Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Friends Together Forever - Little Artists' quilt finished

Here it is!
The quilt that so you all have been so anxious to see completed. It turned out really wonderful, better than I ever thought it would. The teachers let the kids choose the name for the quilt so I very proudly present

Friends Together Forever
My long arm quilter used a primary rainbow variegated thread and stitched straight lines in the sashings. She didn't do any quilting in the artwork blocks themselves.
The teachers chose this fun Schoolies Alphabet print for the backing and I did a scrappy binding with the leftover strips from the sashings.
My shop hopping partner drove on Friday and while we traveled I hand stitched the binding down on the back, getting 3 sides done before we got back home. I stayed up to finish the last side and clipped the final thread at 11:30 pm. The quilt finished at 65" x 65".
On the way out of town on our shop hop, I ran by the school to show the teachers and the kids the quilt. They were beyond excited and each kid wanted to see just where his/her block was placed in the quilt. It was fun to hear each of them yell "There's mine!"
The head teacher, on the right, received last year the Guiding Young Discoveries quilt and she brought it to school when we started this project so the kids could see what we were working towards creating. You can see it on the chair next to her.

The label was sewn on right before I had to leave to deliver the quilt to the silent auction venue.
The response was beyond overwhelming. Everyone wanted to know how we made the art blocks and I received tons of compliments. Even the event coordinator, a quilter herself, was amazed. The other teachers were jealous of this cool project....there is quite a bit of competition between them to see who's class project will sell for the most money during the live auction part of the event. Although the class projects were really great, as you can guess, this one was the highest seller.

The 1st grade teacher who Jammer will have next year said to me "we have to talk"! I'm not sure how we can top this project but I'm sure that if we put our heads together, we'll come up with something equally spectacular.

If you want to see how we did the art blocks, you can read all about it here. I know that I'll be using this method again sometime. Handmade gifts for the grandmas will be a perfect project for me to do with my kidlets during the warm days of summer.

11 of you added your own colorful comments:

Karen said...

The quilt turned out awesome. I can see why it sold for the most money. This had to be so much fun to make. I can't wait to see how you top this for next year.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Just a wonderful project that deserved the recognition.

Linda said...

It's fabulous Michele! What an awesome job. I love the quilting. Just perfect.

Anonymous said...

One word......AWESOME!!!!! Hugs, Doreen

Kathy said...

This quilt is outrageous!!! Awesome work on the whole group's part.

Janarama said...

Spectacular! Such a happy quilt with all of the bright colors.

Carol said...

So incredibly fun and colorful.I LOVE it.

Needled Mom said...

It is fabulous!!! Great job and how nice that it was the highest auction item.

Anonymous said...

Oh it looks great! I love the backing too! I am sure they were all thrilled. Congrats. I am looking forward to preschool next year. :D

Judy1522 said...

That is a truly amazing one of a kind quilt. It turned out so beautiful and so bright and colorful.

Anonymous said...

awesome quilt and congrats on the fund raising