Maggie’s new school is hosting their annual Fall Festival tomorrow and each of the classes was asked to make a project to donate to a silent auction.  The Class Moms are asked to help organize this and (as I am one of the two responsible) I, of course, suggested that we make a quilt. To be honest, it just seemed the path of least resistance at the time.  However, this project has become so lovely that we decided to share it as our “Quilt of the Month #3.”

We simply cut blocks of organic cotton jersey from white, cream and tea and had the class (in conjunction with their 4^th grade buddies) draw pictures of “Family & Friends.” The project was spread out over a few mornings – just thirty minutes each of the mornings before the day started. The kids had a great time (were asking for more) and the results were outstanding.

We used Crayola Fabric Markers for the drawings and then added little bits of embroidery, appliqué and reverse appliqué from Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style.

Everyone who has been in our studio is amazed.  I wish that I had been collecting Maggie’s drawings since she was born to make a quilt for her (well, myself).  And I asked Maggie to start holiday themed blocks last week with trees, presents, snow, etc.  Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Follow the instructions below to make your own Friendship Quilt and wish us luck tomorrow at the silent auction!

Friendship Quilt

Finished size:  70” x 82”

Supplies:

4 yards organic cotton jersey in mixed colors white, organic and tea for quilt top (drawing)

4 yards organic cotton jersey in mixed colors of your choice (we used scraps of navy, pistachio, light grey, black, blueberry, turquoise and light blush) for the quilt back

Crayola Fabric Markers

2 spools Button Craft thread in Cream

Assorted scraps of organic cotton jersey, Button Craft thread and embroidery floss to accent drawings

Embroidery scissors

Sewing scissors

18” transparent ruler

Rotary cutter

Cutting mat

Tailor’s chalk

Hand-sewing needles

Optional:  Dover Stencil Books for Kids

Step 1

Using your rotary cutter, cutting mat and transparent ruler, cut 35 – 10” x 16” blocks for your quilt top and 35 – 10” x 16” blocks for your quilt back. We cut our blocks with the 10” edge of each block running with the grain (see Alabama Stitch Book or Alabama Studio Style for more information on finding your grainline).

Step 2

Have your children (and/or adults) draw scenes on the top (outside layer) of your blocks, keeping in mind that you will need a seam allowance of 1/4″ to connect your blocks.

Step 3

Lay out your blocks 5 blocks per row for 7 rows.  We used a large table to arrange the colors and designs for both the front and the back of the quilt.  (Mark blocks for placement if desired by giving each row a number and each block a letter.  For example, top left is block 1A and bottom right is block 7E.)

Step 4

Pin a quilt top block and a quilt backing block together and add any embroidery, appliqué or reverse appliqué desired to accent the drawings.  (We used a minimum of work to highlight a few blocks and used scraps of what we had available for the treads, fabrics and flosses.)

Step 5

Begin construction by sewing the blocks from each row together using 1/4″ seams and following instructions for seams from Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style. We have left all edges raw and all seams floating.

Step 6

Sew your rows together to complete the quilt and add a blanket stitch all the way around the outside edge.  We used cream thread for construction and blanket stitch.

Enjoy!