Who Knew?! School Skills Help With Quiltmaking!

As a classroom teacher of 27+ years, I have encouraged my students to build habits that make a person successful in life.  As I work on my quilting projects, I see how those lessons learned in school are actually useful in real life!  😊   Let’s take a look at the parallels…
Set a Goal to Achieve

In school, you were likely told to set goals for what you would accomplish within a unit or topic.  In quilt-making, setting goals at the outset helps you maintain a focus and improve your quality.  Perhaps it is cutting the fabric pieces more accurately, or trying something new, like free-motion quilting.  Define something you are looking to accomplish so you are energized rather than going through the motions of stitching your quilt!

 Create a Timeline

In school, due dates would loom, possibly causing panic as they got closer but also helping to ensure that the work would get done.  In quilt-making, setting some dates to aim for completing certain tasks can help keep your project moving along.  Of course, you don’t want to have a strict timetable for something you are doing for fun and creativity.  This is just a suggestion that making a time goal can help keep a project from stalling.

 Break a Big Project into Smaller Parts

School projects could be unwieldy with their multiple sections and requirements!  Similarly, making a quilt can be daunting.  But breaking a project into smaller parts and working through each of them works for schoolwork and for quilts, too! 

Consider the main parts of making a quilt:  choose a design or pattern, get the fabrics, cut the fabrics, sew the quilt top, layer the quilt, quilt it and finally, apply the binding.  Simple, right?  😊  But seriously, focusing on one segment of a project at a time can help keep it from seeming so overwhelming.  And as you finish each part, your sense of accomplishment and confidence grows!

Do a Little Each Day

For school projects, students are encouraged not to wait until the last minute but to do a little of the work each day so the project evolves in a timely manner.  Similarly with quilts, sewing for a consistent amount of time each day or week, no matter how small, will reap rewards in completing the quilt! 

I know in my case, after teaching 6th grade science all day, I may feel too tired to dive into sewing as soon as I get home.  But after dinner, I try to make time on most days to sew for about an hour, sometimes longer.  An hour isn’t all that long, yet sewing for this amount of time on most nights makes gradual but steady progress on a quilt.  Before you know it, you’ve completed another part of the quilt!

Track Your Progress

In school, you may be asked to keep a journal of how you spent your time working on a project.  In quiltmaking, it can be illuminating to keep a record of the time you spend on a quilt project!  Recording the date you started it, when you finished major sections and the ultimate – the date of completion! – can boost your confidence and help plan future projects realistically. 

 Critique Your Work But Be Positive!

I always encourage my students to fix things that could improve their work quality, but not to obsess or be perfectionistic.  In the same spirit, critique the quality of your quilt, but be positive.  If your work isn’t perfect, fix it if it will really make a difference, but remember to step back and view the “big picture”.  Often, small missteps won’t even be noticed from afar when looking at the whole quilt!

Don’t Forget to Put Your Name on Your Work!

Just as an assignment turned in at school without a name can’t receive credit for the work done, a quilt left unsigned can’t help document for others the effort you put into making your creation!  It’s nice for future generations who may view or use your quilt (which could be an heirloom in the making!) to know who made it.  Sewing on a patch with your full name, place, and date finished is a nice way of making the information available for posterity!  Or sign on the back of the quilt with a fabric marker to provide your identity.

Best wishes in applying school lessons and life lessons to the art of quiltmaking!