A Girl Scout Quilt Story

Our Brownie Girl Scout Troop was doing the journey A World of Girls.  In it we talk about how stories are a big part of our world and how they can be told in different ways.  One way is through a quilt.  It was suggested that each girl think of her strength and depict it on a quilt square.  Then together the squares tell the story of the girls in our troop.

Of course this was a project that resonated with me.  I gave each girl a 7" square of muslin, showed some examples and gave them felt and fabric markers to use.  I loved their ideas and how they brought the ideas to fabric.  I told the girls that I would put the squares together for our end of year ceremony and then they could take them home afterwards.

I added a second 7" square of muslin to the backs with serging, then basted the squares on a bigger piece of fabric.  I intend to separate the squares after showing them off at our ceremony.

Girl Scout Quilts Completed

Finishing the two Girl Scout quilting projects coincided with me purchasing a used HQ 16 sit down mid arm quilting machine. This gave me extra motivation to complete the parts and get to quilting.

Beginning with the pink ribbon quilt, I finished putting the rows together. There were a couple squares put together where the seam allowances were too big and the row was too short. I did end up ripping out them and resewing. For the most part, it went together fine. Another step I needed to do that I don't usually need to do was to square up the quilt front. The edges were just not straight. A three inch striped border pulled it all together.

For the back, I had purchased striped fabric and knew I would need to piece the back. After measuring, I figured I wasn't too short and adding a column of leftover squares would make up the difference. Pink ribbon and brown squares were mostly what was left. Because I don't usually follow quilting patterns, there are many shortcuts I haven't learned yet. In researching quilt ideas for the "Blip on the Radar" quilt, I found a triangle trick using squares. It worked out well and went together quickly.

Back of the Pink Ribbon Quilt

The blue quilt had additional problems. This group didn't always sew the squares together all the way to the end. As I sewed the rows together I had to fix some of the seams. After some consideration, I decided not to add a border to this quilt, but to add an additional row and column of squares. This seemed to work better. The paisley fabric had been give to me at some point. I don't even recall where it came from, but is a nice wide fabric and I had a lot of it. It worked well for the back without needing to be pieced.

Finally I was ready to quilt. I was a little nervous to be using this beast of a sewing machine, but I had also practiced with it enough to know it was a better option than using the cramped quarters of my regular sewing machine. It felt very different sewing on the big quilt versus my small practice pieces. I could go much faster and travel further. My meandering quilting pattern seemed to be fairly spaced out and went fast. It was certainly a time saver.

For the blue quilt, I considered trying a different quilting pattern for the stitching. A paisley pattern would have matched the quilt well, but I was concerned about committing to the whole quilt and having it take too long.

Because I needed a new thread color for the blue quilt, I tried out some Gutermann I had on hand and could not get the tension right for the HQ 16. Finally I bought some new thread designed for machine quilting and it made all the difference! It was a Coats and Clark variegated blue. It was new to me using a variegated thread and I liked the effect.

Typically I hand sew the bindings on and after considering ways to machine sew it on, decided to go with hand sewing.  It is a longer process, but fairly mindless and can be done outside of my sewing room.

I look forward to bringing the completed quilts to our next Girl Scout meeting and showing the girls how a bunch of squares they sewed together can transform into a beautiful quilt. The next stop for these quilts will be to be donated to the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester. They will be offered to newly diagnosed women.

Zippered Pouch

While planning a sewing day for the third grade Girl Scout Brownies, I wanted to make sure we had enough to do in the time allotted.  Also, while it is nice to make donations, I know the girls really like sewing for themselves and being able to take something home.  We didn't get to this project yet, but hope to make them in March.

I looked around for easy patterns and decided to do a less easy pattern, but that I would prepare it for them.  A zippered pouch would be a nice finished project.  This tutorial and this other one had nice instructions.  After testing out the pattern, I decided to only have the girls sew around the outside edge and make a flat bag.

Before the meeting, I emailed each parent to ask their girls' favorite color. Fat quarters were on sale and even though the material isn't very thick, the lining should add some thickness and be ok.

Zippers were ordered in bulk.  I ended up with 8" zippers.  The outside fabric and lining were cut to 10" x 4".  To save a step, I ironed down one long edge of the outside fabric and lining to be sewn to the zipper.  I did this all in one step.  I completed the bag and created instructions for the girls to finish the zippered pouch.

After sewing the zippers in, I trimmed the pouch down so that the zipper was closer to the length of the fabric.

The next step was to open the zipper halfway and then sew around the outside of the fabric right sides together and the lining right sides together, leaving a small opening in the lining bottom.  Then clip corners and flip.  Finally hand sew the small opening closed.

