Mattee

A few recent threads and incidents in my own life have gotten me thinking. There are a lot of things that we can do to help teach younger generations quilting, and keep the art alive. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and wanted to pass on some ideas to any of you who may be interested. Keep in mind that I'm coming at this from the perspective of a mother with very young kids. Here are some of my ideas:

It would help to keep in mind that mothers may need to take their children with them when they go places, such as quilt shows, so it would help to allow strollers inside. Some of you may remember that I was refused entry at a quilt show because I had a stroller.

Particularly if you have a large guild, it would be nice to have events where kids are welcome. Depending on the event, it might even be possible to provide baby-sitting services for members with little kids. For example, if the guild is hosting a class or having a great speaker in, are there one or two members who are willing to babysit (assuming they're not interested in attending the talk) so that the young moms can attend? Then the moms just have to show up with their kids, who can be watched in the next room. I think that makes it much more likely that moms can attend, rather than a lot of moms having to find their own babysitters (and it's hard to find someone to trust), particularly if there are any breastfeeding moms in the group.

Are there educational events that guilds can host specifically for kids? I'm thinking a carnival or fair-type atmosphere where people bring their kids, grand-kids, nieces, or whoever, and there are stations where the young ones are taught quilting-related crafts. Something similar could be done for adults; I'm thinking kind of like a member-drive event.

Thanks for letting me ramble. Does anyone else have any ideas?

emsgranny

On a personal level my daughter and I both do some quilting - the oldest of her daughters needed items for a fund raiser at school and my daughter decided to make a quilt. She had the kids over for a qulting afternoon and they all made a block for the quilt with my duaghters guidance. I have also taken time with each grandchild to try to help them make items such as pot holders etc using quilt techniques. I find this easier for us. thanks cheryl
p.s. sorry I dont have a picture - daughter didnt take one lol she was too busy watching and helping all the 13 year olds lol

Leota

Allow your children to see you sewing. My dgd was two when she was intrigued with the sewing machine...
She got her own sewing machine (simplicity precious) at 5 and I taught her the safety rules and had her sew paper with straight lines... She has advanced up to a full size machine now and has made a quilt and is working on a dress with an overlay.. Oh and she's now 12...

Murphy

Wonderful suggestions.

SharBear

Our guilt has a childrens "make it take it" area at our bi-annual quilt show. Don't forget to encourage boys - a sewing machine is great for those mecahnical minded fellows! Both of my boys have their own machines and when they want to sew with me they just set them up and dive into my bin of fabric!

loves_2_quilt

Wish I could attend, kids don't bother me. I remember being the mom that had to take her kids with her and some places didn't like us too well.

luvTooQuilt

I too wish there were 'sitting' services.. Id go for sure.. I cant always rely on hubby to be available for me to go, so I dont ever bother anymore..