Hi! Welcome back. This is my 2nd entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. It is also entered into the Large Quilts category.
This quilt is named Our Art Quilt and was commissioned by the art teacher at Sunshine's school. It now hangs in the school's lobby for all to see when they enter. The blocks are all the art work of the students and were colored with Crayola Fabric Markers on White Muslin fabric.
The construction of the quilt top itself wasn't difficult at all though I did have to rework the original design when I received 81 blocks instead of the 72 that I was originally expecting.
When it came time to actually quilt this, that is when I had some issues. You see...every design idea just didn't work. They were too perfect (though they certainly weren't perfectly quilted), too structured, looked too much like an adult did it. The intent of this quilt was to have it look as much as possible like the kids themselves made it and when I remembered that, I had the epiphany that resulted in the final quilting design that I used.
I quilted it with wonky ribbons, just as if my kids actually did the quilting instead of me and I'm so happy that it really worked. It suited the style of the quilt perfectly.
The art teacher provided the fabric for the border which helped to reinforce the quilting design since it is of kids' drawings. When sewing on the binding I remembered the same thought, keep it looking like the kids did it. They certainly wouldn't have hand sewn it down on the back as was my original plan and thanks to a suggestion from my son Jammer, I sewed it down with a squiggly line that also suited the quilt perfectly.
The binding was pieced together from the same solid rainbow fabrics used for the sashing.
I totally love the resulting finished quilt and the art teacher actually cried tears of joy when she saw it for the 1st time. BTW...that smiley face block is one of my favorites.
The other teachers were equally as thrilled with the final result. I was worried that they wouldn't like my quilting design but those worries weren't realized. They totally agreed with my choice and also felt that anything else wouldn't have looked right or like the kids themselves did it, which is what they wanted.
I stopped by the school's lobby recently to see how it looked hanging on the wall and the director told me that it has become a huge hit with the students. Every single day a bunch of them come out to look at it, to point out their own blocks or to find the blocks of their friends. She said that from her office she loves hearing when the kids discover yet another fun block that they hadn't noticed before. Needless to say, they are so proud of what they helped to create and I know that it will be a source of inspiration to the young students for many years to come.
This quilt finished at 95" x 65" and is entered in the Large Quilts category. You can see all the quilts entered in this category here and voting for your favorite will be Nov 1st through the 7th. You can also vote for it as one of your Viewer's Choice awards here. Enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival and as always, it promises to be a great party.
what a great quilt! I can see why she cried.
Perrfect choice to enter into the festival!! I loved it the first time I saw it and love it even more now!!
I really love love this quilt!! So special with all the great drawings!! So glad it's hanging for many to see!
Wow, this is such a great quilt!! The quilting is perfect for it too. Fantastic work!