Is there a Quilter in the House?
August 12, 2008If you've been speculating about where I've been these past several days, vacationing in some exotic location, you'd be wrong. However, I was at a camp all week...band camp!
It all started in 2001 when my son Marcus began high school and joined the marching band. One of the reasons I started my home-based quilting business in the first place was so that I could stay involved in my children's lives (though the older they get, the less involved they want me to be.) So I promptly volunteered to help out during the summer marching band camp.
My first assignment was to work as a "field parent". It was grueling...I had to sit in the shade for hours on end, catching up on all the gossip among the band parents (whose kid was dating whom, which drummer lost his sticks on the 40-yard-line, etc.). Once every two hours, we had to pour 200 cups of water for the students' water break. Okay, it was a cushy job, and one would wonder why I would ever consider giving it up for something else. But I couldn't help but wonder if my talents couldn't be put to better use in another capacity.
The next year, I discovered that there was a "uniform committee". This group of volunteers was responsible for fitting each child with a uniform, including hat, shoes, and gloves. What quilter wouldn't jump at the chance to get a needle and thread in her hand and fondle fabric? I said, "Sign me up!" and was immediately assigned the task of shortening jacket sleeves. After five long days of that, I decided that I never want to make a wool quilt (have you ever smelled wet wool and sweaty teenager together?)
All that time sewing sleeve hems gave me a chance to keenly observe the fitting process. Naturally, I had oodles of suggestions about how to make the process run more smoothly and efficiently. But with Marcus graduating the next year and my daughter not yet in high school, I wisely kept my nose to my sewing and happily hemmed pant after pant after pant. Nicole joined the band in 2006, so it was time to re-up as a marching band volunteer. Once again, I was back in the uniform department, making alterations. With a 200-member band, that can take some time!
The uniform chairperson at the time had been at the job for over 10 years, and was not keen on change. She kept track of uniform assignments on mimeographed lists, where she simply crossed out the previous year's students and penciled in the new student next to a jacket size. To her credit, she knew nearly every student who crossed the threshold during those years, and would often assign a student's uniform based on who they "most resembled" from previous years. "Oh, you look like you're just about the same size as Jimmy Brown. He graduated, so his jacket should fit you perfectly!"
It wasn't long before my tongue got the better of me and I started spouting out ways to streamline the fitting process. You know the rest of the story...if you open your mouth too big, the job could be yours! I soon found myself at the high school every day, measuring every pair of pants and every jacket the band owned to discover its true size. They had been altered so many times without keeping records that no one knew what the original size of any piece was! However, once we had an accurate size for each uniform piece, all we had to do was to start actually measuring the student to find a perfect fit (even if we didn't have a perfect memory)!
After two years of getting the uniform department whipped into shape, I'm entering my final year as the official "chairperson" since Nicole will graduate next May. If you've made it this far in this QuiltTalk episode, by now you are certainly wondering what the heck marching band uniforms have to do with quilting!
Believe it or not, I do have a point (beyond keeping accurate records) and it has to do with education. As I recruited volunteers to help me with this year's camp, I discovered that many were afraid to step forward, because they didn't know how to sew. Not even sew on a button. Coming from a circle of sewing friends and the quilting community, I was shocked. Surely they had sewed on a button...nope! "Send it to the dry cleaner or use a safety pin, or (gasp) retire the garment!" Right then and there, I made them all sign up for uniform duty, regardless of sewing skill. I could not let this opportunity to teach someone to sew pass me by.
Somehow along the way, we have lost a generation of sewers. These women, most in their 30's and 40's, were never taught how to handle a needle and thread. Little did they know that by the end of band camp not only would they be sewing on buttons, but would be hemming pants and mending torn sleeves! With just a few minutes of instruction, the non-sewers learned how to thread a needle and tie a knot and took the first steps toward a love affair with needle and thread. It wasn't long before their faces were glowing from their simple accomplishments, and they were ready to tackle something more challenging, like a jacket sleeve. A few even remarked about rescuing a shirt or two from the rag box now that they knew how to sew on a button!
Even today, my local school system no longer includes a sewing unit in the Family and Consumer Science class. If we aren't careful, yet another generation will slip by without knowing the joy, relaxation, and sense of accomplishment that can come from a needle and thread. They won't understand how their creativity can be expressed through pursuits like quilting and sewing, or how they can even make ends meet simply by patching a hole in their favorite shirt.
So, I'm issuing a two-fold challenge to all my readers. Let me know how it goes:
Mentor a Non-Sewer.
It could be your sister, daughter, neighbor child, or even your grandson. Share your love of quilting and sewing with them, and teach them how to handle a needle and thread. Whether it be a with simple button or an entire quilt, help them to discover the pleasure that can come from those simple tools.
Volunteer.
Many organizations can benefit from the skills you have. Trust me, sewers are in short supply and high demand! Check with your local girl scout or boy scout office. Both organizations offer badges related to sewing. How about your local school? Can the Family and Consumer Science teacher use some help? Don't forget your local church or mission group. Can you repair clothing for your local thrift store?
And speaking selfishly, how about the marching band???
|
