Farewell & Good Luck!

With barely more than a week left before my son's year of kindergarten ends, we had a potluck dinner hosted by his teacher. We took this opportunity to give her the quilt I made with artwork by all of her students. She was very touched by the card (printed below) and the quilt. It seemed that many of the children were equally as interested in what was done with the picture that they had drawn for me. It was a nice and somewhat bittersweet time.

May you always remember us, as we will undoubtedly remember you.

You're kind & patient, energetic & inspirational, creative & compassionate.

Through your example, we learned so much more than our ABC's and how to count to 100. We learned to get along and to love one another.

You have kindled our imaginations for years of future learning.

You were our first teacher, and for that fact alone, you will forever be etched in our memories.

Thanks for the many great things you have brought into our lives this year.

Love,

Hayden, Isabelle, Jonah, Brian, Bella, Jack, Nolan, Emma, Aidan, Camron, Lucas, Kiera, Lauren, Abby, Stefanie and Eva

An Apple for the Teacher

The quilting, binding and label are finished. We will present my son's teacher with this in a couple of weeks.


The picture makes the writing on the label appear washed out, but in reality it quite black.

Here's the finished front of the quilt.

The quilting on the shadow-drop boxes is simple straight stitching done with the walking foor in a color that matches the fabric. The same color was used in the bobbin, so the back has many colored boxes outlined. In retrospect, I wish I had done the back all black, but then.

Here are some close ups...

Some of the students did a great job!! I think the teacher will love it.
The signatures of each student were Photoshopped onto the scanned art images. I had them sign their name on a white piece of paper. I was concerned that 5 and 6 year olds might not be able to write their name small enough such that it wasn't all over the art. That was time consuming for me, but worked out well.

A Class-y Quilt

I am making a quilt for my son's kindergarten teacher with self-portraits of each of the 16 students. The top is now finished. It is about 40" square. I got the idea from Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio, but have seen these quilts at a number of blogs. I actually bought a collection of fabric permanent pens initially thinking that the children would just draw their portraits directly onto fabric. I soon realized this would be a very messy & permanent mess which parents may not embrace. The kids drew their picture using markers on white paper, and signed their names separate from the portrait. I scanned them and added the signature to the portrait using PhotoShop. They were printed onto C.Jenkins Miracle Fabric Sheets. This is a bit pricey of a way to do this type project, but it gives me more control, keeps child cleaner. Use of PhotoShop allows me to "clean up" little messes on the art too.

Julie (aka Floribunda) showed this quilt earlier this year, which I just love. So I incorporated the concept of the shadow drop borders with the portraits. It has a totally different (& better) effect on her quilt of making them look like shadows. Since I wanted the tonal print black fabric on my quilt because it helps to make the artwork stand out, my "shadows" done in color stripes do not show off as much. Oh well. I like the look in general, and think it will be fun and appreciated once I get it quilted.

Here are a couple of closer shots. They are adorable & amusing.