Piecing a doll blanket would be easy! Even if you just did a small 9-patch that was tied rather than quilted. Draw stitching lines on the wrong side of the material, and encourage her that when she stitches, to try and make it stay on the line of BOTH pieces.
Quilts - you can take this project a step further and do a community service project. My sis makes quilts and donates them to places like nursing homes and to battered women's shelters. Pillows are really simple and fun. My mom and sis make them out of flannel for the little kids. My sis also make sachet pillows, fills them with lavender and ties them in stacks of three and they look really pretty that way. My sewing machine went on the fritz or we would start doing a sewing class.
I have an apron that I started since I can't sew and my grandma got me a sewing machine recently. I got a how to for dummies and I like the patterns since they are pretty self explanatory. I plan on getting some more supplies for us so we can get home ec credit but we can make them as gifts for family members and friends.
Central Ohio also has an organization that gives quilts/blankets to children when they go into the foster system. The idea is to give them something that is THEIRS, no matter where they go.
Jackie, that is where we got the idea from originally. I had volunteered for awhile at a day program for homeless kids. The kids were given a homemade blanket, teddy bear and a homemade totebag with toiletries and little goodies. The adults were given a tote also.
