good first quilt

[EmilyGF]

My daughter turns 8 this month. She likes doing crafts with me so I'm considering a quilt kit for her. Ideally, we'd work on it for an hour or two per week for a few months. She'll learn to use the sewing machine. I've been working on a quilt recently and she's been watching. She has been sewing a 9-patch by hand but probably won't finish it because of a major mistake she made that I didn't catch because she was working on it in the back of the car each time we drove. Sigh.

 

I'm a beginner quilter. I am confident with piecing and geometry, not so good at the quilting! She's got amazing spatial sense, so piecing should be easy for her. She taught herself to knit from a book a few months back, though I did help her when she got stuck.

 

What sort of kit should I put together for her? Do you have a good book for kids you suggest? She'll use some of my supplies (roller, etc).

 

Thanks, Emily

[zoobie]

I'm not a quilter, but I made rag quilts for my kids this spring before the baby was born. It could be a good first sewing project. Not sure if they actually count as quilts though. :)

[StephanieZ]

Look at "Crazy Log Cabin" designs. I did these with a group of novice quilters once and it was very fun. You essentially make small blocks (say 8-10 inch rectangles), but you start with a 3-4 inch rectangle in the center (we used animal prints for baby quilts, so we used a animal face/shape for the center), then add strips around each side in a spiral pattern, like a log cabin. BUT, you have your strips all precut in a range of widths and lengths, and you are "crazy" about attaching them in random fashion, so it gets wiggly and wild. When the square gets big enough, you use a rotary cutter and mat to cut it to a standard size. Then you piece your squares together, in my case, we used strips to join each square, so you had "frames" around the crazy patches. 

 

You need to rely on the rotary cutter/mat to keep things "square" and you use the machine to attach each strip. The nice thing is that it is not "persnickety" as most quilting is, so it is very forgiving to novice piecers. No tricky corners to line up! 

 

We added the window frame style pieces between the squares and also a couple strips of cute wide borders to tie things together. That was all very easy, of course. 

 

We tied the quilts comforter style when we did this project. It was really fun. The quilts came out beautifully. It is a nice way to establish basic cutting/piecing techniques and to learn to use the machine, etc, without lots of pressure for perfection. 

 

 

[Incognito]

FWIW, I'm not a good quilter like my MIL, but my DD and I have made some quilts.  It is sad to hear you think what your DD has been working on is un-fixable.  I would think a seam ripper could fix most anything.

 

But, about what to do - random blocks is the easiest IMO.  I think if you do something that doesn't have to be perfect it is more fun.  If you care that all the squares line up just right then it'd be pretty hard to do a great quilt as a little kid.  So something forgiving.

 

Probably the most fun gift would be $$ to buy the fabrics she likes and patience to help her over any troubles that will come.

 

HTH

 

[StephanieZ]

"Log Cabin Exploded" on this site looks a lot like the ones we made 20 years ago, except I think we added the "lattice work" in between the squares. http://www.patstatzer.net/Pages/Gallery1.html

 

It is very easy once you get the idea, but I don't know if I explained it well. Essentially, you sew on a strip, then turn it a few degrees and use your rotary cutter to "square it" up which results in your "strip" being more of a weird skewed quadrilateral. You are always just sewing one straight seem -- a strip on to one side of the rectangle . . . so all the sewing is super easy.

[Annie G]

I would pick something easy for a kid- and something where she can make real progress with every session. A four patch is enough to involve some variety in the fabrics while making it easy to piece. And each finished block can be trimmed to be sure it's the right size before sewing them all together.   

 

 

[EmilyGF]

FWIW, I'm not a good quilter like my MIL, but my DD and I have made some quilts.  It is sad to hear you think what your DD has been working on is un-fixable.  I would think a seam ripper could fix most anything.

Basically, it'd put her back about five steps... She attached the squares:

xxx

xx

x

 

So it is really bumpy.

[applethyme]

Quilt in a Day has a split rail pattern that was made to teach kids the basics of quilting.  It is quick and easy to do on a machine. 

