Finish: Leftover Cake Teacher's Quilt

Happy Valentine's Day! Hubby and I do not do the Valentine's thing but that doesn't mean I can't spread a little love still. I got my boys a goodie bag and also worked with the class room mom for my 7 year old to do this quilt. She collected signatures and I did the other stuff. Frankly, I think her job of wrangling 22 kids was harder (until I got to the quilting, MAN were my shoulders sore!)

 This was made with 34 leftover layer cake squares from Fresh Flowers by Sandy Gervais and 1 straggler from Central Park by Kate Spain.  I relied on information from the signature block tutorial from That Girl That Quilt.  I changed my dimensions to be able to use what I had and get all the signatures I needed in.    I could not find the pens she mentioned at Joann's or Michaels but I did find a Dritz Quilt Label writing pen at Michaels in the fabric section.  That ran out after about 25 signatures so the rest were done with a fine line sharpie I had on hand for emergencies.  I am happy to report that both performed well...neither washed out!

 I quilted leafy vines on this and tried to leave the signature spaces blank with maybe leaves hanging over like a trellis.  I embroidered the teacher's name in the center square with a flower and flourishes inspired by my favorite print from the layer cake.  My son's block is to the left of the teacher and I put the room mom's kid on the right hand of the teacher.  Nepotism...don't judge!  He was sad he got dots and not stripes, so he got a place of honor for telling me it was ok and not making a huge fuss over it. 

I backed it in a Raggedy Anne plaid I found at a thrift store for a couple of bucks.  It went really well and I was so glad i had that fabric on hand.  I can't afford backing fabric right now...February is our birthday season! 

This teacher is very special.  She has been teaching for 37 years and she gets SOOOOO excited talking about what they are learning.  I love how she has a geunine love for the kids in her class. 

This quilt is made to be used.  I have seen large teacher quilts before that were literally falling apart before they were even washed the first time because they were made to look cute but not made to use (think lite fusible webbing without stitching for over a hundred handprints.  My thought is this...either make it USEFUL or make it a)small enough to hang on a wall or b)exquisitely crafted.  This quilt is useful.  I hope she uses it, so I washed it already to take the fear out of that first wash for her. 

This week be on the lookout for my 2nd Batting Battle...I will be reviewing Polyfil Cotton Classic that was used in this quilt!

What do you think about teacher quilts or signature quilts?