Life is a field trip

I promised to show you this one when the letters were on and it was done. I made it for my sons' teacher, whose name is Sid. She teaches a multi-age class, so each boy had her for three years and overlapped one year, for a total of five. She was in tears when I gave this to her today on the last day of school, and thanked me repeatedly. I'm pleased with how it turned out -- the repetition is in the wonky stars and the nine patches, which are repeated on a smaller scale in the border. I was going for muted mediums, and used up many busy little prints from the 80s, as well as three versions of that Hoffman Painted Desert from waaaay back. The bottom says "Sid Star of 303" which is her room number and the way the class is referred to in the school. I hand quilted it diagonally across the nine patches and around the stars, using a combination of quilting thread and perle cotton. I used both because I found the bamboo batt and flannel backing hard to get through with a needle, so I went back and forth with different ones, trying to find the best thing to use. I also broke several chenille needles in the process, but did better with the betweens.
It's an eclectic, busy quilt, but somehow it works. And it is appreciated by the recipient, so my work here is done. Have a nice summer everyone.