More Summer Progress!

I purchased the fabrics for this quilt top last June and have been working on it since then. Finally it is finished! I love the brights against the black background fabrics. Now I need to figure out if I have fabric for the back and I can get it off to Chris for quilting!

Three years ago, Elizabeth left me to return to Texas. I sent her off with her own Eric Carle quilt, created with fabrics designed around his book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". I had fabrics left over and since I will be teaching Reading next year, I decided to make my own! Here it is! I even have the backing fabric all ready to go! Nothing new purchased for this project!!

I have also created 4 tote bags from fabric left over from my Balloon Race quilt, and 3 tote bags from some canvas my mother-in-law gave me.

The stash of fabrics are slowly being used.

On the funny side: I took this sticker off a shirt this morning and stuck it on Narnia's forehead. She has left it there all day. Silly Dog!

Health Goals

As I get older, I am more aware of my aches and pains. It seems that every year I work to improve my health, but as I get older, I am less and less successful in maintaining the life style changes that are necessary.

I know that there are some of you who can relate to this and I also know that there are those of you who know me and are saying that they have heard this refrain from me in the past.

What makes this year different? Perhaps it is knowing that I have probably lived more than half my life already. Perhaps it is knowing that half of those years have been spent overweight and over tired. Perhaps it is knowing that my son will be getting married in a year. Perhaps it is all of it.

Since January, I have been working on a few health issues and those appear to be under control now.

Since school let out in May, Vince and I have been eating better and getting more exercise by working around the house.

Since school let out in May, I have lost a bit more than 12 pounds. I am not sure of the exact number as I have one of those dial scales---not a digital one! Regardless, I am seeing numbers I have not seen in a year!

I took my measurements last week and at this point, I have lost 2.5 inches. Again, making strides in the right direction.

I am aware of what I eat and drink. I make sure that my caloric intake varies from day to day and that I do not drink empty calories. I have eliminated my between meal snacking and have been much more active.

When my son gets married, I would like to be a single digit clothing size.

Short term, I would like to be a total of 20 pounds lighter by the time school begins in August.

There it is folks. My goals for this summer!

Summer Progress!

Today is another in and out day! Vince is continuing to work on the garden shed and had already advised me to be ready to assist him! (That is the OUT).

I finally repotted this plant that we brought back from my mother-in-law's house in Alabama. I can only hope that it survives!


I spent the day in my working studio, finishing up those UFO's of a variety of types! Yesterday, I finished Jena's quilt, well more accurately, Maurice's quilt. Earlier last week, I did the quilting and put the binding on. Yesterday, I put the final stitches in the binding and here it is:


I also finished 4 sets of Car Club placemats that will be door prizes for next year's Bunny Run Car Show. These were pending from Last Year! I never finished them. So, I decided they needed to be completed this summer and be available for next year's show. Here are two sets:

I was also working on using up the fleece and ribbons I had laying about. So, I put together more of ribbon blankets that I have been successful selling and using as baby gifts.

I had a lot of red and blue fleece so many of the blankets have a patriotic theme going on. The flannel I used was a yard sale rescue and left over pieces from other flannel projects. As always, I work to reuse or rescue fabric and make them into a new creation!

My goal for today was to finish these up. Yay to have met that goal!

Summer Break--what I do!

Everyone always thinks that it is wonderful that Teachers get the "ENTIRE SUMMER" off work.
Those of you who know me know that this is not actually true.
Yes, I do not have a strict schedule for work.
Yes, I can sleep in and stay up all night.

But.....

The school system schedules in-service (training) and meetings during the summer so that we can prepare for the next school year.

I clean out my classroom of items I did not use in the past two years. This year, because I am teaching a new subject, I shared a lot of my math and history items with other teachers. I also acquired a number of Language Arts items.

There is always one BIG project for my classroom, this year it involves Vince (as always), but will not be as time consuming as the prior years' projects have been.

I also work on lesson plans and activities that I have thought of and want to use next year. I also revise lesson plans that did not work out well the prior year.

This year, I am working on learning my new subjects (English and Reading--collectively called Language Arts). I am really excited about teaching Language Arts! I have been going through the lesson plans of my fellow teachers and working my own twist on them. I have been reading the stories and coordinating the grammar and writing with the standards for the 6th grade.

