Quilting with Children and Teens

Today, I’m sharing with you a handout from a short quilting class that I did for a handful of homeschooled pre-teens/teens last year. They helped to tie a basic quilt to give to someone in need but they learned about other types of quilts as well.

Click the “quilt patches” to download the free pdf handout – 2 printable pages! ♥

Both of my grandmas quilted. One grandma was part of a sewing circle with church ladies and they did intricate designs on plain fabric, quilting tiny stitches to make roses, leaves, and other patterns together. My other grandma liked to either stitch or tie patchwork quilts, sometimes filling them with real wool. (Her brothers were sheep farmers.)

Occasionally, my mom would also set up a quilt to tie or stitch and sometimes my grandmas would come over to help. Most of the time she used polyester batting but at least once, she washed up the sheep’s wool and I remember picking by hand the little bits of straw still left and then helping to felt the wool bits together for the inside of my new-quilt-to-be!

When my mom would set up a quilt, it would take over much of our living room and I could PLAY HOUSE under it! That was a lot of fun, at any age!

I’ve tried to carry on at least some quilting with my own kids and teens over the years a few times but I’m not expert in this skill. I simply enjoy doing it and knowing that my kids also have this skill to make their own blankets for their beds or for a gift. (On occasion, even Daddy helps!) This past year, our teens also learned how to patch over or rebind their favourite quilts plus make a few new ones. (For most of the new ones, we just used the lines on the pre-printed fabric or tied them to make the projects go faster.)

Perhaps you would like to do this same type of fun yet very practical activity with your family! ♥