Teacher Handprint Quilt preparations

Yesterday I read a note that my daughter's third grade teacher is retiring.  With 9 days of school left  I had not heard about a class gift.  Knowing that she is retiring too, something special would be appropriate.  A hand print quilt started to form in my mind.  Google images gave me even more inspiration.  One quilt by Carin really stood out to me.  I'm not sure I have enough time to make something similar or not.  I love her colors too!

I emailed all the families and asked about a class gift and offered to make a quilt if the majority liked the idea.  Email after email was a resounding yes, great idea, let's do this.

To begin, I would need to get the handprints of the students.  And white fabric.  The same morning I had inquired about the teacher's favorite colors and got a reply back just before my trip to the store.  

A trip to JoAnns proved quite successful.  I found three coupons to use and I loved the school themed fabric available.

I got 2 yards of Kona white, 2 yards of the school themed fabric for the back which will have to be pieced, and between 1/4 and 1 yard of blues, greens, orange, and pink solids.  The solids are to frame the handprint blocks.

Today I'm off to get the kids handprints.  I ironed creases in the white Kona to help with hand placement.  Initially I thought I would bring blocks, but then I had no idea how I'd get them home with wet paint.

The kids were great taking breaks from their lunch to come and get painted.  After drying on my multipurpose hoop rack, the next step will be to cut the prints into blocks and add borders.