born on the 4th of July

I don't have a cute photo of me when I was small (or one of me now, for that matter) to share with you today. I tried to get my kids to draw portraits of me so I could post some great kid artwork, but that didn't pan out, either. So here are a few of my flickr favorites instead. To see the photo credits, click here.

Today I turn 33. It's pretty great having a birthday on the 4th. I always get fireworks for my birthday. It's my sister's birthday, too, so I always have someone to celebrate with (even if it is from a distance). When I was working, I always got the day off with pay. And usually my birthday celebration carries on for several days. It's pretty dandy. I started off my day with a birthday phone call from my dear friend. My husband bought me a new laptop(!!!), and I should get some sewing time in. It's going to be a good birthday.

Happy 4th to you!

teacher quilt

My son had a wonderful first grade teacher this year. She loves her students and they love her. Heather and I both sons in her class and we wanted to do something special for their teacher. We worked with the art teacher to have the each of the children draw their own self portrait on a piece of fabric. We really wanted the quilt to be a surprise. The portraits turned out pretty cute. Each of the children's personalities shine through their artwork.

Heather sewed the quilt top together, we basted it, I quilted it and made the binding and then Heather hand stitched the binding on to the back of the quilt. I added a label. The quilt turned out cuter than I had expected. I was ready to chicken out and give up on the idea of the quilt, but Heather kept me on track. It was very well received. (yay!) And the kids kept it a secret. (again, yay!)