Wednesday, October 07, 2009

scrappy

We dragged two large sacks filled with fabric scraps to Tsia's school during the first week. School budgets are incredibly tight around here, and her school seems to do a really good job of utilizing the resources they have. I knew they would appreciate the cuttings that have been accumulating at the studio over the last couple of years.


Sure enough, just a few days later the children had stenciled leaves on muslin with brightly colored paints. And the next thing I knew, I had been sent home with a little assignment: the teacher requested a quilt made from the children's art. What could I say? It may be my busiest month of the year, but you can't say no when the teacher gives you homework, can you?


I decided to use the materials I had on hand to finish the quilt, and the process felt a little Gee's Bend, which was fun. I arranged the painted fabric pieces so they complimented each other and then gradually added strips of colored fabrics to join them. My favorite part is the bits of Denyse Schmidt's County Fair collection that I think keep the quilt from looking too predictable (although I would have added more pieces of those fabrics if I had them--didn't keep enough of the scraps for myself, I guess). The back is made from a piece of Michael Miller organic herringbone check with no batting between the layers since the herringbone is soft and thick, like a light-weight blanket.


Tsia kept me company on Saturday when I did most of the work on the quilt. We had two leftover leaves that were printed on very small scraps, so those leaves were appliqued to the finished quilt. Since it can't be washed (I'm fairly certain it would ruin the paint, since it's probably not fabric paint), I just fused the leaves to the quilt top and stitched them in place with a running stitch, leaving the raw edges showing. I had some helpers when we delivered the quilt to the classroom, and they love it!

14 comments:

  1. And it came out so beautifully! I was given a bag of fabric that had been painted by my daughter's preschool class and was assigned to turn it all into a Joseph's coat (from the bible story). What an enjoyable project and she was so proud when we brought it in. And the teacher still uses it when she teaches that unit. Awesome.

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  2. uniquetouches8:15 PM

    I like this quilt. It is beautiful. You gave me an idea. I may do this with some of my art classes. I teach art to grades 1-5. This would be easy and quicker than some of my other ideas for a class quilt.

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  3. So neat - and special for the kids who helped make it!

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  4. That looks great :)

    I recently made a quilt from a bag of scraps from a friends sewing room. I love the slightly wonky way everything came together. It's perfect.

    I love the idea of having children paint or print on fabric and then using it in a quilt for them. I'm going to stash that idea for later.

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  5. Amazing. Are those Tsia's little feet behind the quilt, too? So darling!

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  6. How sweet!
    I love how it turned out.

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  7. That is amazing!!!--I LOVE putting children's artwork in practical use! What a treat it is!! This is very inspiring! (I may have to do a similar/same project next week for my fall unit!!)

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  8. Anonymous1:49 AM

    The quilt is fantastic!

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  9. A fall-time quilters delight!

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  10. really cute! i love the idea of turning a class's artwork into a quilt. awesome job

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  11. I was thinking Gee's Bend, too! Did you plan it that way, or did it just turn out so lovely?

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  12. Of course, they loved it !! How could it be otherwise ?? It is beautiful, you did an amazing job ! Bravo !

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