Update 3/2013: We were able to sew these pouches together at our March meeting. I thought it would be a very quick project because we are essentially just sewing one seam. But it took longer and was just right for them. I had instructions with photos of the steps which was helpful. Pinning took time, taking turns on the machines, then turning and finding the corners. Finally we just sewed the opening in the lining by machine. We only had three machines for this project and less than an hour allotted. There were eleven girls present. When the girls weren't working on their pouches, they either looked on, hula hooped, or worked on some coloring pages.

Quilting with Girl Scouts

It was my turn to lead the group of third grade Girl Scout Brownies.  I enjoy sewing with the girls, but like to be sure to have additional sewing machines and adult helpers.  The stars all aligned and there would be five machines and five helpers for thirteen girls!

I cut out 6.5" squares and planned out two simple quilts with diagonal squares quilt design.  I also started planning another quilt for a friend. 

Some of the girls really enjoyed sewing and spent most of the one hour and thirty minute meeting sewing.  I had brought graph paper for the girls to learn about quilt planning and many of them enjoyed coloring too.

In the time allotted, we were able to sew the squares into rows for both quilts and started putting the rows together for one of the quilts.


I was impressed that the girls were able to sew quite straight.  There were a couple squares that were attached backwards and needed to be ripped out, but otherwise the quilts went together smoothly.

My job will be to finish up the quilts and then we will be donating them.

Celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts

We usually celebrate with at least cupcakes for snack. In my planning, I wondered if the group of second grade Brownies would enjoy decorating cupcakes themselves. I decided to make mini cakes in a nice square mini cake pan I have. I used my new trick of substituting 1 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 cup of water in place of the eggs and oil for boxed cake mixes. I used a moist Devil's food and also a moist yellow cake mix. They both tasted great and came out a touch denser than usual.

I made up a double batch of buttercream frosting. Half I separated into three one cup dishes for coloring pink, purple, and yellow. The rest I colored green. Before the meeting, I made up six decorator bags of frosting. I used the Wilton disposable bags and one piping tip and one flower tip for each color. The green was separated into three smaller dishes with plastic knives for frosting the cakes.

The girls each took their time with decorating and the fourteen of them had no trouble taking turns with the six decorator bags. I was impressed with their creativity and excitement.

Other activities we did at our meeting included coloring and cutting out paper dolls and hearing the story of Juliette Gordon Low. I chose the paper dolls because girls 100 years ago may have been playing with paper dolls also.

For the story, I used suggestions I found on the Internet. I collected all kinds of props that would be relevant to the story. Before I started telling the story, I randomly handed out the props. I had a plush jack o'lantern, a silk daisy, a paint brush, a painted tea cup, a toy horse, a bag of salt water taffy which was shared at the end, a map of the world placemat, a toy boat, a toy ring, a bag of rice, a telephone, a picture of a boy scout mounted on cardboard, a play pearl necklace, a picture of an old Girl Scout manual mounted on cardboard like a book, a mini basketball, a first aid kit, and a breast cancer pink ribbon bracelet. The girls listened very intently as I told the story and they showed everyone their object when I talked about it. This is a great way to tell a story!

After the story, I collected the props again and chose ten to lay on a small blanket. Then I asked the girls to study the objects and I would take one away when they looked away. Then they would guess which one was missing. We played this a few times. Another game would be to have them write down all the objects after studying them.

We did have an extra fifteen minutes at the end and started making our SWAPs.

It was a successful meeting and meaningful too.

Sit Upon Project

Marine Vinyl Sit Upon 13"x18.5"

While I don't really remember making sit upons as a child, I know we did because they are still around! They must be at least thirty years old and they are still great.

My daughter is in second grade and Brownie Girl Scout. I wanted to make them with her this year. I had looked around on-line at different sit upon projects and while there are many, none looked like the design my parents had made years ago. So I enlisted the help of my parents and another parent and we prepared sit upons for the girls today.

We used marine vinyl and carpet padding for the inside. My mom was able to stop by a carpet store and ask for scraps, they were destined for the garbage free for us!

The vinyl was cut to 27" by 20" and the padding cut to 13" by 17". That seemed to work well. Then the vinyl pieces were folded with the edges meeting in the center and overlapping slightly. We used masking tape to help keep everything together instead of pins to minimize holes in the vinyl.

It was certainly tricky making the flat fell seam. So tricky, I might not even recommend doing it this way. With my regular sewing machine with a large size 16 needle, the sewing wasn't the problem, it was the machine getting in the way! I ended up sewing down to about the half way point and then starting from the other end and meeting where I left off. Then I made a second line of stitching.  Not catching the bottom layer of fabric is part of the trickiness too.

