A particularly enjoyable and complementary part of the book is the photos of the friendship quilts made by staff members of The Jim Henson Company's Muppet Workshop and the accompanying stories behind the quilt. These really reflect the spirit between these co-workers and show how even complete beginners can make a meaningful contribution to a friendship quilt. (I challenge you to try to spot the 'beginner' blocks before reading the text.)
The photographs are of blocks made with embellishments, fake fur, and padding, but the instructions for each block are for fusible, flat applique as this, together with washable cotton fabric, enables you to make a quilt that can be used for a baby.
However, tips are given for adding embellishments, on using fake fur and more so you can make "less washable" blocks. For example, Miss Piggy's necklace "was made of buttons, each stitched in place. You may also tack on a strand of fake pearls, or, if making a baby quilt, applique dots of white fabric" and you can "embroidery chocolate chips onto the [cookie monters'] cookie using brown embroidery thread" rather than hunting for the perfect cookie fabric.
There are full-size block patterns which can be photocopied or traced and a colour diagram clearly setting out the applique order. The blocks are of a compatible size, so you can easily put together a personalized quilt with your choice and own arrangement of characters. And of course you don't have to make a quilt -- you could make a cushion cover, sew the block onto a T-shirt, make a wall hanging ... but I don't think you could beat making a child a Muppet character quilt to wrap around them as they watch Sesame Street on a cold winter's day!
Quilting with the Muppets is published by C&T Publishing and can be bought directly from their website or the other big on-line bookstores. ISBN 1-57120-11-7.
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