We talked to Stacy Iest Hsu about her Cut. Sew. Create projects last month. This time around, let's hear from someone who's given them a try—Katie Christenson.

Katie is 13 years old and in 7th grade and the daughter of Moda designer Vanessa Christenson. While helping her mom at Quilt Market in Kansas City last May, Katie saw the Cut. Sew. Create projects and was eager to sew them.

Katie credits her mom with teaching her the basics of sewing, but Vanessa says that Katie is an adventurous stitcher who, on her own, made a shirt for herself and clothes for her Barbie and American Girl dolls. "I thought it would be nice to give them some new outfits," she says. With her mom's help, she also made a quilt from one of Vanessa's layer cakes. "I use it like a blanket on my bed," she says,

Though she's not new to stitching, Katie acknowledges there's plenty to learn and was excited that the llama pillow taught her how to sew curved seams. "I've never done that before and I was surprised there is a special way to do curved seams," she says. "But I would do it again!"

Vanessa says the excellent instructions made these a pleasure to work on with Katie. "I was surprised how easily and smoothly this went," she says. "They're great for teaching skills. It was one thing to use already cut-out layer cake squares for a quilt, but these had great instructions for cutting and sewing something three-dimensional and there was even a portion for practicing on, before sewing the final product. Really, all I did was give her a couple of pointers." Vanessa also thinks these would make great gifts for Katie to give friends for birthday presents. "They're really cute and it'd be so personal."

Katie echoes her mom's thoughts. "It was simple and when it was done it looked just like the picture," she says. Next she'd like to try making the sloth purse, to learn how to put in a zipper.

Does Katie have any advice for kids thinking about learning to sew? "Just that it's fun," she says. "There are little things to learn, like keeping your needle down, that make it easier. But you can do it!"

If you're interested in helping a young friend learn to stitch, check your local quilt shop of Cut. Sew Create kits. They're great to both make and give for holiday gifts! Do you have any tips or experiences teaching young'uns to sew? We'd love to hear!