Quilt Sampler tutorial for a young kid (6)

[elanorh]

My daughter is seized by blinding desire to quilt. Which is ironic, as I have barely quilted anything since she was born six years ago!!

Anyway, I told her that this summer, we would do a sampler square towards a larger sampler quilt - and make more squares depending on how much she likes it once she starts.

I have a nice old treadle sewing machine that I had planned to teach her how to sew on, so that is covered.

However - I need a nice beginner's sampler quilt pattern/tutorial. Something with some interesting squares which look nice alone (don't need to be imbedded within a larger pattern to make sense) -- I had thought I'd have her start with a four-patch, then do a nine-patch, and at least one simple applique (a heart?).... but is there some sort of nice tutorial or pattern (free or for sale) that you'd recommend?

I had envisioned this being something that we would just dabble in, maybe do 2-3 squares over the course of the summer, maybe finish the quilt in 3-4 years. But she is really anxious to get started!! Which I can absolutely empathize with, I know the feeling of wanting to start a project, go fabric touching, etc.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I had thought she probably wouldn't be wanting to start sewing/quilting 'til she was closer to eight.

[jrabbit]

my first machine-sewing project ever was a simple pillow - 4 squares on one side and one square backing. I don't think it has to be any more interesting than that to be appealing. Pick out several fabrics she likes. This was a great way to learn how to match up corners, by the way, since the squares were large enough to handle. I kept that pillow for YEARS.