Remembering the 3 R’s

I loved school.  School always brings back fond memories for me.  I can remember all my teacher’s names from kindergarten through to the ninth grade.  After that, the names aren’t as easy to recall, probably because we had a different teacher for almost every subject and it wasn’t as personal.

My first grade teacher was Mrs. Wilkinson.  I remember her to be a very tall lady with brown hair streaked with grey. 

I also recall sitting in the second to last seat in the first row.  There were five rows of desks with six desks in each row.  Those of us in the first two rows were the ones who could be assigned work and proceed with minimal teacher supervision.  Those students in the third to fifth rows worked with the teacher. 

My favorite subjects were reading, spelling and writing.  I used to love getting a new reader and to look at the pictures and to see if I could read what was inside.

I remember taking my reader home and my Dad and I would sit on the sofa after dinner so I could read to him and then we’d practice the words for that week’s spelling lesson in preparation for Friday’s test.  Gosh that was a long time ago.

About a year and a half ago, I was in a little quilt shop in upstate NY.  You can just imagine how excited I was when I came across the Look & Learn fabric by American Jane for Moda.  I was in nostalgic seventh heaven!  I purchased a jelly roll and some additional yardage and didn’t have a clue as to what I was going to make…but I knew I had to have it.

Back then, I hadn’t been quilting that long.  After much consternation, I decided to cut the strips into 4 1/2” pieces and proceed from there.  This is the end result.

Primary colors are such happy colors.  The pattern is not a difficult one as you can see.

I added sashing, three borders and decided to bite the bullet and attempt a scalloped edge.

I have a hard time now not to scallop the edges on all my quilts.  They’re not as difficult to make as I had initially thought and they certainly add interest and dimension to a quilt.

I also picked a fun coordinating fabric for the backing.

Whenever I put this quilt on our bed, a little bit of nostalgia sets in…fond memories of my childhood, school, friends…and of course my Mom and Dad.  I’ll probably pass this quilt on to my grand niece when she’s around 3 or 4.

Do you remember the 3 R’s?

Happy stitching!

Kaaren