Age group(s) for this celebration activity:
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond

Description of this celebration activity:
Make something that you and your family will have for the next 1000 years! Create your own family quilt. Start collecting fabric and materials now. Save favorite old clothes (if you're finally ready to give them up!), old baby blankets, maybe the outfit you were brought home from the hospital in (if you're willing to cut it up!) and pieces of cloth (possibly high school mementos) that have had significant meaning in each family member's life. Each family member can be responsible for coming to the party with their own pile of fabrics.

Setting up and preparing for this celebration activity:
1. The size of the quilt can vary. You can make a small 14 x 16-inch wall hanging, a 4 x 6-foot lap quilt, or a queen-size bed quilt.
2. Cut the fabrics into 3- 4- or 5-inch squares, depending on how big you want the squares to be.(Hint: Create a template by using an object from home like a coaster, a CD-ROM or a piece of cardboard cut to size.
3. Sew squares together allowing for a 1/4-inch seam allowance into a grid pattern to create the overall square or rectangular shape of the quilt. (Number of squares will depend on how big you want the quilt to be.)
4. Make a border out of one of the fabrics, one that is representative of the entire family, by cutting the same fabric up into the small squares and sewing them around the entire edge of the quilt.
5. Finish off the quilt with batting cut to size and a single piece of fabric for the back, (folding over 1/4-inch for edging).
6. Stitch-in-the-ditch or hand-tie the quilt.

Estimated time will vary but it can be a great all day New Year's Eve event that spills over into New Year's Day and beyond. Or start quilting early, during your children's holiday vacation time.

For more detailed step-by-step quilting instructions, check out: Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts, By Patricia Wilens, and Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do, By Roberta Horton, Liz Aneloski (Editor)

Other suggestions or comments:
If you're not willing to part with fabrics from home items, you can also take the family on a trip to the local fabric store. Everyone can pick out 1 yard of 4 to 5 different fabrics that reflect their own tastes and personalities. Let the kids make hand and feet prints on white fabric using paint especially designed for fabrics. Have every family member sign and date the quilt.