30 minutes to teach 35 fifth graders a little about quilting and have them try their hand(s) at piecing a 4 patch.... do you think you'd have any time left for them to actually sandwich and quilt the 4 patch? would you maybe have a frame up with a basted 'wholecloth" on it for them to try if they had time?
mind you i get to do this 7 times in a row :~D and i will have anywhere from 2 -6 helpers each session to assist with threading needles, knotting, etc.
btdt with jr. high schoolers. Think the period was a tad longer though.
5th graders will probably be more cooperative. I was shocked at how many kids knew nothing about needles/thread/sewing. I had needles threaded, fabric cut and hand outs for each kid all prepared in small zip locs. A few really got into it. Some didn't even want to try but there turned out to be some good stitchers. Helpers is really good. One year I took a lap size quilt that was pin basted and let some of the kids that finished help tie it. I took some quilt history books along with some finished quilts too. I'd shoot for getting them to finish the blocks. Maybe if some of the kids got into it you could come back another day at their lunch break to let them do more work? 30 minutes isn't very long. I did this several years. Quilt gals helped, DH helped. It was part of an annual history day. I enjoyed it but boy was I beat at the end of the day.
This is for "colonial day" and i know that there wasn't a lot of patchwork perse done then but there *was* a lot of stitching and there were wholecloth and broiderperse (sp?) and such.... so i am just gonna give them a basic understanding of quilting and quilts and then teach them how to piece the 4 patch right sides together, seam allowance, back stitch/running stitch.... and go from there was just wondering if i would have time to do more than that. Would hate to cut 250 backings and battings if there is no use for them! If the school festival weren't just a week after this i might take their blocks and make a tied lap quilt for the auction, but i don't think that is gonna work into my time schedule lol
oh... one more thing... what size 4 patch would y'all cut for? 4" finished or 6" finished... i'm thinking any larger and they wont get done, smaller and they wont get enough stitches in to hold it together.... I need to start cutting soon! 1000 squares is gonna take a while.
Kellie, I hate to burst your bubble because you are obviously so excited about this, but speaking from experience, the answer is no. You might get a four-patch pieced, but no way will it get sandwiched, and I'd personally be amazed if you got them to piece the four-patch in the first place. You'll have kids poking each other with needles, stabbing themselves and bleeding on their project.
Frame with basted wholecloth to try, absolutely, in groups of four and with supervision.
You WILL get more stuff done in each session as you work the kinks out of your presentation tho.
Kellie, I doubt it. You will probably be doing good if you can get them to do a 4 patch. It might get a little better after you have done it a few times. They might like having the frame up, but I don't think you will have enough time to do much. 30 minutes isn't very long, and you have to subtract at least 10 minutes for getting them ready to do the project, and then getting them to clean up. It might be better if you just gave a demonstration the first time so they would have a better idea of what they would be doing.
Pushing it... Many of them will never have handled a needle and thread and will have no idea how to hold them. Thread all the needles for them before packing everything up to take with you!
Yes.
Not enough! I had trouble with only twelve 9-11 YO's threading needles! It took many of them a whole hour to thread a needle and sew 5"! Get all the needles threaded up first, so the helpers are only re-threading.
Bag everything up for them: a wee baggy with 4 squares of cloth and a threaded needle. Give then the talk - about 10 minutes max! - and have a 'Lego instruction' sheet in with the stuff! It would be wonderful if you could have a mini-movie close-up of stitching the pieces together running in a loop the whole time you are doing the sewing part. You will only be able to demonstrate the actual stitching to a max of five kids at a time, and what will the rest be doing as you go round and do that!
And I know it will take time, but DO NOT give them the wee baggies of stuff until AFTER the talk, or they'll spend all the talk time fiddling with it and stabbing themselves and each other with the needles!
Have a few stitched together samples to pass round as well - WITHOUT needles in them! :)
90% of any practical lesson is the preparation... Now you know why teachers work a 90 hour week in term time!
no way!! Best bet - skip the 4 patch idea - not enough time for even that. Just give each child a pretty square of fabric, with a matching piece of batting and backing. Teach them to pin the layers together and tie quilt it. No time for binding either! I'd also include, if it's even possible, a 5 minute show and tell of your own quilts so they can see the possiblities.
I've taught art before! but it has been a long long time ago. I was plannin on doin all that... hadn't quite worked the needle issues out yet. There will be access to a computer/tv setup. I think i can do a powerpoint how/to to go along with the how to instruction sheet. I just didn't want to waste time/money/fabric cutting batting and backing to go with the 4 patch if i didn't have to! sounds like i should be workin on finding a cheater panel and some muslin and setting up a quilting frame. Now to decide if they should tie or "quilt" on that....
Thanks for all the input! say a few prayers for me on the 13th lol
as this is supposed to be colonial era stuff, my quilts wouldn't fit in lol I will have borrowed a dozen or so quilts for hanging up around the room though. Still thinkin we should have had a spinning/weaving station instead of a quilting station but i'm not in charge of curriculum, just in charge of teaching that day...
A few years back our guild took a quilting program into the 4th grade classrooms. We had a bit more time and 6 helpers or more each time. We did:
A brief slideshow of the California Sesquentennial quilt (though you could do colonial quilts or skip it)
Divided the kids into groups where they could then:
Color a quilt block page
Play a game quizzing them on early CA history
Quilt on an already pieced and basted quilt. We had several hoops on there and tiger tape. The kids were taught to push up and down next to the tape trying to go up and one line and down at the next.
Seems like there was also a quilting words wordsearch or cross word puzzle.
At any rate, they got about 10 minutes per group. We had a couple of adults helping at each activity. We had about an hour total with the kids...you would need to cut back on the activities. I don't think you can have just quilting because 35 can't really quilt at once but maybe have them color a block until its their turn to quilt and just keep them moving.
As for the quilt...we told the kids to come to the county fair. We hung it up there for display so they could come and show off that they had helped quilt it. I have no idea who has it now...probably the woman who organized the whole thing.
The quilt was done by CHQC (California History Quilt Project) so they are likely involved in the whole display case thing. It was supposed to be hung at the California Museum in Sacramento. I vaguely recall the quilt being presented to Maria Schriver for that purpose. But I could be mis-remembering.
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