Friday, May 18, 2012

Quilting challenge at Frosted Designs

Greetings! 
I have a very unique project to share with you! 
 When I was working in the skilled nursing facility at our local senior community I noticed that in the activities area there were puzzles, coloring, yarn lacing, and other activities for the residents to do that are at the skill level of the residents. Unfortunately at that skill level, they are very much geared to children. I live in a Mennonite community, so many (actually most!) of the female residents in the SNF grew up with quilting as an integral part of their lives. 
I have many co-coordinating paper scraps and came up with the idea to use them to make an activity related to quilting for the ladies to work on in the activities center! 

I cut 4 1/2" by 1 1/2" rectangles and 1 1/2' squares out of my paper scraps, mounted them on chip board, and glued a magnet on the back of each piece. I found a 14" square magnet board in the school supply section (unfortunately blue was the only color they had). The pieces are large and easy to handle but because of the magnet on the back, they stay put and can be manipulated without them getting away! 

I made lots and lots (and lots) of these pieces
and then I lost interest in the project :( 
(or perhaps had too many other projects to do!)

When Frosted Designs came up with this challenge, it gave me a renewed interest in the project! In playing with the pieces I discovered that I need to make more (lots more) pieces and I need to make some that are 3" square. Not to worry - I still have a huge amount of scraps! I really think the ladies at the senior community will have fun making "quilt blocks" and it should stimulate lots of good conversation as well.

The other designers at Frosted Designs have come up with beautiful projects to inspire you, so hop over and check them out! Make a quilting inspired project of your own and link it up for the opportunity to win a great prize!


Thanks for stopping by my blog! 
I appreciate your comments!

3 comments:

Jacquie Southas said...

Teresa - this idea is fabulous! My mother has demetia and can't concentrate on too much, but was a life long knitter and struggles with what to do with her hands - I might steal this idea.

I'm really enjoying the challenges at Frosted Designs - keep them coming :)

Jacquie (one of Lori M's west coast peeps)

Gail @ http://biblelovenotes.com said...

What a great way to stimulate older women who once did quilting. It also seems like a good activity for children. Thanks for sharing this.

Shelly said...

This is an excellent idea, Teresa. When my grandma was in a nursing home i noticed that some of the ladies were bored or even a bit insulted by the activites offered to them. This would be a lot of fun for them.