Trimming the upper edge

Folding up the bottom edge

After sewing, the sleeve went to the next station. Part of the ends were trimmed to allow the bottom edge to fold over the cut top edge. Carpet padding was inserted into the sleeve and the ends were folded up and held with more masking tape.

Another tiring part of this project was the hole punching. We used leather punches and punched through the end layers for finishing. This will allow the kids to lace boondoogle through the holes.

We estimate it may take the kids twenty to thirty minutes to lace the ends. Keeping the holes lined up is a bit tricky.

This design is great for keeping water and dampness out. And they should last at least thirty years!

After completing our three hour sew, cut, punch marathon, I wondered if there would be a better way to sew the center seam. I made a doll sized sit upon to try out a different method. While it might not be quite as waterproof, I think with careful use, it would be a fine alternative.

Place right sizes together and make a narrow seam. Turn right sides out and if desired, topstitch close to the seam sewing through the "finger pressed" edges. This topstitching is still using the hard to reach sewing method as done above, but it is only one line of stitching and it is securely stitched, not taped together.

With a team of parent volunteers, this project would be a very nice gift for a group of girl scouts.

Cell Phone Felt Pouch

While searching for a simpler project for the second grade Girl Scout Brownies, I came across a site devoted to Kids' Sewing Projects.

I wanted to have button sewing be a part of this project. I decided to add many felt and button embellishments to my felt pouch as an example for the Girl Scouts.

My hope is that the girls could choose two or three embellishments to add to their little pouches.

First I took an iPhone to see what size pouch to make. Then I marked the folds with masking tape. Another thing I made sure to know was which direction I should place each embellishment because I didn't sew the pouch up until the end.

I used embroidery floss and sewed the sides up with the floss as well. I will probably braid a strap of some sort to make it into wristlet or purse.

The girls LOVED this project. They chose lots of neat designs and spent a good deal of time cutting out felt shapes. The meeting was half over or more before they started sewing and they were not able to complete the project during our meeting time. They brought the pouches home unfinished, but seemed hopeful that they could complete the project at home. The girls were very careful with the sharp scissors and needles. The project could have gone more quickly had I cut out the pouch and also some shapes for them. I did have a few patterns drawn out to give them ideas. I wanted the girls to learn more about using patterns and designing a project and I think that was part of the fun for them. When our time was done, all the girls were still working away. They were all very focused on this project and given the opportunity, I bet they would have worked for another thirty minutes or more. Our meeting lasts for one and a half hours during which we take time for a short snack.

I would enjoy doing a longer project with the girls and I bet they would be up for it. Maybe that would be a nice weekend activity.

Mini Mitt Project

I was looking for an easy sewing project for the 2nd grade Girl Scout Brownies. I already wanted to work on sewing on a button and possibly more hand sewing with felt for SWAPS.

I wondered if quilting could be incorporated into a meeting somehow. I considered a four square mini quilt as a pot holder or a doll quilt, but finally decided that quilting might be too much for the girls and the adult helpers in our hour and a half meeting time.

The potholder idea I liked as it is functional and a nice project. I remembered my sister-in-law showing me a mini pot holder recently that just covered the fingertips and thumb. I did a Google search and found some images of the mini mitt or pot holder. I thought I could figure out a similar pattern and it might be easy enough.

I finished a first and second attempt in a short amount of time. I wondered if a seven year old would be able to do it. I wrote up some basic instructions and asked my seven year old to try and follow them. She wasn't sure at different points and did become frustrated, but then again she is feeling a bit under the weather and might be getting frustrated more easily. The hardest parts were sewing around a curve and turning the thick mitt. I will have to think more if this would work for the Girl Scout troop.

As my daughter was working on her mitt, I did snap some pictures to make a tutorial which I will share.

Step 1-Cut out 2 ovals of one fabric which will have the finished size about 7x5. Make two half ovals cut on the fold. The pockets are just smaller than half the big oval. Cut 1-2 layers of insulating batting.

Step 2-Topstitch along the folded edge of each pocket.

Step 3-Pin each pocket to one of the ovals and line up the edges. Try to keep the pocket's folded edges parallel to each other. Sew around the edge of the big oval stitching over both pockets.













Step 4-Place oval with pockets right sides together with second oval.

Step 5-Then place 1-2 layers of batting on the wrong side of the second oval.

Step 6-Pin and sew through all 3-4 layers following the previous stitching leaving a generous space for turning the thick layers.

Step 7-Trim seam allowances and clip curves.

Step 8-Turn right sides out. It is thick and best to go slowly. The insulating batting will be on the inside, pockets on one side and plain on the other.

