Hello, my creative friends!

Have you noticed that the best memories are those you share with your loved ones? Well, today we will be learning some tips on how to include your little one into our world of quilting. I will be sharing with you how Nico (my 10 year old son) and I were inspired by all the vibrant and fun colors of the Matchmade collection, and teamed up to make an astronomical quilt for him.

Prepare:

Start by getting your work space clean and ready, and gathering the tools that you will need for the project. Take this opportunity to begin explaining the steps of the process and how some tools work.

Simple Idea:

When working with kids start with simple ideas. For example, I decided to do uneven strips with Nico, and his job was to place the ruler on top of the fabric to indicate where to cut. As you can see he was super curious about the rotary cutter, and since he is a mature boy,  I decided to let him experiment it, but before I made sure he understood the proper and safe way to use it. Then, I held his hand to cut a couple of strips. After a while, we went back to the original plan. ;)

Arrange:

Leave the arranging part to your little one, she or he will take it to heart!

He took the strips and started organizing them. It was fun to watch Nico while he played with the strips discovering new ideas and making different shapes. At the end, he decided to align them into a straight uneven strip set.

He stood up proudly and looked at them again from far away just to say: "I really like my design!" … No words to describe our happiness.

When your little helper has put so much thought into her/his design work, please step aside and respect her/his decision, she/he will appreciate the piece even more.

Sew:

It is time to sew. If your child is interested in sewing this is a great opportunity to start teaching her/him, there are many sewing machines in the market for kids; or if you feel that she/he is ready for yours, go ahead, just make sure she/he starts by learning the safety rules.

In my case, I sewed the strips together following Nico’s arrangement.

Apply:

Apply your design to a bigger design. You can applique it, cut it into smaller pieces, or even frame it with fabric strips to make it into a quilt.

Nico and I searched for projects and chose to use the instructions of the Day-Night quilt and tweaked it into a full moon eclipse design. We decided to sub-cut the uneven strip set into smaller strips and apply them to the chosen instructions.

Your turn ;)

Now that your teammate has done all the hard work is your turn to do your part: finish piecing the project!

Nico loves the pieced top and he is looking forward to the finished quilt.

Can you think of a special person you would like to quilt with? Is your little one curious about quilting or just sewing in general?

Just bring an open mind and patience to the studio and be prepared for the unexpected.

Happy quilting together!

– Laucara