plus a story of an abused little boy with a new hockey quilt
Years ago I began building a stash of conversation prints to make some quilts for children. Then I did nothing with this humungous hoarde. Why my ideas got stalled I don’t know.
I finally found that inspiration again on a visit with my mother, Ruth. She never stops making knitted and quilted items for various charities. That’s when I began to design and create quilts that are attractive to children, rugged, stimulating to design and fun to sew. These quilts are social and interactive, designed to stimulate games such as I Spy.
child's quilt with scrappy border
Over 30 quilts have so far emerged from that stash. Some of my hand dyed cotton finds its way into the children’s quilts. I have to break down of course, and occasionally buy just a bit of new material to fill in somewhere. I like my children’s quilts to have visual impact and so sometimes a trip to the quilt store “is necessary”. The sale table often yields surprises that jump start another quilt. I buy solely in order to eat away at that pile. By sticking to primaries (no dull colors), anything works with everything else I have on hand. If I see a bolt of fabric that is “child versatile”, I may buy several yards for backings.
Precutting patches -The first thing I did was sort through the conversation prints and other suitable prints I had so I could pre-cut squares of different sizes from the uneven remnants. The smallest bits were set aside. Now I had boxes of squares measuring 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 inches. I am thinking ahead to the machine quilting stage – how far apart can I sew to ensure the quilt lies flat and is properly secured. I usually do “stitch in the ditch” quilting.
A design wall is essential during the construction stage for smaller quilts. It lets you audition patches for color, size, areas of interest etc. 
You can see in this example of an off set design lap quilt that grew round by round that a design wall is a must. The precut patches speed the fun part of playing around. I like this spontaneity.
scrappy blocks from hand dyed fabric
Quilts for older childrencan generate discussion topics they will think up. You can guide their thoughts towards geometry, color harmony, balance in composition, the importance of making more from less. Let them join in the planning, fabric selection, sewing and all the other decisions involved in designing a quilt
Using up scrappy bits – I sort and store the smallest scraps by color. In between my quilting projects I have been sewing the stash of scrappy bits together in roughly 6 inch bands. Odd triangles, off grain strips, just about any scrap at least 1 inch wide can be used. The process begins by speed piecing a continuous string of two scraps sewn together. These I snip apart, iron the seams to one side and sort into two piles.
Making scrappy bands/borders – One of the piles is scrappy 6 inches high pieces. You can make the bands any width you please. Then I join up more and more pairings and repeat the process. See the teal quilt example, below, of a long scrappy band set on the diagonal.
Making scrappy blocks - The other pile of pieces will also need something added to make it grow into a block. Some times I mentally gauge a 6×6 inch block and may need to add only one additional piece. These blocks get squared up to 5.5×5.5 inches and then are ready for a future project where the finished block will be 5×5 inches. The quilt on the left has scrappy blocks using hand dyed remnants.
Materials used - In all my sewing projects, I use best quality cotton and sewing thread. The children’s quilts will last many years, a lot of tugging and loving and multiple washes. While quilt store cottons may look the same as lower priced cotton at major retailers, they are not the same quality. Cutting costs by using inferior products is false economy in my opinion.
Steven’s quilt
Nearly 20 years ago I made a hockey themed quilt for a 7 year old boy in one of my second grade classes. Steven was a special needs child. He suffered multiple abuses. He had quite literally nothing secure in his life except his grandmother and his name. When I gave Steven a quilt on his birthday, his count was up to three things, a quilt a grandmother and a name. When a child such as Steven asks, why can’t you be my mother, it sears your heart. I have never forgotten that boy, an innocent child at major risk. I don’t think Steven fared very well. At seven years of age he already had only a very small chance in life.
I’d love to hear your special stories of how a quilt had a significant influence on some one in your life.
Sharing a tender story might help someone who’s having a bad day.