By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The hum of sewing machines permeated what is typically a quiet place at Henning School on Wednesday afternoon. As students carefully feed fabric through the machines to make a perfect stitch, another group of volunteers and students cut out the pattern for what will soon become a flannel blanket for a new child.

Earlier this month, Sharing Love and Hope (a non-profit based in Alexandria, Minn.) donated multiple bolts of flannel fabric to the Kids Quilt Club. The donation led to a discussion with Henning School Librarian Pam Wiese about how the students could become involved in a project to donate some of their work. 

Diane Thorson reached out to a Family Health Supervisor at Otter Tail County Public Health, who shared that registered nurses make home visits to pregnant and parenting families to provide support and education about community resources. These visits help promote parent-child relationships and encourage health social-emotional and physical development. As part of the visits, nurses provide a flannel blanket to encourage parents to provide daily “tummy” time to strengthen neck, back and tummy muscles. 

A special message to parents stating “I’m a soft pretty blanket to admire and adore but I’m not for a crib; I’m placed on the floor. Spend time with your babies on their tummies every day but always take them with you when you need to walk away,” is included inside each blanket that is given to the new family.

Thorson said the joint partnership has provided students with an opportunity to not only work on their sewing skills with the help of a number of local volunteers, but has also given students the chance to create an item that will help a young child develop at home.

The flannel quilts will be delivered to Otter Tail Public Health in April and from there students in the Kids Quilt Club will turn their attention to a new project before wrapping up for the school year.

“In April, their quilts will be taken to Public Health to be given to families.  The students are excited about making the quilts for babies and being very careful to make sure the finished product is well done,” said Thorson.

The Kids Quilt Club began this year at Henning School and meets every Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. The club is primarily open to students in grades 3-5. 

The group began the year by making small lap quilts, pillows and other small items as they learn basic sewing skills and use their creativity to select fabrics, develop pattern design and then stitch the items together. 

“Learning how to ‘slow down’ to be able to make a straight line seam is a skill that all have become more proficient at doing. Taking the time to pin fabrics hasn’t been a favorite task during their project,” said Thorson.

The Kids Quilt Club is one of a number of after school and after hours programs that has been unveiled at the Henning School Library this year as Weiss and Laura Smith have received a number of grants to make the school and public library more accessible to the public.