Our traditions
The Spring Fair and NNS Quilt
Neighborhood Nursery School has been a Silver Lake fixture since its opening in 1952. One of our great strengths is our sense of community, and our school traditions are part of what makes NNS special.
The Spring Fair
The Spring Fair is one of the most cherished NNS traditions. We open our school to all for a day of music, food, crafting, games, a silent auction, bake sale, and our annual handmade quilt raffle; it is one of the most special events for families, friends and alumni to attend. This year’s fair will be on Saturday, May 4th. Click below for tickets, and keep checking our Instagram for all the latest!
The Quilt
For over 40 years, the entire parent body has hand-made a quilt to raffle off at the Spring Fair. Like the co-op, our quilt is a collective effort. NNS families contribute over 100 hours of hand quilting to complete each quilt.
The making of the quilt has become a beloved tradition, and each year’s quilt is a treasured and much sought-after piece of NNS history. Buy a raffle ticket today, and you could be the winner of this year’s quilt!
The 2024 Quilt
This year the NNS quilt could be yours! Click below to enter the raffle, and you could be the winner of this lovingly hand-crafted quilt.
This year’s quilt is made with fabric donated by NNS families. It is a classic 9-patch pattern, with a variety of greens, blues, and ikat fabrics.
The 2023 Quilt
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For 2023, the parents created a 100% cotton queen-sized quilt in a pattern reminiscent of Anni Albers Bauhaus textile designs. The quilt brings to mind weaving, not unlike the coordinated efforts of NNS families and supporters to create a tapestry of early childhood magic for our students.
The 2022 Quilt
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The 2022 quilt was created in honor of the school’s 70th anniversary. The parents created a 100% cotton king-sized quilt using a variation of the traditional “Barn Raising” pattern. Inspired by the collective support and devoted community of NNS, the quilt’s colorful sunrise motif featured 18 different fabrics, with quilting in a classic teacup design.
The 2021 Quilt
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The pattern for this quilt is called ”Flying Geese.” It is a queen-sized, 100% linen quilt, hand-dyed with natural dyes: madder, indigo, walnut, osage, cochineal, pomegranate, quilted with sashiko thread.
This year’s quilt was started by the school in 2020 before Covid turned everything upside down. Luckily most of the work was done before we could no longer be together, and a dedicated family kept it for over a year and painstakingly finished it.
Our quilt, like those of past years, represents our unique school and the families who work together both for and with the children and persevered together through this difficult year.
A History of NNS Quilts
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1975
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1976
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1977
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1980
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1990
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1991
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1992
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1993
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1994
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1995
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1997
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1998
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1999
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2000
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2001
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2002
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2003
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2004
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2005
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2006
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2007
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2009
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2011
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2012
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2013
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2021
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2022
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2023
