I've done a couple of the "race" quilts, although I did them at home by myself. I didn't find it boring at all. One of them I cut the 2.5" strips myself from every piece of left over pink fabric I had in my stash. I didn't worry if the lengths were 44" or not. I sewed the strips together on the diagonal because I think they look better that way. This quilt has turned out to be cute as all get out - because of the various pinks (some solids, some prints), it looks like "Arizona Sunset," so that's what I've named it. It is for a great niece who is a 4 year old little diva and I'm about finished with some of the straight line quilting. I'm using straight lines 1/4" away from the seam lines on every other strip, including sewing around the ends (making the quilting lines a long rectangle every other strip). I'm going to then do some fancy stitching in a few places and then applique her initials on it and probably add a few pink bows. The backing is a pretty sparkly "lime" green with the butterflies of all different colors - pinks, purples, yellows, etc. It's going to be really cute if I ever get finished with all the quilting lines!!!
I've also done one in the Texas 2.5" jelly roll. There are a couple of strips I wish I had left out of the stack because they just do not fit in. But it will be cute when it is finished. The backing fabric is a red with bluebonnets on it and it will wrap to the front instead of having an applied binding. I'm then going to cut out some appliques of Texas in that red fabric and place them in several places on the front of the quilt. I'm making this one to hang over the leather sofa in our den. I'm a native Texan, lived here all my life, and never in my born days have I had a single piece of Texas art or craft in my house. I'm 64 years old - guess it's about time!