Kim Schmaltz, the owner of Never Done Quilting in Beiseker, said she hopes participating in the Row by Row Junior initiative this year will help introduce local young people – aged six to 14 – to the hobby of quilting. “When I went to sign up for Row by Row, I saw the junior side of it and thought it would be a great thing, too,” she said. “It would be great to get some kids into quilting.” Offered for the first time in 2017, Row by Row Junior is an offshoot of the very popular Row by Row Experience, which has been organized in quilt stores around the world since 2011. Each year, the organization picks a theme, and quilt stores design a quilt block based on that theme – offered to customers free of charge. Customers can visit numerous stores, collect a number of row block patterns and sew these together to create a quilt. Prizes are offered for the first participants to return to a store with a completed quilt. “This year’s theme is called Sew Musical. (The organization does) have fabric…with lots of musical notes and musical instruments and stuff like that,” Schmaltz said, adding while this material is suggested, participants are also free to use their creativity and pick their own fabrics. The Row by Row Junior block is designed by the organizers and provided to individual quilt stores, like Never Done Quilting, to hand out. “There’s five different patterns they can pick from – they’re kid-friendly,” Schmaltz said. “The cutting instructions are basic, the designs are very basic.” According to Schmaltz, junior participants can make all five row blocks and sew them together to create a lap quilt. The organization has also provided kid-friendly instructions to make a backpack, a wall hanging or place mats, she added. The Row by Row Experience – both for adults and for kids – runs from June 21 through September 4. The pattern Schmaltz designed, along with kits to complete it, will be available at the store beginning June 21. More information about the project, including a map with all the participating stores, can be found online at rowbyrowexperience.com
