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Quilt #53: A Gift for Mrs. Pool

January 28, 2026

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Henry Adams

Sometimes special people come into our life and make a home in our heart. SonShine's 2nd grade teacher is one of those blessings to our family ❤️ And several years ago, I had the honor of creating a quilt for someone very special in her life.

No matter how old our children are, they're still our precious babies! And even though my son is a grown man, in my eyes he's still this adorable little boy, headed into his first day of 2nd grade:

At the time, I was worried he was “getting lost in the cracks” of the classroom.

He was not a behavioral problem, and he did not have academic challenges. I noticed that since his teachers didn’t have to reprimand him nor supervise his work, he was shrinking into the background of a lively class.

The summer between 1st and 2nd grades, I took this concern to Mrs. Lisa Pool, a teacher I knew through my PTA work on their elementary school campus. She had taught some of our other coaches’ kids in previous years, and I knew her reputation as an incredible educator, a kind and supportive leader, and a very hard worker.

When I told her what was sitting so heavily on my heart, she said that Cannon's school file included a note that he was a high achiever, making him eligible for her “talent pool” class. Mrs. Pool set my worries to ease when she told me these words, which I vividly recall all these years later:

ASHLI, I PROMISE HIS ENJOYMENT OF LEARNING WILL BLOSSOM IN THIS ROOM.

She was right; it was a fantastic experience, one of his favorite years of school ever. And almost twenty years later, I still see Mrs. Pool’s influence and the positive impact of his time in her classroom... Much like her, Cannon is an incredible coach, a kind and supportive leader, and a very hard worker.

THE BEST PART OF FACEBOOK

Through social media, Mrs. Pool and I have stayed in touch.

She’s watched and supported Cannon as he’s grown up, found success, and become a wonderful young adult.

Likewise, I love seeing her own sweet son grow up and head off to school, himself. Not surprising to anyone, she is a loving, encouraging, awesome mom!

When Lisa reached out asking about a quilt for her mom, I was elated to have an opportunity to give back a fraction of what she did for Cannon and our family.

After sharing some ideas, we decided on a large sofa snuggler for the size and my go-to log cabin pattern for the design. She said that her mom’s favorite colors are red, blue, and neutrals so I immediately envisioned vintage, Americana prints.

Using my own fabric stash, I created scrappy log cabin blocks that have a traditional red center, signifying the heart of the home. The light logs are creams, tans, and golds. The darks are blues ranging from sky to navy.

I added two borders, one in solid off-white and the second in a geometric print that has navy, red, and white on a light blue background.

The backing fabric is a deep, russet red background with ivory text on it.

For the quilting motif, I chose a traditional meander.

And for the final step, the binding features tiny navy stars on a light background.

As an added bonus, several of the scrappy log fabrics are left over from Cannon’s nursery, which also used vintage Americana colors and prints:

After gifting it to her mom, Lisa shared this very sweet report with me:

Hi Ashli! I just wanted to quickly tell you that my mom absolutely loved the quilt. She LOVED the colors and fabric choices!!! As she was crying happy tears, she kept saying, “I know how much time, effort, and love Ashli put into this quilt.” And she said that I couldn’t have given her a better gift.