Making a baby quilt is not just for us older folks.
All you grandmothers out there, who are also quilters, stop and take time to teach your grandchildren to sew.
When I spend time with my passion quilting, I do so when my granddaughters are with me. Abby, 20 months, and Alexa, 6 years are anxious to help out. Each can have a job to do in making a quilt.
Alexa helps me to choose fabrics squares, place them, and prepare my next Animal I Spy baby quilt. As a kindergarten student, this was a perfect way to help her to identify the animals, discuss their habitats, and learn more information that gives us quality time together as we arrange and pin our rows together. Learning to sew is not only fun but an educational experience for both age levels.
Alexa also enjoys sitting on my lap to sew at the machine. Teaching her the proper safety procedures of sewing, parts of a sewing machine, and steps of assembling a baby quilt are not only new learning experiences for Alexa in sewing, but quality time for both of us.
Abby enjoys her material strips. As I cut off pieces for my Animal I Spy blocks, the end parts go to Abby for her collection of animals. As I cut, Abby is collecting, organizing, and learning new animal words and the sounds they make. Where most children have a book of animals, Abby has a bag for a material scraps to play with over and over of her animal friends.
Abby also enjoy sitting on my lab to sew at the machine. She is learning the safety of where her hands belong when the machine is running. Grandma controls the foot pedal. If Abby’s hands don’t stay in a safe place, the machine stops.
My sewing projects may not finish as quickly as planned when my granddaughters are around, but teaching my grandchildren to sew a baby quilt is pleasure.
