A teacher's goodbye gift, one quilt per student, no two alike

Kim Rohlf spent months at her sewing machine making a custom quilt for every student in her second-grade class, a goodbye gift before she retired after 35 years of teaching. Rohlf, who taught at Westwood Elementary School in Ankeny, Iowa, presented the quilts ahead of her final day. No two were alike. Some carried holiday themes, others featured a kid's favorite dinosaur or sport, each one designed around the child it belonged to. "I love teaching and I love quilting, so it gives a little to share my love with them as they leave and I end my chapter of teaching," she said. She also wrote each student a personal note. Gabrielle, one of her second-graders, noticed the care. "Every quilt is made based on our personalities," she said. Rohlf had planned to walk out quietly at the end of the year. Her students, she admitted, were making that harder than expected.