Preschool quilt help!
 

Hello quilters!

I am very new to quilting. Having only pieced one top together and made a rag quilt for my niece. I bravely volunteered to help with the yearly quilt my daughter's prek class makes. Good news is that it is only ever going to hang on the wall of the classroom. Which means as long as the top looks good I will be golden.

So, looking at the ones already on the wall I saw that the kids usually have a picture of themselves on a square with maybe a drawing or hand print. I was thinking of having a large block in the middle with a large class photo. then have the kids either draw a picture on plain fabric or get different patterns that reflect the theme and place a hand print on it. I am just unsure how to calculate the size as the class photo block will be bigger. Anyone have any places or suggestions on how to do this?

My other thought was to use smaller blocks in the middle but put individual picture ala Brady bunch style. Then have blocks made by the kids around the pictures. Again I have no idea how to calculate the sizes needed for this.

SO my real question is how do I figure out the right size for a quilt and how would I go about calculating it?

Thanks for reading this!

Will the class photo be big enough that you can get two smaller ones at half the size of the photo? Or maybe you can just add borders to the small blocks to size them to match the larger block.

I do not claim to be a math whiz by any means but I would start with the question of what size you want to have when you are finished, and how many kids are in the class to make your individual squares. Once you know how big you want it when done then we can take it apart to see how big each piece should be, kwim?

What a fun project!

There will be 17 kids in the class plus 3 teachers...I don't have any size for the quilt in mind but I do have a small sewing machine, so it should be kept just larger than a baby quilt...or maybe twin sized. Not sure which.

I have been thinking of making the blocks the kids draw on 8 1/2x8 1/2 or 9 1/2 x 9 1/2... I know most 4 or 5 yr old's like larger spaces to draw on.

As for the class picture, since 3 kids will be transitioning into the class we'll have to take a picture of the entire class. So, I can do many things regarding the picture at that point. If we use a class picture, I'd like the picture to be easy to see from a reasonable distance.

buy the iron on crayons, get several boxes because they will use all the red... let each child draw an apple with one leaf and a stem... then let them another color to put their name on them.... simple block rows, coordinating borders, done.... an apple for the teacher.... ps...do not correct their pix... they will be perfect...just as a prescooler draws them...

What ever you decide for the blocks, think quilt as you go to deal with the limits of the smaller machine size... I think this would work great with framing up the individual blocks the kids make :) Enjoy - I did a quilt a few years back with 24 kids in the special ed classes ages 6-12. Each cut out shapes in contact paper, arranged & stuck them on a batik block I precut for them. Then they painted, let dry & removed the contact paper. I washed all the blocks and put them together. It was auctioned off for a couple hundred dollars at the school :) and the kids were so proud. The owner of a local toy store bought it & has it on the wall at his shop.

i've been doing a class quilt with a local pre-school for 12 years now- every year we do a new one- it is one of the kids and teacher's favorite activities!
i start with cutting 13" squares of pre washed muslin- i iron freezer paper to the backs of each square-then use painters tape around the 4 edges-giving the kids a (frame) and securing the edges-
each child then draws, decorates their block any way they want- sometimes the teachers dictate a theme- or somehow work it into their lessons- sometimes it's been a free-for-all. i drop off the fabric squares and usually a couple weeks later i recieve a phone call to set up the next steps-
the kids use their own crayons- it is not necessary to purchase special crayons for crayon quilts- in fact the dollar store (less expensive ones) tend to work the best-
when the pictures are all done i collect them all-take them home and heat set them all- (by using a brown paper sack cut open as a pressing cloth) the brown paper absorbs the excess wax- and sets the colors.
then i set up class time with the teachers-we generally do an hour at a time.
during the 2 weeks waiting for the pictures i cut 3" strips of fabrics- 20" long in all kinds of great colors- prints- everything i can get my hands on
i go back to class with my little singer
the kids favorite part happens next- each child gets to pick 4 strips of fabric- and take turns sewing them around their block---the boys love using the machine the most!
one of the teachers man's an ironing board and as each child stitches their 4 strips around their block they take them to the teacher who trims corners and presses them-
when everyone has framed their block they lay them out on the floor- arrange them how they want them (this is a totally hands on class project) then we decide if it needs sashing strips or if it's ok as is- i carefully number each block top left to bottom right-so i dont (mess up their design) then i take them all home and sew them together- quilt, bind, design a label for the back which each child/teacher signs
the quilt is shown at the preschool (festival) photographed- and raffled off to pay for a year end class trip-
for the past 8 years the person(s) who have won the quilt have then 'donated' it back to the class- they are treasured- i really thought when i did n't have any more family members with children in preschool i wouldn't be doing this anymore- but i get that call every year about october-asking...
some years have been more (adventurous) than others- sometimes we make more than one quilt-like ABC quilts- but the crayon quilts are the all time favorites.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and ideas... I think it would be fun to let the kids sew their own blocks but I am unsure if I am up but will most likely be brave and suggest it to the teachers! I'll provide all these ideas to them and see what the kids would like to do. All your suggestions have helped me feel braver! I can do this!