The Golden Ticket

I will say that putting "Official Invitation" three times on the invite cracked me up.

The peach-colored ticket was designed by one girl who wanted an old-school look.

Parents: please, please safeguard those small tickets! That's what will get your child into the dance!!!!

Old Yeller Dance Flyer!

Buy This Quilt!!!!

Well, at least bid on it.

I've done my part of the bargain and now it's up to other families to raise that paddle. It's a quilt hot potato--who gets it? But it's so much fun to have your pulse quicken during this gamble.

More to the point: someone will take home Old Yeller.

In case that someone is YOU, here are a few ways Old Yeller can be displayed:

(Old Yeller casually thrown on an ottoman.) 

(Old Yeller neatly folded on a couch--two different ways.)

(Old Yeller slung over a railing; it can also hang over a lowered curtain rod or 

antique wooden ladder and used as needed.)

Of course, you can turn Old Yeller into wall art (build a frame out of wood and tack it to the frame or simply tack it to the wall), however this is probably the most favorite way to use it:

(Old Yeller on your child's bed.) 

(Either way.)

Snuggled and hugged for years, a continual reminder of 4th grade and the good times that were had while making this companion.

(And just in case Old Yeller is loved a little too much, please launder in cold water. Those vegetable dyes require a cold bath. Dry in either medium or high heat.)

Introducing...

This quilt made its personality known the first day we boiled our dyes. That cabbage was an unrelenting punch in the face that took hold of the fabric, too. But the outcome was a soothing blue hue that begged to be touched (and besides, the smell was easily laundered out with some fabulous linen detergent).

While the education of this quilt was about the rugged make-do attitude of the Oregon Trail pioneers, the result was a modern aesthetic with simple, clean lines. Scrappy, strong and assertive yet soft, neat and artistic. Just like our kids' experience while making it:  from fart bombs and Nerf guns to newfound friendships and laughter.

So it makes sense that the first classroom suggestion for a name was what everyone wanted. The kids got it. Rough and tumble with a delicious violet smell (oh, that laundry detergent). The muscular pop of color from the yellow turmeric. Buttery soft and huggable. A true pioneer and best friend.

Introducing....

...Old Yeller.

We did it!!!

Behind the Scenes

Having made a classroom quilt once before, I knew what to expect with a household full of kids. Lots of fun, laughter and learning. But blog photos only tell a partial story. Making a quilt is also about building community--from our grandmothers who came together to stitch quilts for betrothed couples to the activist AIDS Memorial Quilt that has voyaged all over the nation. Even Portland has jumped into the foray. At City Hall, Mayor Hales unveiled a quilt made by local artists and businesses in honor of Decemberists Day.

Here are some memorable events that happened while making our quilt:

(Beneath this hard demeanor, exists triangles and triangles of puppy love.)

--The girls can eat! As in they polished off an enormous casserole dish filled with five-layer bean dip.

--The same number of boys only picked at theirs. And all their leftovers made two nights worth of dinners for the three of us.

--The faces the kids made when they hand-whipped the cream for their hot chocolates.

--Nerf guns were the universal toy, and in between quilt duties, the kids ran everywhere in the house engaged in Nerf gun wars.

--Whenever the girls arrived, one of the first questions asked was, "Where are those Nerf guns?"

(A short break to snack on grandma's treats.)

--Full disclosure:  one kid got shot in the eye with a Nerf bullet. The accidental perpetrator apologized profusely, however, the wounded had to go home. Sweet treats were delivered the next day and thankfully the eye was much better.

--Since the majority of the quilt making occurred during the holiday season, the kids discovered a Christmas gift from the cousins:  fart bombs.

--Fart bombs are more wretched than boiled cabbage and their rotten egg smell stays in the home for hours. The kids weren't allowed to play with fart bombs indoors.

--One boy detonated two fart bombs inside a bedroom. In his excitement, he grabbed the exploded packets and tried to chase a couple of kids--the terrible fart bomb juice flew all over the carpeting and the walls.

--One girl liked the fart bomb smell. A lot.

(Steadfast and fierce: the joy of making whipped cream.)

--Full disclosure, again:  after showing one kid how to use the rotary cutter, her mind wandered for just one second when--zip!--the cutter shaved off the skin and nail at the tip of her index finger. The wounded had to go down to the office for a band-aid to stop the bleeding. My hands are marked with all sorts of scars from this hobby. The lesson: sewing ain't for sissies.

--One evening after a group of quilt kids had left, our son said the day had been fun, but there was one problem: every kid had a crush on someone who was there. "They were all acting weird," he said.

A Thousand More

Since this is a modern quilt, no border was installed, only binding (remember the boys making bias tape?). And this binding is unique because it was the only store-bought, factory-dyed fabric from the entire bunch. One side of it was sewn onto the quilt by machine, but the other side required hand-stitching around the entire perimeter.

A thousand more tiny, delicate stitches.

So peaceful to look at.

Putting It Together

The quilt top and bottom were finally completed! Now the difficult work was about to begin.

Enter, Jackie, our lovely Jackie, who spent days quilting everything together on her long-arm machine.

And with different colored threads--golden yellow, creamy white and cornflower blue--to boot! All of it so creatively done.

Thank you, thank you, Jackie.