I have made childrens quilts using panels with good results I think. Jayne

Those are adorable! Yes, I would say those results are more than good!

Kate

Jayne,
I love the panels that you did. One of my guild members makes charity quilts from the panels and they look terrific. I feel that it takes special care to make it work well.
I saw a nice panel once with the alphabet (for child) and did not buy it, and regret that. Have not seen it since and it was so darn cute.

Jayne - those quilts are wonderful!!! The Dirt Movers was more work, but the results worth it!

I recently bought some panels that were an estate type sale to benefit the guild - super cheap (like $1.00 & $3.00) and I also bought some Christmas panels at Joann's. I thought I would practice quilting, but I also want them put together so they are nice :).

I don't really know what to do with them - Jayne's look so great and her designs look effortless.

Kate~ Great question!

Even though I've made a few, I have trouble with panels, too. Here's a couple I did for comfort quilts.

Jayne, I like the way you did the panels.

Maybe we could show what panels we have and get some ideas of how to proceed.

SharonG/FL

I never had until this fall. I went on a shop hop and they gave us a snowman block at each shop. I made them into 4 placemats, 2 hot pads and a table runner. They are okay...not sure if I would purchase any on my own.

Donna

I would use them for a quilt for a child, but I really don't enjoy them - well, another way to put it is..I do not like them at all.

So if someone came to me desperate for a quilt from a panel, and I were closely related, I'd probably do it. But I wouldn't for anyone else.

I'd never buy one.

I don't usually like panels either. But I did this panel for a child's wall at her request. It was such a good FMQ exercise because I just followed all the black outlines of the cartoons. It looks real nice on her wall. It came in a set of two so one is going up on the auction block soon.

Linda

The quilts you all have pictured are beautiful! You make what began as a simple panel into a lovely quilt with personality:)

I have only used a few of the bigger panels like the ones you've shown. The ones I prefer have several different size pics on them. I cut them apart, use them as the center of stars, border them a few times & put them back together, use in crazy quilts, etc. Just a lot of different ways to reassemble.

I have failed miserably at labeling & taking pics of my quilts. I'm starting to do better, but that doesn't help the dozens I've made & given away over the years. One good side note - I started using Photobucket, so I should be able to post pics of my quilts (when I remember to take them!) One project for the new year is to get photos of all my quilts & wallhangings that I've kept, as well as the ones I've given family. I gave my mom for Christmas a photo album of many of the quilts she has made for the family over the years - she was so pleased & was a little surprised to see so many! Sadly she has never taken pics of any of her quilts. (the hardest part of making her album was getting all the extended family to take pictures & get them to me in time for Christmas! Even with 2 months notice a few came in just under the wire!) And she has given away so many I couldn't begin to count them all. I would urge all quilters, especially the newbies, to take pictures of your quilts - (& label them!). We don't usually forsee how much we'll get involved with a craft or an art - but it's often impossible to backtrack & get the pics later! So please keep a memory of your work!! - even the first ones that may not be perfect :) You'll be glad you did!
[Sorry I digressed from the original topic!]

One way I have used panels is to just put a smallish border on, sandwich with a light batting, quilt around the designs, and use as a wall hanging. This is pretty good if you haven't bought the coordinating fabric and can't find anything that works well. I also have a couple that I plan to attach to a artist's canvas and hang. I have put just beautiful fabric in embroidery hoops and hung on the wall as "art". Some of those panels are just beautiful in their own right...and it makes changing the "art" in your home especially your sewing room pretty easy. :)
Murphy

Last year I used a flannel panel for a child's quilt:

The year before I used a Laurel Burch Christmas panel, hand quilted it and added hundreds of beads, along with a few paper-pieced blocks for this wall hanging:

I've cut up panels and rearranged the squares for a couple different wall hangings, including one for Halloween and one with sunflowers. The sunflower quilt also includes a butterfly square from a set.

My first Round Robin project started with another one of those butterflies, with piecing around it.