row of quilt pieces together. Make sure you or one of your helpers check while they are sewing to make sure the pieces are getting put together in the right order and that a similar seam allowance is being left on each seam.

Have an iron set up so that seams can be pressed out, and remind the kids often that quilting is not an activity to hurry through. Each step needs to be done as well as they can possibly do it.

Unless you only have two or three members, you probably won't get all the quilt tops completely sewn together at this meeting, but encourage them to come early and finish them up at the next meeting. Then they will be ready to go on to the next step in making their quilts.

3. The rest of your club meetings.

The kids will be working at different speeds, so you will be spending your time moving around the room helping each one to work at his or her own speed at future meetings.

I use tag board posted on the wall to list the steps for making a simple quilt and try to cover a new step at each meeting, but, If you like, you could print them out and put them into a small booklet for each child to keep as his own.

Tag board # 1 says:

You will need 13 printed fabric pieces 9 X 11 inches and 12 plain colored ones.

Fill in your pattern outline with where each piece will go.

Start with top piece of first row, and work down, sewing each piece together, using ½ inch seam allowance.
Do each row the same way.

Iron all seams and then join each row together being sure that seems match.

Iron all seams again. The piece should measure 40 inches wide and 50 inches long.

Tag board # 2 says:

Cut a piece of batting 40 x 50 inches and pin it under the finished quilt top.

Pin from the top. Use lots of pins so it will not move when you sew through the whole quilt.

Cut a piece of plain fabric 45 x 55 inches long for the quilt back.

Iron under ½ inch all around. Do it carefully to help avoid wrinkles later.

Now iron under another 1 7/8 inches (almost 2 inches.)

Lay this piece on a flat surface and place the quilt top (and batting) on top of it.

Fold the 1 and 7/8 inch part you ironed earlier up over the edge of the top of the quilt.

Pin very carefully, being sure to keep the wrinkles out.

Continue working around the quilt until all edges are pinned. Baste if you wish.

Iron again to make sure the whole quilt is free of wrinkles.

Tag board # 3 says:

Stitch across the squares on the front of the quilt where they are joined together, but only on the quilt front.

Be careful not to catch the part that is folded over. This is the quilt border.

Go the same direction each time you go across the quilt.

Then turn and do the up and down seams.

Finally, stitch very carefully around the edge on top of the folded over section. Go slowly or you will run off the border onto the quilt, and it won't look as good.

Take all remaining pins out and iron project again.

It should measure 44 inches by 54 inches.

The really neat thing about making quilts is that, like the people who make them, quilts come in all sizes and patterns. A young child can make a simple little doll quilt with just a few small pieces, while a high schooler may wish to make a full sized spread for his or her bed. Quilt fabric with the logo of well-known athletic teams such as the Seattle Mariners, is popular right now among teens, while younger children prefer cartoon characters.

Whatever your club members decide to make, the same steps apply to making almost any type of quilt. This means that once you equip them with with the basic quilting knowledge, they will possess a skill that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.