Kids Start Quilting with Alex Anderson: 7 Fun and Easy Projects, Quilts for Kids by Kids, Tips for Quilting with Children by Alex AndersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The concept behind Kids Start Quilting is an interesting one: write a book that gives a series of "workshops" that enable to reader to work with kids from ages 9-14 how to quilt. "Their approach to fabric and color was without the restrictions we adults seem to get hung up on. They were eager to get involved and learn. There were no gender boundaries....The kids were far more skilled and 'ready' than we had anticipated," Anderson states in her introduction. The book was based on real-life experience that Anderson and Liz Aneloski had in working with kids in this age range, so it's well tested.
The book is actually written for the kids themselves, but it has tips in it for adults working with kids. Honestly, I don't see a nine-year-old sitting and reading the book her- or himself, but perhaps a 14-year-old would. That being said, the book starts with a brief description of what a quilt is, the blocks that will be covered in the book, a list of standard mattress sizes, tools and supplies, some information about fabric, fabric grain, and preparing the fabric, and then it launches into "The Basics." The section on basics covers rotary cutting, pinning, stitching, seam ripping, pressing, settings, borders, backing, batting, basting, how to tie a quilt, hand quilting (nothing on machine quilting), and binding.
Then follows seven projects, including a split-rail fence quilt, four-patch, log cabin, "secret" sawtooth star, half-square triangle quilt, and then a sampler quilt which includes each of those blocks. The final project is instructions for making pillows from each of the blocks.
If you have kids and would like some help in teaching them to quilt, or think they'd be old enough and interested enough to work through the book themselves with a little adult assistance here and there, I'd think this would be a good addition to your library.
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