My granddaughters came across this quilt while in the linen closet looking for blankets at our last girls sleepover. I had kind of forgotten that I still had it. My mother and I helped my son, David's, fifth grade class put it together during their study of American history. Each student designed a block and colored it with fabric crayons which were then ironed and transferred onto white fabric blocks. They were placed left to right in rows forming a timeline of events in our history. I sewed the pieces together (long before I had time to try some more serious piecing) and my mother helped with the hand quilting. Each student hand quilted around their block and my mom quilted the stars and and the corners. The fifth graders were very proud of themselves and it hung in the public library for a time.
David's teacher, Mrs. Lidback, liked this project so much that she asked me to repeat it two years later when my daughter became her student. Mrs. Lidback thought that my children should be the keepers of these quilts as I had donated the time and materials. Janae's quilt only stayed with us for a short time. During junior high, one of the male students from Janae's fifth grade class passed away during the night from an unknown or diagnosed heart defect. His classmates were devastated. They approached me about giving their quilt to his parents in a show of their love and support. Of course I agreed and it was a sweet experience as I went with them to give their gift.
I felt it was time for David to take this quilt to his own home. His little girls loved hearing the story of how it came to be. He loved looking at all the little signatures, especially since some of those fifth grade friends are still his very close friends. Thank you Dave for holding the quilt and letting me take a picture or two. I miss those times from long ago in Mrs. Lidback's fifth grade classroom.
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