Plus Quilt Surprise

Another school year has come to an end.  The double dates, the parties and the dances. Cramming for a midterm until three.  The football games, The Max and the romances...oh wait, I'm talking about first grade here...not saying goodbye to Bayside High...

We were blessed in that Evander had an AWESOME teacher this year.  She made learning fun, went the extra mile, and did all sorts of cute projects that got sent home. Not once this year did I hear, "I don't want to go to school!" I got to see her in action when I was welcomed into the classroom to make grilled cheese and apple sandwiches for apple day, to help make root beer floats for the 50th day of school, during a class party and a field trip.  And, I kind of got a clue on her style and home decor in a conversation at Cub Scouts one night.

She deserves a quilt! :-)

Isn't the school bus back drop cool?  I am friends with the transportation supervisor who pinned the quilt to the bus for me so that I could take pictures.  Get it? Bus --> school --> gift for teacher? :-D

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

Since Evander's favorite color is yellow, I wanted to find yellow backing for the quilt.  I could not find anything I liked in the quick time that I had to look at the store, so I decided to just do the binding in a yellow and found this for the backing:

And here is the back with three pluses worked in:

I really like the way the quilting looks from the back. :-)  I quilted vines with paisley-like leaves, inspired by the flower and paisleys on the fabric. When I started the quilting, I hated the way it looked...but it's all good because I like it now. I just need to remember that one little bit of quilting is not representative of a quilt-full of quilting. 

This was the first quilt that I used a design wall to help with placement.  I had to in order to keep everything organized and where it should be.  I simply tacked two 80 cent fleece throws to the wall (thanks, Mom, who snatches things at CVS for 90% off!), and the cotton fabric pieces stuck to it.  The design wall allowed me to move the pluses around to see which color I liked where.

In progress

I'm pretty sure I changed my mind after I snapped the picture above, because it doesn't match the finished product!  But, I liked being able to move the pieces around and step back and take a look, even if I had to tilt my head, and overlook the plaid pattern, and pretend that the exercise equipment wasn't there.

Having the pieces stuck on the wall also aided when it came time to sew, since I chain pieced the squares. This means that I sewed the first two blocks in the first row, then the first two blocks in the second row, then the third, etc. without cutting the thread, which created a headache...I mean a chain! I then added the number three squares, and four, and so on. It just saves a little time.  

This was actually the fastest quilt I've ever produced!  I began right after I finished the Baby Clothes Quilt May 9, pieced it together in 10 days and had it quilted and finished two weeks later.

I know Evander's teacher was happy with the gift because she told me! :-P I was so excited for Evander to surprise her with it at school this morning.

Thank you to my friend, Margaret, who allowed me to take pictures with the bus. Speaking of buses...she has headed up a drive to collect all kinds of metal to raise funds for a new school bus. She told me that since October, they have made $7,000 for a new bus. WOW!!!

She also told me that she hopes someone would be able to help her collect cans from restaurants, as she cannot take on any more collection spots herself.  A good community service project for someone who can drive?