Quilting with First Graders for Project Linus

A couple of weeks ago, I spent some time in Malcolm's first grade classroom, helping the kids make a patchwork block for a quilt.  First, I read Papa and the Pioneer Quilt to the class.  It's a great story, but I think some of the kids might not have had the cultural and historical knowledge to fully comprehend the it.  After the story, I explained how we were going to make quilt blocks and they got to work.

I pre-cut pieces of fusible interfacing that had a one inch grid printed on it.  Our blocks were 5x5, using 2" squares, so I used a ruler and pencil to mark off the two inch squares for them to use as guidelines.  Each child received five pre-cut squares of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue fabric.  I had a few extras if they wanted to trade for other colors to complete their pattern.

Some kids dove right in and started designing their blocks, while others completely froze.  I had to randomly place fabric on some of their grids to help get them started.

This little boy was really into it and was so excited to tell me all about how some of his family members make quilts.  Adorable!

It was a little chaotic and the children worked at various paces, but for the first time doing this exact project, I thought it went really well.  Especially at this age, there is such a wide variation of abilities.

Once they had their pattern laid out the way they wanted it, they used glue sticks to tack the fabric to the interfacing grid.  I just needed them to hold together long enough for me to get them home without losing their design pattern.  Once I had them home, I repositioned the squares as needed and ironed them on to the interfacing.

There was a wide variety of abilities in being able to place the fabric squares on the grid.  The one in the lower right hand corner was done by my just turned four year old daughter.  To make the quilt come out even, I made a block of my own too, but it is not pictured here.


I have been asked by a few people why on earth I would undertake a project like this.  First of all, crazy as it is, it is a lot of fun for me, but I also feel like it is important for the kids to have this experience for a number of reasons:

1.  Getting to see how something is made.  It wasn't that long ago that children were surrounded with everyday activities that exposed them to how the things in their lives came to be there.  Garments were sewn at home, articles were mended, and quilts were made from scraps.  Children were often involved in these activities and observed them until they were old enough to help.  Now, we throw way clothes when they get ripped and rarely make something new ourselves.  Seeing the work involved in sewing something is important and I let my children help and watch me work so they can see the time and care that goes in to making clothes and blankets.

2.  Expanding their creativity.  It was interesting to me, how many children froze when given the open ended instructions to create any pattern they wanted on their block with their bag of fabric squares.  If we don't give them opportunities to experiment with colors and patterns, how can we expect them to be creative later?


3.  Getting to work with different materials.  Fabric is not a typical material for children to get to work with.  It feels and behaves very differently from paper and offers them an unusual challenge.  

4.  Seeing that something they made is beautiful.  Just seeing how beautiful their finished block is can be encouraging and empowering to the children.  They are typically very proud of themselves.  Hearing, "That one is mine!" is very common when they are looking at all the different blocks together.

5.  Being a small part of something bigger.  While each individual block is wonderful, they are even more impressive once they are all put together.  One square would not work as a blanket, but when several are put together, suddenly there is something even better and more beautiful than what we started with.  This is a very concrete example of a concept we often try to teach small children.

6.  Community service and helping others.  Helping others is a very abstract concept for many children, but most can understand being frightened and wanting a blanket to comfort them.  It makes them feel helpful and special to help another child who is scared and will be so grateful for the quilt that they helped to make.






Once I had all the blocks sewn, I tried a few different layouts.  Four children just happened to do stripes as their design.  Since I am typically all about symmetry, I experimented with them in a few locations.

 I thought I would like them best in the center, alternating vertical and horizontal stripes.  This probably would have also looked fine, but it wasn't what I went with.

 I tried them in the four corners, but running vertically made the quilt look too long and out of proportion.

 Turning them horizontal looked really good, and was the one my son (whose class it was) liked best, so we went with this layout.

 I added a dark grey and black sashing and border that has concentric circles.  I liked the visual texture and the grey gave it a much softer look than the blacks I tried.  Here, it is pinned to the black utlra-cuddle backing and ready to be quilted.

 All finished!  For the quilting, I just did a very quick straight run on the diagonal, from corner to corner of each block.  My stitching isn't perfect, but it isn't horrible either.  I'm still new to the actual quilting part, and this one was larger than the others I have done.  A few times, the bulk of the quilt pulled things out of alignment a bit and I had to readjust.  I bound it with strips of the same fabric that was used for the blocks.

One of the best things about working with the kids is that they push me out of my comfort zone quite a bit, and I need that.  I love the randomness of the blocks, yet there are still patterns to be found.  None are patterns I would have created, but they work together beautifully.

I wish that I had taken a few close-ups of the fabric to show the subtle patterns.  The quilt is currently on display at the school.  Later, I will bring it home, wash it, then donate it to Project Linus.  I just started another quilt with my daughter's preschool & kindergarten class, so I will take both quilts at the same time once that one is also finished.