Startin' them young.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

A while ago I heard a great idea (Lori Holt, did I hear this from you?) I heard somebody say that every time she and her daughter went to a fabric store, she let her daughter pick out a fat quarter.  After they got enough, they made up a quilt, using all of the fabrics her daughter had picked out as a little girl.  I liked that idea, so I decided to start doing that with my little girl. 


Now.  I work at Just Sew.
(a fabulous little quilting shop that helps to feed my addiction.) 
Frequently, I stop in there on my days off to pick up this or that for my personal projects.  Frequently, I have my little sidekick with me. 
Once in a while, I have to tell her that since we go into Just Sew so much, we can only get fat quarters when we go to other fabric stores (because we've already racked up quite the slew of fat quarters for this little girl in just a few short months!)


Well, yesterday she was on the verge of a meltdown because I would not get her a fat quarter when we stopped into my work for about 5 seconds (I know. I'm so mean, right?)  Well, anyways, aside from her love of FQ's, she has also taken up a great fascination with how we fold our fat quarters.  Last night she was begging me over and over to show her how to do it.


She's getting pretty good, eh? :)


Well, this brings me to my next point.  For those of you out there that want to start quilting but think it's too expensive of a hobby; try this on for size - try buying your fabric a little here and and a little there.  At Just Sew fat quarters are $2.75.  If you gave yourself a budget of $11 every month to spend on fabric you could get 4 FQ's or 1 yard of regular priced fabric.  After 4 or 5 months, you would have enough fabric to make yourself the top of a twin size quilt!  It's all about collecting, my friends.  You should try it.  It's fun.

14 comments:

  1. Hello Amber. :o)
    This is such a nice idea. What a special quilt your little one will have after she has enough fat quarters. I think it is so nice that she has something to look forward to. :o)
    Oh my, working in a fabric store. Heavenly {I can only imagine}. :o)
    I hope you are having a wonderful week. :o)
    Sincerely ~ Tricia

    ps. I am having a little give a way, and would love to have you come along. :o) It will be fun! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great ideas Ambs! I like saying eh too, but I do have a Canadian connection you know. :) Your kids looked so cute going to school. I can't believe Maya is in Kindergarten!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great ideas...and your daughter has a great collection already!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun treat with a very fun end result. I do love her choices in Fat quarters! Keep us posted as her collection grows;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh that photo of Maya pulling on her face - - TOO FUNNY.
    I am looking forward to seeing what you & Maya make with all those fat quarters she has picked out. fun, fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. She's a darling. She reminds me of my daughter #5. Especially in her snow white. I'll have to say hi next time I'm in Just Sew.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You little gal has a great collection going there. Where is Just Sew?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I know some quilters who are very snobbish about buying fat quarters(!), but I think it is a great way to start building a stash. I know a quilter who would offer her children a pile of fabrics to choose the ones they wanted for a quilt (they never realised that of course Mum had only given them fabrics she wanted to use to choose from!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I got my oldest granddaughter hooked just by letting her pick fabric for a quilt she wanted me to make for her. She went into the quilt shop and started "petting" fabric. I KNEW I had a budding quilter! She is 12 now and has made 4 quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. LOVE this idea! How great! It'd be fun to see what Brooklynn would pick out! Maya's done a great job! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a fun project for your little girl. And how special you both are -- how fantastic to want fat quarters more than toys that will just break!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this idea! A blogging friend in South Africa is letting her daughter (2ish) build her own stash. Both ideas are really fun!

    ReplyDelete
  13. You used 'eh?' again (lol).

    Your little Kindergarten sweet heart has quite a good eye for color. She must get it from you. I love the FQ's she's picked.

    xo -E

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's a good thing to share the love of sewing and fabric! She's learning to keep her stash neat, too.

    ReplyDelete

I ♥ to hear from you so please feel free to leave a comment. I read each one and try to respond as often as I can. Thanks so much for stopping by! ~Amber