Quilt for a teacher
 

My best friend is a Special Education Teacher. Her specialty is reading. She LOVES her job and kids. I would like to make her a quilt related to her job. Any suggestions for patterns/fabrics? I prefer something relatively simple and quick as I work full time - and VERY long hours.

Thanks,

Sue

Primary children? Then look at the great fabrics inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle's wonderful illustrations in other books, especially Brown Bear, Brown Bear are quite easily adapted to applique. Dr. Seuss books have also inspired fabrics as have Beatrix Potter and (I think) Richard Scarry. Panels are available for some of these.

"Google" images for Eric Carle quilts......there are wonderful examples from very simple to very complex.

For older primary children there is Charlotte's Web. Great quilting design: webs.

What about doing a bookshelf quilt? They can be quick to piece, with the detailing of titles and authors on the spines of some of the "books" and possibly some applique objects also on the shelves.

RST

I'm a teacher and I just made an I Spy quilt for my classroom. I am going to hang it up in the classroom and use it to develop language skills. I don't know if you want the quilt to be used at school or for her to use at home but I Spy quilts are great and kids love them. I have also seen the Hungry Caterpillar fabric and it is really nice. Good luck with whatever you decide to make, she will appreciate it.

I have made a Hungry Caterpillar for my daughter to use at preschool. The kids love to sit on the quilt while she is reading the book to them. I am now making a Brown Bear quilt for her cause that is her kids favorite book (they can "read" it themselves!) An I Spy sounds like a great idea too. These quilts did not take long to make. Very simple straight sewing.

Another idea would be to take photos of book covers, transfer them onto fabric, and sew them onto the quilt top.

I'm actually going to pull a few ideas from the other posts and add it to mine. I suggest a rag quilt with a variety of tactile fabrics as well as I spy, hungry caterpillar, or very colorful familiar objects; things the students would see in every day life or school.

I made a tactile rag quilt for an instructor a few years back (for her baby who had learning disabilities). It had a denim rear pocket, corduroy, satin, plaid, velcro, and a few other blocks that were every day items and solid colors. Good luck!

I teach spec ed w/ middle school kids and use Dr Seuss all the time!!! Dr Seuss books all have themes that work w/ the older kids - The Lorax works well w/ 8th grade earth science as well as 7th grade Life Science.....The Butter Battle Book works great w/ 9th grade American History as it was written about the cold war era of who was going to drop the nuclear bomb. The Cat in the Hat has a theme of pick your friends carefully, some can lead you astray if you don't pick them right.

Green Eggs and Ham is about not being afraid to try to new things - AND it was written on a dare. The dare was that Dr Seuss could write a book using less than 50 words - I believe it uses 49 words.

I sent you a PM about some fabric I have that might work for you...

Great ideas. Now comes my favorite part of the entire process.....SHOPPING. :)