I Spy and Imagination Quilts, Part 2

 

I've heard from a lot of you about how much your grandkids love "I-Spy" quilts!  As I wrote about yesterday, "story block" quilts were simply invented because that game wasn't on our radar years ago when we were raising our kids.  But lots of quilters are doing fun things with kids quilts these days.  Some put two blocks of each fabric in their quilts so that the child can also play "Memory".  Many quilters are using their quilts for actual games like this one here.

Many of these make great Project Linus quilts, a group I was very active in before I joined the guild.  Now I make Camp Erin quilts and donated them before the pandemic.

I've always liked to play with different kinds of layouts and I'm seeing more quilters do that as well.  One year I had a lot of small Christmas scraps and made a quilt featuring different images on 3 inch block tea cups.  I called it Cups of Cheers and it was paper pieced:

When my granddaughter Helena was young, she loved a song called Who Let the Dogs Out.  Together we created a couple quilts that we called Who's In the Dog House.  Helena loved to pick the fabrics and it was also paper pieced:

I also liked the You've Got Mail quilt pattern from the book, Patchwork Please and made another with different images in the envelope.  This one is at the quilter's now:

This Doll House Panel was perfect for my cousin's granddaughter and gifted right before the pandemic.  I just added assorted blocks around it:

But the best part of these quilts is the reaction from kids!  My favorite story from a child came from my great nephew Nicholas.  Here he is at age 3 with his handsome grandfather (my brother):

Nick loved his story block quilt but he refused to tell his stories to his mother.  I think it was classified information.  One day his Mom decided that she would tell him the story she saw in the quilt.  As she began, he interrupted her,

"You're doing it wrong," he informed her.  Children even at 3 years old, know they have the advantage over adults when it comes to imagination. He told her what he saw that day:

"The children decided to go on adventure.  Except they ran into pirates who chased them through the fields and by the cows.  They tried to get an airplane to pick them up but a dog was there.   They finally got away and went on a nice picnic together...

and got eaten up by bugs!"

Nik's headed to law school this fall and I imagine he would be mortified that I shared this story.  I can't wait to tell him😂

Most of my quilts are just 4 patches at this point.  It's easier and although I haven't bought novelty kids' fabric for years, I still have quite a stash to use up.

Owen's quilt top that I finished last spring.

Beth used to own a daycare center and she suggested working with kids to see correlations.  "Where might you find a bird?"  In a tree block or a cloud block or something more fun that a could would imagine like a car.  She also said it is a great way to teach colors and numbers to kids.

I just like making them.  They are fun and remind me what it is like to think like a child (child-like not childish).

I'd love to see quilts you've made for the kids in your life and encourage you to share some photos for us.

Before I go today, I just want to see that I appreciate all the emails about the bleeding red quilt.  I'll be posting about that next week after I complete some of the things that Beth suggested.

Tomorrow is Flower Friday and please feel free to email me your floral images at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Have a safe and happy day!