Step 9-Smooth out edges and press (optional). Tuck in raw edges and pin for sewing. Top stitch around the whole mitts stitching closed the opening. The opening could also be hand stitched closed first.

This little mitt would be perfect for taking a hot plate or mug out of the microwave, removing a pot lid or holding a hot tea kettle handle.  Coordinating fabrics would be fun too.

I searched around after writing this and found the mitts are often called microwave mitts. There are many tutorials for microwave mitts. I found one tutorial which leaves one end open for turning. That is a great idea!

Hula Hoops

Well I guess we're not calling them "hula" hoops anymore, but it's sometimes hard to remember.

I learned about this style of hoop form a friend of mine who very successfully changed her lifestyle and lost more than 100 pounds.  Hooping started it for her.  I thought why not?

But it took me more than a year to actually make my own and the first ones weren't for me at all.  My little Brownie Girl scouts come down to the cafeteria on Friday afternoons after a busy week of school.  They would like nothing more than to race around the cafeteria for an hour, but that is not on the agenda.  I wondered if these new, improved, exercisey hoops would help.

I headed over to Lowes for black irrigation tubing.  I found what I was looking for and perplexed the staff.  They had never heard of making hula hoops out of irrigation tubing.  I started with 100 feet of 3/4" 100psi tubing.  I learned about making hoops form the many tutorials out there.  I read about different options for tape and decided to order the gaffer tape.

Both Jason Unbound and Karen Tiede have helpful tutorials and information on hoop making.

My husband already had a pair of cutters for the tubing and also a heat gun which made the connectors slide in easily.  Taping went pretty well.  I certainly got better as I went along.

Ten hoops later and we were hooping!  I made 9 smaller ones for the girls and one big one for me.

The Brownie Girl Scouts LOVED the hula hoops!  It made the transition from school to scouting go much more smoothly.  We also used the hoops at the end of the meeting when kids are being picked up.  

Good Turn Mouse

For the first Girl Scout Brownie meeting of the year I was looking for a fun project. I found this little poem about the Good Turn Mouse:

This saucy creature is a mouse
Most mothers won't let one in the house
See, this one it has quite a tail,
Each Girl Scout made one without fail.
Take it home and help all week,
and for good turns you must seek
for every good turn that you do
tie a knot in the yarn...make quite a few.
Remember why each knot you tied
and how much to help you really tried
and then next week, please take your turn
to tell us all, so we can learn...
just what you did to help at home
a ready helper you have grown!

I looked at Google images for a felt mouse pattern to sew. I settled on an almost circle that is folded in half and stitched with embroidery floss.

I started with beads for eyes, added little ears, and finally stitched the body from nose to tail leaving the tail long for knotting.

For the girls, I decided to prep the project for them so they would be able to finish in the time allotted and the project would not feel too hard for them.

I cut out all the mouse bodies and ears. Then I sewed on the mouse eyes and added a threaded needed with coordinating thread. I made up directions with sketches and the steps.

The group of second grade girls enjoyed the project a lot and were very excited to do the hand sewing. They did need a fair amount of help and it was great to have a few extra adults around. Everyone finished their little mice and took them home to keep track of all their good turns for the next two weeks.

Pillow Case Project for ConKerr Cancer

It was time to plan the next Girl Scout Daisy meeting. I enjoy sewing and was looking for a simple project for the girls. After looking around for a while, I wasn't finding much geared for six year olds. Finally I thought about a simple pillowcase, that is pretty easy. You just need to know how to sew in a straight line.

That is when I discovered ConKerr Cancer. This charity provides nice directions for sewing pillowcases, collects donated pillowcases and then distributes them to children who are being hospitalized. The children are able to choose a pillowcase and then it is theirs to keep. The website encourages sewers to use bright, fun fabrics and even coordinate different fabrics for the main part of the pillowcase and the border.

I also learned a neat trick for sewing the border to the main part. It feels like you are doing magic. It is dubbed the hotdog method.

I still wasn't sure the girls could make the pillowcases start to finish in an hour. Prepping the pillowcases seemed to make the most sense. I cut the parts out and even attached the borders. Now all the girls would need to do would be to sew one long side and one short side. I was able to have three sewing machines available and four adults to help.

For the girls who weren't sewing, I wanted to make sure they had activities to keep them busy. I made some signs and had a few different stations. One station was for card making. The girls could make a simple get well card or I hope you like the pillowcase card. The other stations were hula hooping, practicing some "Minute to Win it" games, and a bean bag toss.

While all the preparations were a bit time consuming, I just felt this was a great project and I wanted to make it happen.

The girls loved sewing. It was very exciting for them. They also seemed to understand what the project was all about. I felt really pleased with the whole thing.