Dinosaur Quilt for Project Linus

It took a couple of years of trial and error, but I think I have finally worked out the kinks of the sewing project I do with my daughter's 3-6 year old classroom.  This year went so smoothly!  Many of the kids knew what to do already, and I picked a great design package that was cute, colorful, and stitched out quickly.  The kids each got to make an appliqued dinosaur with my embroidery machine and a nine patch square by gluing pre-cut fabric squares onto grid interfacing.  I then took everything home, and sewed it all together into a quilt that will be donated to Project Linus.

Here is our finished quilt:

 The photo doesn't do the colors justice;  it is deep, rich blues, greens, and bright yellow.  Every single dinosaur is unique, and they are all adorable. 

 The back of the quilt is a soft, fuzzy, baby blue.  My eight year old was with me when I went to buy the backing and he made the final choice.  I think he made the right call.  I think the darker green I was also looking at would have made the whole thing too dark.

 I took the quilt in today to show the kids.  They all get so excited to find the dinosaur they made on the finished quilt.

 Unfortunately, we are missing a few kids, but here are most of the little hands that worked so hard on the beautiful project.  The quilt colors look much better in this picture.





First, they picked out which dinosaur they wanted to make, and three colors of thread.

 Changing their thread color:

 There is a lot of thread inside the machine and they have to pull a long way to get it all out.


 I showed them how to thread the machine the first time, then they could try it themselves.  A few of the kindergartners remembered from previous years, and didn't want me to show them. 

Once threaded, the machine does all the work.  They just had to push the "start" button.

Before sewing the dinosaur down, they need to add some glue:

Then, they place the dinosaur on the fabric:

In between threading the machine and pushing the button, there was time to watch the machine stitch out their design:

Sometimes, there is enough time to talk, tell secrets, and visit with friends:

 I love how into it the boys get.

This little one talked my ear off.



Once their dinosaurs were finished, they made a nine patch square:

I discovered that it was easier if I put a little glue inside each square and just had them place their fabric on top.  Adding the glue themselves was a bit challenging for some kids, and others glued it so securely that I had a hard time repositioning things when I got it home.


Lastly, here are some close ups of the dinosaurs the kids made:

 I love the polka dot binding!  My son wanted a solid yellow that I had, but I liked the polka dots better.  I wish the color in these photos was more true to life.

This was really fun project!  I'll be a little sad to say good-bye to this quilt when I drop it off, but hopefully it will make someone's day a little brighter.

Project Linus Quilt; Cupcake Edition

It took way longer to finish it, but we are finally done with the quilt project I did with my daughter's 3-6 year old class!  It is sooooo cute, but next time I think I'll pass on making sashing out of two inch squares.  They took a very, very long time to iron, sew in the small batches the kids made, then group them into longer strips.  It also meant a lot more work lining up seams (some of which could have gone better).  On top of it being a time consuming project, I was out of town, or had other commitments that kept me away from home, so working on the quilt was a bit hit and miss for a while.  Anyway, without further ado, here is the completed cupcake quilt!

The back (which I neglected to take a picture of) is a bright orange ultra cuddle.  This is one bright and happy quilt!

And here are some of the little ones who made it:

 Note the little one right in front.  She has a lot more personality than she is showing here.

 There it is!  I took a couple of other pictures, and in each one she is striking a different pose.

Here, they were admiring the quilt and pointing out which cupcake they made.  "There's mine!" is one of my favorite things about doing this with them.  They all get so excited to see the one they made in the finished product.

Each child had a turn using my embroidery machine to make a cupcake.  I had the fabric cupcake pieces pre-cut for them, and they picked out a top and bottom, then thread colors for the top and bottom.  They all also glued tiny squares of fabric to interfacing that I then brought home, ironed, and sewed into the patchwork sashing strips.

Here are the kids at work  (Check out their eyes in the pictures.  You can see how focused they were.):

1.  Changing the thread color.

This last picture is of him taking the spool off and pulling the thread out of the machine.  A lot of thread is looped through the machine and they had to pull pretty far to get it all to come out.


2.  Threading the machine.  Only the very youngest three year olds didn't thread the machine.  Some children needed a little help, but a few did it unassisted.

3.  Lowering the pressure foot (which is way in the back and hard to reach with little arms).

4.  Pushing the start button.

5.  Putting glue on their cupcake pieces and placing them in the outline on the fabric.

6.  Watching.  Sometimes, it gets very crowded around the table where we are working.  Other times, everyone is busy with their own work and the person sewing can really focus.

 

The boys get into it just as much as the girls.  I loved it when I realized there were all boys at the table one day.

7.  Glueing fabric squares onto interfacing.

Lastly, here are some closer shots of the finished cupcakes in the quilt.

There are more than 50 different fabrics used in the quilt.  Many of the squares match fabrics used in the cupcakes, and the kids had fun spotting which ones matched.  All of the colored fabrics were from my scrap bins and it was great to make a little bit of a dent in my scrap pile (even if it is still pretty big).

I have a couple of other personal quilts to finish up, and then I'll donate all of them to Project Linus.  Hopefully, whomever gets this quilt will love it was much as the kids loved making it.