Quilting is a fun thing to do with your friends, or your mom. I have always LOVED quilting. A lot of girls have the idea that quilting is just for elderly ladies with nothing to do … Not True!!! Quilting can be tons of fun for girls of any age!
And, if you make quilts as young girl, imagine how special they will be once you grow up and have your own daughters! I would’ve loved if my mom would’ve made a quilt when she was young that I could have now!
Quilts hold tons of memories, and make great wedding or baby gifts.
In our community, when a couple gets married, my aunt gets a bunch of girls together to quilt on a quilt for the couple’s wedding gift. We personalize it by quilting the couple’s names, with their wedding date, on the middle of the quilt, usually with a heart around it. The quilt helps the couple remember their special day!
Another thing you can do with your friends, is quilt block exchanging. Quilt block exchanging is a super cool way to make a quilt with lots of memories, and it’s a lot of fun!
When I was about 11, my friend and I decided to exchange quilt blocks and make a baby quilt out of it. We decided on a pattern, then we each made 12 squares. I gave 6 of my squares to her, and kept 6 of my squares for myself. She did the same with hers.
I put my squares together with strips of lavender and white material, then hand quilted it on my lap-quilt frame. I wanted it bigger than it was going to be with 12 squares, so I made 4 more for myself. I have it as a throw, over my cedar chest, and it gives me good memories when I think of all the fun we had making it.
The pattern we used, is a pattern we had seen on a quilt that we liked. It’s called a fan. We just made our own pattern, but you can use the pattern shown here (in the illustration above).
We used a 6″ block of fabric for the back. You can use a bigger size like8″or12″ ifyouwantto,but6″isassmallasyou want to make it. Making it smaller will make it hard to sew.
Using the picture of the pattern shown, cut fan blade #1 out of one piece of fabric, #2 out of another piece of fabric, #3 out of another, and #4 out of another. Make sure you cut the sides of fan blades a little wider for seam allowance.
Then, you sew the sides of the fan blades together, so they fit on the 6″ piece of fabric you cut for the back. Lay the “fan” onto the back fabric and pin it in place. I use a buttonhole stitch to applique’ the fan to the back fabric by hand, sewing along the edge of the top of the fan, and the bottom. You can applique it on the back fabric by machine too, by using a buttonhole, or applique stitch, but I think it makes it more special if you sew by hand. I cut out a heart and appliqued it to the top of the fan to make it cuter, but it’s not necessary. I pieced mine together with strips of lavender and white material.
There are thousands of quilt block patterns out there you can use, some are easy, and some are harder. Quilting isn’t something you’ll be perfect at all at once. It takes time and patience, but once you finish a quilt, it’s all worth it! So let’s start QUILTING!