Well, I think I need to put them in the dryer to set the fabric markers?? The package says to iron the back of the fabric or dry it--and since these are already make into quilted blocks, I guess the dryer is the only option. Right? :?:

Background again:
Here's a piece I reworked. It's from one of our read alouds--a theme we've talked about all year. I wrote it up nicely with a picture of a piece of cake and a color border so each will get a copy of one of the last half days (23rd):
*********************
Life is a Piece of Cake
August 6, 2008 by Lillie
Have a bite of flour.
Yuck!
A little baking soda, then?
Blech!
How about a raw egg?
Ick!
A spoonful of cooking oil?
Nasty!
Maybe a little sugar? A nip of vanilla? A bit of chocolate?
Yeah, those sound good … but all by themselves?
The individual ingredients aren’t very appetizing, yet when they are mixed together and cooked in a hot oven, they come together to form a beautiful and mouth-watering cake.
Ahh … taste that sweet, rich flavor. The creamy smooth frosting, the moist goodness of the cake.
The individual ingredients of life often aren’t very appetizing, either. The yucky flour might be failure, the icky egg pain, the nasty cooking oil loss and grief. The sweetness of love, the tastiness of success, the flavor of joy are wonderful … but all by themselves?
Yet mixed together throughout a lifetime and cooked through heat and pressure, the failure, pain, and loss combine with the love, success, and joy to form a rich and lovely life.
Each of our lives is a piece of cake, and together are lives are a beautiful and mouth-watering cake.
********************
Plus they're getting this quote written out nicely,with a picture of a sunrise, in color:

I have been given this day
to use as I will.
I can waste it,
or use it for good.
What I choose to do is important,
because I am exchanging
a day of my life for it.
J.Robinson
***********************

Now--the Black and White Splash blocks symbolize the rough stuff and the awesome stuff of life. Black and white fabrics are what one HAS to do--the mundane, the splashes of color symbolize every little awesome thing--the things we should
never take for granted--the things we should embrace and savor.

I decided I wanted to write something on them--so I used fabric markers to write "Quilt by Mrs. S" on the back of each--it didn't show up well, but that's fine, and on the front I wrote "Life by Connor" and of course changed the name for each student.

I sewed the eight extra squares together--and will show them those first so we can talk about all the symbolism thoroughly, then I'll present them with the quotes and blocks. They're also each getting an individual classroom award--they are typed out with a picture and fancy border--just have to print those and I'm ready!! :-D
Here are the blocks...

Those are wonderful gifts Karla!!! Something that they can keep and reflect on forever... :D:D:D

Fantastic little gifts. They will cherish for a long time.

amma--a friend asked me "What do they do with them?" I never really thought about doing something with them--besides sticking on a shelf in their rooms. But, what CAN they do with them?

I thought this post would find itself on page 15 with no replies :lol:... but when I posted the idea a month or so ago, a few asked me to post when done.. so I was just following through.

I know I explain things too much..but otherwise these really don't make sense. :roll:

Love it!!

They are really great. You are so good to your kids.

My daughter just told me my students are spoiled. :lol:

Very nice!

Awesome! i love the daisy's too! great idea!

What a truly amazing teacher you are! Your students will cherish their blocks! I also love the poem & the explanation with it. Thanks for being the caring person & teacher that you are.

What a great thing to do for your children!!!

Those are wonderful!! You are such a great teacher Karla!!!

Oh, I so agree!!!

What a beautiful gift, they will treasure for years.

cute gifts

What great gifts. You rock as a teacher.

I completely agree with all said above. I also copied that quote and hung it on my fridge. :)

Thank you.

Thanks.... I'm so glad they're done. I feel very relaxed this weekend. :-D

So--should I stick them in the dryer for 30 min--or even 15 to set the marker? Or will they be fine as is? I sure don't want them to look differently than they do now....

Very nice!

These are sooooooo neat!!!!

awesome

just awesome and love the saying too! your kids are spoiled, but what is spoiling for if not for your kids, right? :thumbup:

Beautiful gifts

Oh gosh, those are sooooo cute! What fabulous year end gifts for your students! How did you finish the edges? Are they turned under by hand?

they`re so adorable :-D

OH MY !! Love, love , love it!!
Forgot to ask the name of pattern? The phrases and meaning of the "poem" is wonderful.

No--I turned them inside out and closed them with Steam-a-seam. I felt quite guilty about not putting a real binding on, but I knew that'd be crazy.

I stuck them in the dryer for 10 min, then put the iron on them for a quick smoothing. One Steam-a-seam didn't hold (weird--maybe it was stuck to the polyester batting?)--so I was glad to take care of that before it was given.

Thanks. It's called Cross Country in one block book I have. The eight blocks together look pretty nice. I bet this would be pretty in totally different fabrics. :wink: I played with it on EQ6 and came up with this:

It's wonderful that your students have such a loving person in their lives. You did a beautiful job, barnbum.

Lucky, lucky kids!!!!!!!

thanks barnbum for the name and i think this is awesome! Colors are vibrant & interesting.
who is the author on this one block book that you are referring to?

barnbum, don't forget to add the date, at least the year.

When they're our age, they'll remember you, and they'll remember how wonderful your gift made them feel - but they may not remember what year it was that you gave it to them.
When I look back at "memories" I wish I had dated them.

What a wonderful idea. I love it.