Tips for quilting with young children

Tips for quilting with young children

By Angela Hunsaker

I made that cool almost-quilt top. It needs a few more rows to be long enough for a twin batting, but I'm putting it away for awhile. Why? Because I have kids. I jest for most of this post about the difficulties of children, but please don't skip the last paragraph with a meaningful quote. I'm putting this away so I can be a "nice mommy" again. They deserve it. :)

Now, on with the TIPS!

Fabric hoarding is good, because… (if you’re already laughing, bear with me!) then when you want to make something, you don’t have to strap everyone in their carseats with snacks and extra clothing, to get to the store and strap them to the cart while you wait to have your fabric cut, then pass the gauntlet called the checkout line where all manner of product that is brightly colored and sized for small hands is within reach.

Don’t pre-wash your fabric, because you’ll undoubtedly have at least one re-wash before you even get it cut out.

Buy scissors that are ugly colors, or the same color as a surface high above their heads. Camouflage has long been proven an effective tool against meddling enemies. Same goes for ugly color pinheads and extremely un-fun-looking pincushions (i.e.: the bright red ball-shaped tomatoes…not so much!).

Once you lay out your pieces, sew them together as FAST as is humanly possible. This will prevent the “Red Sea effect.” This is caused by an irresistible urge that children feel to scoot their feet through your pieces, then turn around and giggle at the trail of destruction they are making.

 It is permissible to prescribe “quiet time” to the children so that you may sew an entire row of blocks together without someone shouting your name to help them in the bathroom.

It is also permissible to pretend you can’t hear them over the sound of the sewing machine, as long as what they are saying does not involve the words “bleeding,” “naked,” “choking” or “head trauma.”

You MUST be willing to accept the consequences of diminished attention to the children and housework. That may include, but is not limited to: marker and/or stickers where they don’t belong, a knee-deep “primordial soup” composed of every toy and snack they could possibly reach, and for a finale: every couch cushion and pillow piled in a mountain for breaking falls while jumping off the arms of the couch.

Take it slow. Sometimes I only allow myself 3 seams per day. Even when they are 4-inch seams. I figure at least 60 seconds of “sewing therapy” is better than none. I use the same trick for weeding the garden. Although, three weeds per day doesn’t feel nearly as much like progress as three seams. Maybe that’s because if you leave a quilt for a week, the un-sewn seams don’t multiply themselves.

Lastly, remember that while we sometimes need some time to ourselves, a wise man recently said, “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.” (-Neil L. Anderson) Hobbies do not take priority over motherhood.