Saturday, April 07, 2007

Encouraging young quilters


This is for Brianna (sorry if I spelled your name wrong!). Brianna and her sister Abby, came over today with their Dad to discuss some business. Well, it wasn't a short meeting as it turned out. We were showing them the studio and somehow we ended up in my "reading room" that has a design wall in it. While the men were talking, I showed her how the blocks were put up on the wall, and then my husband told her that she should design her own. Remember my mystery quilt from late last year? Anyway, I didn't get it assembled and then had to take it off the wall for something else. I pinned them all in rows and then the rows got messed up! so I was going to have to re-do the layout anyway.
So Brianna went to town...she laid all the blocks out herself. She had no idea what I had planned, and created her own design. I kind of like it! I taught her how to squint her eyes so she could see the subtle lines the neutral squares were creating. She spent a long time arranging them and I had to help her put up the last row because she couldn't reach it. Great job, Brianna! And she is only 8! This is the first time she was around a quilter--but I think she wants to come back. :) I think I hear the rumblings of a beginning quilter. I told her that I thought she might be old enough to start sewing a little bit on the sewing machine. Gotta grab them young!

12 comments:

Blackie's Tour said...

Thanks for sharing your passion with Brianna. It was neat to see her enjoy the whole experience. She couldn't stop talking about colors tonight when we got home. She wants paint and decorate everything!! Uh oh!!! :)

Joyce said...

The same thing happend here when a friend (all grown up) started arrangeing my nine-patch pieces on my design wall. I guess it shows that you're never too old either.

Anonymous said...

Great story! Yes, snag them young and let them use the big girl toys too! I let my niece and nephew sew on my machine from age 3 (with lots of help).

Sweet P said...

That is an awesome layout. Are you going to use it? Perhaps you should have Brianna help you sew it together. That would be great way for her to learn about quilting.

Melanie said...

Great story. To keep the tradition going we have to teach little ones.

Helen in the UK said...

Looks like she had a blast with those blocks. If you can get her interested in sewing some of her own she'll probably be hooked for life :)

quiltpixie said...

I love her sense of balance and assymetry....

Vicky said...

Briana did a great job! Congrats on getting a little one interested in sewing!

(Hugs)

Gail said...

The quilt looks great the way she put it out, a nice balance of traditional and just a little individualism. Will you make it up this way?

atet said...

Snag em young -- they will stay with some sort of craft even if it is not quilting. I'd keep her design -- it looks fantastic.

Rhonda said...

She did a great job. When I taught 4th graders, I taught them to piece on old sewing machines. They loved it. Some have come back over the years & that's the first thing they mention.

Jenni said...

Good for you - got to tag them young. She did a great job.