Bianca's mortarboard

The other day Bianca sent me some pictures of her graduation cap.  Bianca is my young summer quilting buddy and she just graduated from Cal State Long Beach.  I have no idea if Cal State Long Beach's graduation is typical in the States, but the fun, laid back atmosphere is definitely not seen in Japan!  When Takumi graduated from Cal State Long Beach a few years ago and then from graduate school there also (sorry... I just had to put that in) Tetsu and I were surprised at the beach sandals, and the decorated caps and gowns.  That would be a good way to get banned from your college graduation in Japan!  And the school has still got your diploma, right?

Anyway....  Bianca has always loved giraffes.  When Tetsu and I see little trinkets sporting giraffes in Japan we always think of Bianca.  Three or four years ago Bianca went with me to the Long Beach International Quilt Festival and she came running down an aisle and pulled me back to a booth where she'd found a giraffe quilt kit.  That very difficult kit was the beginning of Bianca's fabric collaging and free-motion quilting.  Check out that post of Bianca and all her hard work.

Back to this month's graduation.  As a design/art major, Bianca decided to decorate her graduation cap.  Look at her fantastic cap!!!!!!!

Okay...  That wasn't a great photo of her cap so I asked her to send me a better one and explain how she made it.

Bianca said that she had saved the fabric from the kit she'd made a few years ago (a true fabric artist!) and designed her own mortarboard.  She fused the fabric, added batting and backing and then machine quilted everything adding a few leaves for effect.  When she attached the binding she didn't sew it down on the back and instead folded the edges over the mortarboard edges.  I'd say that is pretty ingenious!

 Oh...  We'd better have a photo of the proud graduate, not just her mortarboard.

 Bianca also sent me photos of her kitties hanging out on the quilt I made her last year. 

The kitties like it and I guess Bianca does too!

Congratulations Bianca!  Great job on your graduation cap, great job on completing your hard years of study!