Girl Scout Quilt, Take 2

Last night I posted that I was going to share pictures, then couldn't get Blogger to let me upload anything. I'll tell you about the the quilt in this post, then share about the recipient in another post, as that story deserves its own post.

Our Girl Scout troop is different from most. We are a homeschool group. We are also a multi-level group, meaning we start with Daisies (Kindergarten) and go through Ambassadors (junior/senior in high school). Because of those 2 facts, we have sisters in the troop in different levels. The troop as it is has been together for 6 years. Prior to that, some of these girls were in the troop as Brownies even earlier. The best way I can describe it is like growing up in a small town where the kids all know each other. These girls really know the others in the troop, and many are the best of friends. Most of us have also been in the same homeschool co-op group for years. In THIS troop we are Christians first and Girl Scouts second, which makes things work well, at least most of the time!

Each girl created a quilt square representing something about herself and Girl Scouts. Most chose to use fabric markers, but embroidery was also incorporated. The squares are all different. It was interesting to see that some did choose a similar theme, such as badges, but even those were totally different. Some reflect our troop, some reflect the activities we've done (such as selling cookies or camping), and some reflect awards (badges and special awards).

I found the Girl Scout fabric online. They do sell some at local fabric and quilt shops, but to get a bigger selection, I found online shops were the best source. I picked out about 8 or 9 different prints. For the back, a local seamstress donated several pieces of fabric. She has taught sewing in the past and "happened" to be the sewing teacher for our quilt recipient, so she knew her interests. She included some large pieces of cat themed fabric. The girls sorted through these and chose the ones they liked for the back.

Once the fabrics were cut into pieces, a group of girls arranged the squares for the front as they thought looked best. I filled in empty spots with picture squares. They also arranged the pieces for the back and we pieced the rows, then organized them for the back and sewed them together. Some of the girls did a lot of sewing for the back part of this. At a troop meeting, we had the girls tie the quilt. Each girl tied at least one "string" to hold the quilt together. When it was all put together another mom added the binding for us.

I've been asked how I put the pictures on the squares. I tried an iron on transfer first (mainly because I picked up the wrong package at the store). It did NOT transfer well. So, I got some fabric sheets to print on directly. I used June Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers. You can click on the link to order. I found mine locally. There is no prep for printing, but after they are printed there is a little work to make them set. You heat set with an iron, rinse in cold water, then heat set again. They can be washed in cold water, no detergent, according to the package. They printed really well, even with my old not so good printer.

I will try to get "the rest of the story" posted soon. Thanks for stopping by! If you like the quilt, please leave a comment that I will pass along to the girls!