Stitching Times serves up stories, examples and tutorials about needlework related crafts, especially quilting and crochet. Almost all of the projects shown have been designed by Kay Stephenson

Monday, March 7, 2011

Quilting for Kids – a Roll-n-Go Blackboard

It’s never hard to come up with ideas for quilts and quilted items for myself. I could fill the house with bed quilts, pillows, throws, wall hangings, bags… well you get the idea. Sometimes coming up with an idea for someone else isn’t so easy – especially children and men.
More about men another time; my focus for the past couple of weeks has been on little boys. I have a great nephew and a godchild who have birthdays the same week. One just turned two and the other had his very first birthday this past weekend.
Though I always give books as gifts for children, I also like to include something more personal that I have made. This year as I was casting about for ideas, I remembered seeing a listing for chalk cloth on one of my favorite online fabric websites (eQuilter.com).
Chalk cloth is an oil cloth that has been specially coated so it behaves like a chalk board. I quickly ordered a yard and then set about trying to decide what to make with it. I posted a query on an eQuilter.com forum and received a recommendation for a wonderful book by Chris Lynn Kirsch called Snuggle-and-Learn Quilts for Kids.
In the book is a pattern for this adorable roll-up mat with built in holders for chalk and erasers. The strings that attach the erasers tie up the rolled mat into a neat bundle that will fit in the stroller, or in mom’s all-purpose carry bag.
I found a really cute licensed Thomas the Train print for my grandnephew who is a bit train crazy, and for little Sullivan (we call him Sully) a dog themed print since he lives with three pups.
I suspect this toy may be a bit old for Sully, but of course we all think he is quite advanced (J) so I expect he will grow into it quickly. And I’m hoping both Mom’s will find the Roll-n-Go Blackboard a helpful management tool while they are sitting in a restaurant and hoping to get at least one bite of their meal before it is stone cold. 

2 comments:

  1. where did you find the Thomas fabric!?

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  2. I made these several years ago, so that specific fabric is no longer available, but a quick search on fabric.com, etsy.com, amazon.com and eBay.com showed a new line of Thomas the Train fabric available. Hope you find it.

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