An elementary school near me has a wall of quilts, each covered with a sheet of plexi-glass bolted directly to the wall. I admire the quilts each time I go to teach the 5th graders at the school. I don't know which age group made the memory hangings, it appears to be 3rd grade or below. They were made from old t's of assorted colors. The light ones were decorated by the children with fabric paint, the darker ones appear to have used bleach pens. Each block has the name of the child, and their crudely drawn art. Some designs are recognizable as an animal or tree, most art is more abstract, or free form lines. The center blocks are the only printed ones. They are the school T, I'm guessing, from the years the quilts were made. The blocks are not much larger than my hand. They have been squared, sandwiched and turned with top stitching around the edges, then SID. No sashing, no borders, no binding, but colorful and meaningful.
Although I can envision the kids bringing in the shirts and decorating them, I can't picture them taking a part in the sewing, unless it would be to tie-tac the blocks. What would be cool would be if the quilter could take the project to the school where the kids could watch the assembly process, perhaps near the lunchroom, where people would be passing and could watch. The second option would be to have a video of the quilter at work, so that upon replay, the kids could see their recycled blocks being formed into something grand.
My wheels are turning. I've figured out how I'll use this idea as a recycle project with my environmental group over Spring break. Thanks for the brainstorming session, and good luck with your project, be it pillows, quilt or any of the other great ides expressed here.
Carol