[mamaraby]

Log cabin is always a nice square to start with. You'll want to square up after each piece, though, because while wonky log cabin is a thing, you still want your quilt top to lie flat. If you don't have a 1/4" foot, then it would be a good idea to get one - that will help get a ore accurate seam and a better end result.

 

You could work a block at a time. You can make your own design wall out of a flannel backed tablecloth and then use that to lay the blocks out and play around with the design element. Modern quilts play with negative space and often skip borders altogether so you can also play with that a bit.

 

Otherwise, yes, a 4-patch or related quilt where you sew squares together is another good place to start. You can still utilize some negative space with larger squares of a solid color. It doesn't have to be a pattern per se so long as the seam allowances are as close to 1/4" as possible. Breaking out the graph paper can also help you lay out your quilt top.and make the math easier.

[Incognito]

Basically, it'd put her back about five steps... She attached the squares:

xxx

xx

x

 

So it is really bumpy.

 

Aw, I'm so out of it I really don't know what you mean, but I will take your word for it.  Not one of those things you could rip out and machine one night while she is in bed without offending her?  

[LinRTX]

My daughters' first quilts were sewing bandanas together, backing the entire thing with fabric (with batting in between) and then "stitching in the ditch" to quilt it. I also had them sew big buttons in the middle of each square. My older daughters still use the ones they made at seven or eight (now 21 and 25).

 

Linda

[TechWife]

I think that a log cabin isn't the best quilt for a beginner. They can be confusing. 

 

I highly recommend Yellow Brick Road as a good, solid beginning pattern. It's very beginner friendly. 

 

 

[Annie G]

I think that a log cabin isn't the best quilt for a beginner. They can be confusing. 

 

I highly recommend Yellow Brick Road as a good, solid beginning pattern. It's very beginner friendly. 

 

I'm glad to hear you say that- I was thinking it and then figured that my girls must have been unusual because they would have had lots of trouble with a log cabin block when they were 8. 

 

Yellow Brick Road is such a good pattern for beginners! Large pieces and easy to put together pretty quickly, but it still teaches the foundations of quilting. 

[HS Mom in NC]

I used thangles for my students when I taught a quilting class for kids/teens.http://www.thangles.com/howtheywork.html They're perfect for beginners who are just learning to use a machine. None of my students had used a sewing machine before. THey're also good for advanced quilter who want to crank one out fast.

 

They also also have project packs. http://www.thangles.com/projectpacks.html

[laundrycrisis]

I would just do squares for a first quilt.  If you want a pattern of some kind, use four fabrics.  Each row alternates two fabrics, ore of a dark value and one of a lighter value.  Line up the values like a checkerboard.

 

ABABABAB

CDCDCDCD

ABABABAB

CDCDCDCD

 

etc.   A and D are darker values, C and B are lighter.  

 

Or a simple 9 patch with sashing strips in between the 9 patches...then you can build each 9 patch block as its own project, and you don't have very many corners to worry about matching up.  The 9 patch blocks can be of the same fabrics, or each one different.  

 

 

[tex-mex]

I think that a log cabin isn't the best quilt for a beginner. They can be confusing. 

 

I highly recommend Yellow Brick Road as a good, solid beginning pattern. It's very beginner friendly. 

 

:iagree:  :iagree:  :iagree:

 

I would never recommend a log cabin for a beginner.  Yellow Brick Road is a classic and very easy for a mother/daughter project with fat quarter fabric over a weekend.  They can take the completed top and later layer it for basting and then quilting.  

 

I was also thinking the 9 patches could be saved with a seam ripper and re-done.  Why not make them into a pillowcase and then move on to another project?  

 

http://www.favequilts.com/Quilted-Pillows/How-to-Make-a-Patchwork-Pillow/

[HS Mom in NC]

When working with kids who have little or no machine experience it's easier if you minimize the number of things they have to mentally keep track of.  One of those things can be the 1/4 in. seam allowance that has to be done consistently.  Here's a video on how to put painter's tape as a guide, but I had my students use foam tape instead.  That way they were far less likely to over shoot the seam allowance, especially at the beginning.

 

 

Of course, you don't take the plastic off both sides of the foam tape.  You want the bottom side stuck to your machine and the top not sticky at all.