A few years ago, at a housewarming party, the hostess had cut out 4x4 inch squares of watercolor paper and set up an "art station" in her dining room. There were watercolors, paints, pens, etc. Each guest created little 4x4 pieces of art that night, and then the homeowner had them made into a large piece of art...a large frame with a mat that had a grid of 4 x 4 squares cut into it. It looked great, and what a cool way to have a little reminder of your friends and family in your house.
I LOVE this idea! We have had several people help us work on the house.. it'd be neat to have each person who had a hand in the home do a block, and then make the collage from the workers art.... neat idea.....
this would be great fun for a family reunion, too, wouldn't it?
When my Aunt turned 80, her daughter made her a quilt where some of the blocks were solid colors. For her big birthday bash, people signed the quilt and wrote birthday wishes on the quilt. My aunt is 85 ot 86 now, and uses the quilt. What nice memories for her. :-) and that quilt will be one that the kids and grandkids will fight over one day. LOL....
I do too! There are so many things that it could be appropriate for, and so many ways of doing it. It would be great as a going away present for someone who was moving out of town...housewarming...special birthday or holidays...
You could do it on paper...or tiles..or the quilt squares like you mentioned! I dont know how the lady who gave me the idea came up with it, but I just thought it was awesome.
The first year I taught (kindergarten) i gave the kids squares of fabric, and fabric crayons, and had them decorate the square, and then took my machine to class and showed them how the squares were sewn together, and then had it quilted... it is such a keepsake. When that class graduated from High School I borrowed a quilt frame and hung it in the lobby, and in front of it had a group pic of their kindergarten class picture. It was really funny.... i knew most of the kids. the faces had not achangesd so much; the bodies were just bigger, the girls were shaplier, and the boys were harrier... LOL...
but a few of the kids didn't remember me, or remember making the quilt. But some did, and that was a wonderful memory for me, too.
What a great story! Do you still teach? What grade are you doing now?
yep... still at it.... have spent 28 years in kindergarten, and have not graduated yet... i think this is year 29.... 28 or 29... not sure...
Quote from: Red-Haired Girl on October 08, 2006, 09:04:59 PM
yep... still at it.... have spent 28 years in kindergarten, and have not graduated yet... i think this is year 29.... 28 or 29... not sure...
LOL!!!!!
I like the idea, too, Gryphon. My artwork consists of all the paintings done by my children...and now onto Grandson!!!
Cookie, I was at a tour of homes in Charlotte a few weeks back and the homeowners of one house had two young children. They had dedicated one hallway to the kids art...and had it all framed in very elegant frames. According to the tour guide, they swapped out what was in the frames every so often when the kids created new "masterpieces". It sure beat the refrigerator my mom displayed my stuff on. LOL!
That is such a neat idea...and gives me an idea for our hallway and grandson....I love family art....My daughter painted me two pictures for Christmas as that's all I wanted...and my daughter-in-law did one for me, too.
Great idea, Gryphon...thanks!!!!
I bought a bunch of picture frames and had one entire wall in the family room covered w/children's art. It actually looked really cool. The kids loved it and I received so many compliments for it.
Ironically, this was Heloise's Hint for today:
Baby Shower Quilt
A mother-to-be will love this gift. If shower guests sew, each could bring a quilt square with the guest's name or sentiment, and then all can be sewn together for a memorable baby quilt.
(Too funny!)
I belong to a Yahoo group of women that joined together in 2004 when we were all pregnant & due at the same time.There are 20 of that have kept the group going & we are spread all over the U.S. -- we share stories of our child's progress! Although it hasn't come full circle yet, we all made 20 quilt squares a few months ago with our baby's foot or hand print painted on with other demographic info! I can't wait to see the final project.
Here was ours:
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2820/1001986lv9.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
You know, that kind of makes me think about patchwork quilts. They were made out of scraps of material, often times from clothing that was too small or worn out too badly to wear. But each square of fabric had its own story, and though it was not in its original form anymore, it still had life and character to give.
Another similar idea...
Two folks I know have had quilts made from old t shirts. One was a runner, and apparently t shirts are the usual give aways at races. He had some of his favorite t shirts done up as a quilt.
Another friend had quite a collection of college tees and did the same thing.
OMG, Gryphon...I was JUST going to type that! I've also heard of people making blankets out of their children's t-shirts & giving them as a gift later in life. (e.g. girl scout t-shirt, gymastics, summer camp, etc.)
Thats a great idea too...
its stuff like that that really has "meaning" too I think...
Absolutely! Has much more meaning in the long run...
Gives me a good idea for a new thread....thanks!
Sure thing! :smile: