Granddaughter Emma has been curious about my sewing room. On her last couple visits she has told me she wants to make a quilt! Music to my ears… Emma’s Mom has won many ribbons at our local county fair for flower arranging and baking. Maybe someday, Emma could win a ribbon in the quilt division.
Emma just turned five years old. She was spending an evening with us last week, so I suggested we make a “practice quilt” – a doll quilt. Before she arrived, I went thru my fabric, and found a perfect little pack of mini-charms (2 1/2 inch squares), Sunnyside Up by Corey Yoder for Moda. A while back, I won these at a lecture/class I attended given by Corey of Coriander Quilts. This would give Emma lots of choices, mixing and matching fabrics. I started sketching some simple designs using all 2 1/2 inch wide pieces of fabric.
I quickly came up with a simple design using 6 4-patch blocks. I decided I would use white sashing around the blocks, a pale yellow border (with mini-charm corners) and a pale orange for the binding. The dimension of Emma’s doll quilt would be 18 inches by 24 inches.
I wanted Emma’s first experience to be short and fun! So I had all the fabrics cut and pressed before she arrived, including the white backing and cotton batting. The machine was threaded and ready to go.
Just as I expected, Emma’s first words were “let’s make that quilt”! I showed her the fabric and let her pick out which of the 42 mini-charms to put in her quilt. We talked a little bit about picking 24 different ones, no duplicates. And we talked a little bit about what might look nice next to one another. But I let her make the final decisions! There really was no “wrong” choice.
Next I got a little stern, and told her there were 3 safety rules.
- We talked about the hot iron, and I showed her how hot the ironing board gets.
- I showed her where the needle is on the sewing machine, and we talked about how it goes up and down into the fabric. We talked about how we would never want our finger to be in the way!
- We looked at all my pretty pin cushions. Picking up one, I showed her how sharp it was. We talked about how we wouldn’t want to drop one on the floor, and possibly step on one.
Now for some hands-on fun! With Emma on my lap, there were quite a few things she could help with, hopefully giving her the sense that she was making this quilt.
- She helped with the 4-patch blocks, putting right sides together (RST) prior to sewing.
- With my Baby Lock’s quarter inch stitch, she helped guide the fabric, lining it up with the foot. Emma thought the term sewing machine foot was funny…
- Emma quickly learned about the Baby Lock “cut the thread” button; that became one of her favorite jobs.
- After all the 4-patch blocks were complete, Emma arranged them for the quilt
At this point, five year old Emma announced this was a lot to learn! And off she went to spend some time with Grandpa and her toys…!
My hope is that my mission was accomplished – that Emma will have found this experience fun, and want to do again. And if not, that’s okay too.
The next day, I finished our quilt top, did some simple straight line walking-foot quilting, and added the binding. After a gentle washing, Emma’s doll quilt is nice and “crinkly”, ready for her to love.
Little Emma has a wonderful, creative grandma.
Emma’s Mom is one of my Step-Daughters. My other Step-Daughter has 3 almost grown-up sons. I try to be the best Grandma I can be… Thanks.