Time is speeding by! The April 21st deadline for the Tell a Story Contest is closing in. Have you started making up your story yet?
Below are the six steps that we use to write our stories. Maybe they will help you, too.
1. Give a name to the character you pick. It’s easier to make up a story about something that has a name.
2. Look at the pictures of the fabrics. Imagine your character talking to or having an adventure with what’s in the fabric. For example, let’s say the frog wins the jumping contest but ends up on the train by mistake and the train starts to move!

3. Pick more of the fabrics and do the same thing. For example, say the fairy grants the frog three wishes – what three fabrics would make a great story about that? (Now you’re up to five fabrics – you need at least seven, so only two more to go!)
4. Cut out the pictures of the fabrics you have chosen and arrange them in a line. Try to tell the story. Rearrange the pictures until you get a story you like.
5. Think of a fun ending – a surprise always is good or an ending that makes the listener wonder. At the end of our frog story, the listener has to decide whether Winnie the Frog was a really a frog — or a boy.
6. Stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself the story. Or tell someone else. Or have someone make a video. This is a great way to find out if you would like to change anything.
Then it’s up to you whether you want to enter the contest with a video or a written story.
Remember: Nothing has to be perfect; the idea is to use your imagination and have fun doing it!
The Grand Prize is a personalized Storybook Quilt or a $300 cash gift card; First Prize is a Storybook Quilt. We expect an adult to help with the story a bit and an adult must be the official contest entrant. Please see full contest information here.