The Battle River Quilters’ Guild (Camrose and Area, Alberta) embarked on a new project this winter, holding a Youth Sew Camp. The classes were held on 4 professional development days in January, February (2) and April. The classes were held in collaboration with the City of Camrose Recreation Department who looked after the advertising, registrations, and expense payment. Guild members volunteered their expertise in selecting projects, shopping for materials and teaching. The children were ages 8-14. We found that the 8-year-olds tired early in the day, so would recommend the youngest be 9 years old another time. The Recreation Department holds other activities on PD Days in the same facility, so we were able to join with the other groups in break activities and lunchtime videos. The class went shopping one day at the local quilt shop to choose their fabric for making pillowcases. This was great fun for them and they chose a wide variety of fabrics. The shop very generously gave us a 20% discount on the fabric purchased that day. Even with only 4 classes, we found that the students gained confidence in threading and operating their machines and greatly improved their skills in that time. We hope we have inspired a new generation of sewists!
