Handprint Quilt

Scraps in the sewing room

Laying out the blocks

I pieced the back out of necessity - used up just about all the prints to make it fit. I really like pieced backs, so had planned to do that anyway - I really like how the flannel picks up the colors in the front.

The final product! This was a collaboration with the school administrator, who organized getting the handprints and printed them all out on printable fabric. Because the handprints were different sizes, it worked out that I wanted to make a "wonky squares" quilt anyway. Since it is a wall hanging, and because I didn't have a ton of time, I quilted straight around each handprint block, around each color block, and up each line of sashing. Very simple. It was also nice to do the wonky blocks - I didn't have to square everything up and stitch perfect seam allowances - just trim at the end to 10" blocks. Since the printer ink is water soluble, this type of quilt has to be dry-cleaned, so it isn't as practical as an actual quilt. Kind of a bummer, I like dual-use art. I needed to include the school motto and thank you (for J's teacher, who is leaving for a new job) so I printed everything out in the school font, and used black permanent market to trace and color it in on the aqua panels. It would probably hold up better to a wash than the handprint fabric! A quick and dirty solution I think works in this case.

All in all, a wonderful project and it was great to have a deadline, although we were still late to the party where we presented it. Sweet P really needs a girl quilt, she has this terrible navy and cranberry quilt from Mr. Sycamore's batchelor days. Her birthday is in August... stay tuned.