Tuesday, I spent the afternoon in Siri’s first-grade class making a quilt with the students for the Arts Night Fundraiser. As it turns out, even first-graders can quilt…and quilt well!
Turns out that making a quilt has all kinds of math applications too (shocking! educational AND fun!). We looked for patterns and shapes (parallelogram, anyone?). After laying out the quilt, each student sewed together two blocks and then they helped piece together several rows.
You’ve got to love the kids’ reactions to the sewing machine…especially if they have never sewn before. Some were obsessed with seeing how fast they could make it go (we called it “zooming”) and others were trying to figure out how the thread worked it’s way into the fabric. All were obsessed with the string going at the top (really?). The magic of being a first-grader again!
If you want to make this simple quilt, the dimensions are 6.5″ x 12.5″ triangles to create (once sewn) 12″ x 12″ blocks (two triangles to a block). It is 7 blocks long and 6 blocks wide with a 4″ border (4.5″ cut for seam allowance). It is approximately a twin-sized quilt.
I’m just finishing up the binding and this baby will be ready for Arts Night! Once it’s finished I’ll give you sneak peek of it before it goes up for auction!
You are the COOLEST mom! I bet the girls just love it when you do stuff with them at school!
LOVE IT!
what an awesome project! you are amazing! can’t wait to see the finished project!
That is fantastic! You must have the patience of a saint! I had some neighborhood girls over and they got to take my machine for a spin and you are right, so great to see how excited they got.
Fabulous project. My daughter started sewing at about 11 and today is a really good sewer, making bags, formals, curtains, altering clothes and of course regular sewing. Besides math, I bet the kids learned a lot about colors, design, and project completion, not to mention team work! Good for you and your daughter too
Carina,
How did we get so lucky to have you do this for the class. What a wonderful project!! Like I said, creativity just “oozes” out of you. Thanks Siri, for sharing your Mom with our class for a day.
Kelly