Today IS Saturday, and with the brilliant sunshine streaming into the window to my left, I guess I would have to say it was a super Saturday, but that is not the reason for the title of this post.
Super Saturday is the name of an enrichment program for 8 to 13 year-olds that is held at the local branch of our college. Our quilt guild teaches a three level program called "Quilt in a Shoe Box" for the six Saturdays of the program in the fall and in the spring. We just completed the fall session last week and I was able to volunteer for four of the six sessions working with the level three students who were all doing the Moda "School Block Challenge." Each of the four girls I worked with got three pieces of Moda fabrics, a primarily black piece with orange dots, a two-toned purple print, and a green, white, orange print. Their challenge was to design and make a 16 inch quilt square that included all of the fabrics. There were some other criteria, including that the work had to be 100% their own, they had to use some machine and hand sewing skills, and so on. The squares, if completed, would be entered into a competition and exhibit at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.
"Staring into Space" was created by BR who is a 7th grader. In her entry statement she says she was inspired by her own cat at home who likes to stare out the window. She added a little fiber fill to add dimension to the cat and the man in the moon before appliqueing them to the background. I really like the tassel she added to the man in the moon's blue night cap!
EM, an 8th grader, was immediately drawn to the Double Wedding Ring because she wanted "an ambitious project that would allow me free reign with color." In the process of making this block she learned about paper piecing. She also became more familiar with her own sewing machine which was a gift from her mother and grandmother.
AL#1 is 7th grader and she wanted to combine two four patches with two cat faces, so she created "Cats in Bow ties." She prefers machine work to hand work, but did the cat face embroidery at home where her own cat tried to chew on her embroidery floss! The purple ribbons she tied and sewed below each cat face inspired the name for her block.
AL#2 is a 5th grader and sister to AL#1. She drew a rather complicated lion face using the black fabric as the mane. She remembered making prairie points for her project last year and made modified prairie points for the ears which actually flop forward slightly when the block is held up. She enjoyed embroidering whiskers and adding "3D" eyes made of stacked buttons. She calls this block "Serious Lion."
I enjoyed working with these very motivated young women and I probably learned more than they did!