I located this nifty website called Web English Teacher that has lesson plans for some of my favorite authors (Dr. Seuss, Chris Van Allsburg, Patricia Polacco and more!). I love using children's storybooks to encourage my 6th graders to write. I am glad that I will now be able to do these activities and they will actually be in the subject I am teaching.
Last week, Vince and I went to Alabama to close up my MIL's house, and then I went to St. Louis to visit Rob and Izzy. So, my first week of summer break was a little work and a little relaxation!

This week, I have been working--cleaning up the house and putting away items we acquired from my MIL's House, freecycling items Rob and Izzy gave me that they did not need, and sewing. We also sold the old water heater, Vince's golf clubs and a purse I did not like. It has been a good week to get tasks accomplished and begin the annual summer PURGE!

Look for updates!

Hmmm.....Summertime "To Do" list??

I was meandering through my old posts and came across my Summertime "To Do" list, and thought it would be interesting to see what I actually finished!

Here is the original list with updates in GREEN

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt (finished)
Peacock (top finished and delivered to long arm quilter)
Spinning Card Deck (this has been given thought and is being remade into a different design)
Skyward Nines (background and border fabric purchased)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!) (nothing done with this project!)
2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method! (no progress here!)
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store. (finished as of today!)
4. Photograph items for Etsy store. NOPE
5. List items in Etsy store. NOPE
6. Yard Sale in June! Rescheduled for August 7
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!) DONE! This started with an inventory of what I already had. I found that I had a number of perfect activities and all I needed to do was organize them. I created instruction sheets for each activity, listing supplies needed and making sure the activity parts were organized. I had to create little drawstring bags for some activities. I still have TONS of items that need to be cut out from cardstock and organized into folders, but I have help planned and a date arranged for next week.
9. Organize school cabinets DONE
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom. DONE
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together. I purchased the scrapbook and extra pages just two weeks ago.


Additionally I completed these activities:
Dyed and sewed new curtains for the window and the shelves in my classroom.
Spray painted the bookshelf in my classroom
I finished the Readers are Leaders quilt and the Prairie Schooler Quilt.
I added a hanging sleeve to the Hot Air Balloon quilt
Vince hung all three of these quilts in my classroom
Vince made and hung new pegs for the students' backpack and coats.
I finished the binding for the Snow Crazy Quilt.

So, overall, I made progress and had a busy summer! I am glad it is not over yet.

Project Status!

I am one week into my summer break! I do have in-service training for the next two days though, so very little progress will be made on home projects while I think about school!

However, I did manage to finish the Red/White/Blue quilt. It was made with a technique called "Stack a Deck". I use scraps of fabrics I had laying around...the blocks have been here for quite some time! It is a nice lap sized quilt.


This "Prairie Schooler" quilt I found in a magazine, I believe it was a 2007 magazine. I liked it and purchased the fabrics that the pattern featured, so this one has been around since 2007. I worked on it in bits and pieces since then. The only fabrics I purchased were the letters and the scrambled letter fabric. I used scraps and my stash for the remainder of the quilt. It was my first quilt with prairie points and I think they turned out well! I do need to finish the binding on this one, but otherwise it is complete, label and all!


This quilt is one for a friend of mine who is having her second child. I decided on the "I Spy" design because then the older brother could play with the younger brother! This one is complete except for a little bit of binding and the label. I wanted to wait and put the baby's birthdate on the label!


And finally: I finished one of the pillows that will grace my classroom this fall. This is one of two pillows that I am creating from items that no longer have a life on their own. I used a discolored fabric shower curtain, and the stuffing material came from an assortment of stained pillows. I washed the stuffing material (Fun stuff!!) and created an interior pillow form (again from re-claimed fabric). I did purchase two zippers so that the outer colorful cover could be removed and washed as needed. Here is a link to my classroom "alternative seating" project that these pillows are part of: Sit, Stand or Lounge?

♪ ♫Summer Time, Summer Time, SumSumSummertime.♪♫♪♪

Yes, my summer vacation has "officially" begun. I do have several days of In-service training scheduled, but I plan to (once again) catch up on those unfinished projects.

I do have to say that I managed to get more projects finished this school year than last year, which is probably good as I have a lot more school projects for this summer!


My "To Do" list for this summer (as of today's date):

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt
Peacock
Spinning Card Deck (this needs serious seam ripping and thought!)
Skyward Nines (all of the nine-patch blocks are finished!)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!)

2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method!
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store.
4. Photograph items for Etsy store.
5. List items in Etsy store.
6. Yard Sale in June!
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!)
9. Organize school cabinets
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom.
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together.

I am sure there will be many more tasks accomplished, but these are the ones I am determined to do!