Back in the Groove....aka Summer Vacation

Yippee............now I know how my teachers felt when it was time for summer vacation.   It has been really nice to not have to get up at O'Dark Hundred to get ready for school......of course that doesn't mean my body has cooperated and not woken up at it's habitual time, but that's totally beside the point.

I'm thankful for my job as a teacher, but I'm also thankful for summer vacation!    So far this summer I've made a trip to TX to visit with friends and family there.   And now that I'm back home I've started the summer cycle of dentist/doc visits/medical tests interspersed with lots of sewing.   =)  Have a couple of weeks of training to also get through but that's ok.     And need to get a bunch of stuff listed on ebay to sell as well.........so needless to say I'm gonna stay busy this summer.

So far this week I've finished off a quilt top for American Heroes.   In addition I've caught up on the blocks for the two different versions of the BOM that I'm working on with friends from an online group.  The block patterns can be found on my website on the Block of the Month Page.   Both of these are being made with fabrics that I've ended up collecting but are not my normal colors.   The plan is to finish the quilts and then donate them.    Haven't decided where I'll donate them to, but ultimately that will depend on what size they end up finishing at.   I do plan on designing new settings for both of these and then will put that up on my website to go with the block instructions.

In addition I've finished off a quilt top for American Heroes.   The inspiration for this quilt was taken from the Falling Charms pattern by Missouri Quilts.  The difference in what I did and the original pattern, was to first start with 6.5" cut squares of the blue/white fabric.   I then added two 'rounds' of the scrappy reds on two sides instead of just one round.   I used assorted sized of the strips and everything came from my scrap bin for the reads.   The quilt finished out at 60" by 80".    This will be sent off with three other tops that I've had ready for American Heros for about a year, but haven't gotten in the mail.  

I've also started working hard at making a big dent in getting the commissioned clothing sewn up. It's been a year since I've been able to do much towards getting these worked up and I'd really like to get them done and outta here.   Am also hoping that I don't end up with a lot more fabric that she wants sewn up in return, but will cross that bridge if or when i get there.

Gratitudes:
1. For safety in the drive to/from TX, and the honest car dealer who found the problem and fixed my car.
2. For the health insurance that I have through my Job.

Woohoo............

Over the last year it hasn't seemed like I was able to do much in the way of quilting.   Between FT grad school in the spring and summer, then starting to teach in the fall of 2012, working a PT job, completing the next to the last course for my master's degree, and working on commissioned sewing there just wasn't time for quilting.   This of course was much to my frustration.     I did manage to get a couple of blocks designed and submitted to QuiltMaker for two different issues of their 100 blocks from Top Designers.      The first block was not accepted, but I just found out that the second block has been accepted and will be in the fall 2013 issue.   Later in the year there will be a blog tour and I'm planning on doing a post for that to show the block and how it can be made, so I won't be posting a pic of it now.

The block that wasn't accepted I'm planning on using as the start of a quilt that I'll use as a mystery quilt on either my website on here.   Haven't decided that far ahead though.   I'm hoping that I can work this in the first part of the year, but it might wait until this summer because I'll be going nuts with my final semester in grad school.

Meanwhile this year it looks like a lot of my sewing will once again be commissioned sewing as I work to get all of that made up and outta my hair.   I am thankful for it though because it has helped pay the bills.   I'm also working on ideas for what I want to do for my Pay-it-Forward gifts this year.   I've got some ideas but nothing concrete in mind at this point. 

I'm also thinking about what I want to do for my quilt for the Stretching Art Challenge that I've been a part of for 10 yrs or so.   I love being in the challenge because it always challenges me in my designs and I like being able to continue growing as a designer and quilter.

Gratitudes:
1. Only one more semester before graduation!
2. God's perfect provision that is allowing me to pay off some of the smaller bills.

2012 Year End

It's been a long year for me with the first 5 months of the year consumed with student teaching, classes and working part-time.   Summer saw me scrambling to survive 3 summer school classes, a 2 week training class in Illinois, packing and then moving 3.5 hrs away from Lafayette, and starting to teach full time.  

The last 4 months of 2013 has seen me complete my first semester of teaching at DeKalb High School as an Engineering teacher, working part-time at Joann Fabrics to help make ends meet, trying to stay up with all of my class work in my last year of grad school, and working on commissioned sewing (clothing of various types). 

Notice that there's no mention of being able to do much quilting in there.............sigh................that would be because I haven't been able to do much quilting at all this year, and I really miss it!   I'm hoping that will change in the coming year, at least after I finish defending my master's portfolio the end of April.  

Some of my goals that I have for the coming year is to work to get one or more of my quilt patterns written up and out for testing.  I want to start listing them for sale on my website and etsy, but know i have to do the prep work for that before hand.   I also plan to start working on more block patterns and quilt patterns for submission to quilt magazines for publication.    I also hope to actually

And if you're looking for giveaways to enter, check out the one that my quilting buddy Susan is hosting on her blog.  =) 

Gratitudes:
1. Being able to spend time in sunny and warm Phoenix over Christmas.
2. Having survived my first semester as a teacher.  =)

New Block Design

This has been a long, and sometimes (mostly?) hard summer as I dealt with difficult summer school classes, extra training classes that had to be taken, packing, and a move across the state to where I'm now teaching.    With everything that went on there never seemed to be anytime to actually do any quilting, sewing, designing.  

Thankfully this week and last I've been able to do some designing and sewing.   Last week I made a sample of a quilt block that I designed for submission to QuiltMaker for their Spring 2013 issue of Top 100 Quilt Blocks.   That has to be sent in before the end of September.   Because it is being submitted I can't post a pic of it here at this point.   

The next thing up I designed a pp'd block of a rocket for a friend who wanted to make a baby quilt with rockets for a friend of hers.  When I went to make a sample block I was reminded of how long it had been since I'd made anything because I found I'd forgotten one seam allowance and had to redo one of the blocks sections.....OOPS!    Redid that section and everything went together w/o problems.      I think it turned out cute.   =)

If you're interested in using the block (6" finished sized), you can find the pattern on my website by clicking HERE.  Look in the "New Patterns" section of the page for the link to the pattern.

Next up I'm working on putting together 12 of the orphan blocks that have been around here for several years into a lap quilt.    Am putting sashing on the blocks now and thinking about what I want to do for the border.   This one will mostly be sold after it is finished.   Then it will be onto the commissioned tops that I have here and need to get done.   Probably should continue to unpack and shift boxes and totes around so I can set up my quilt frame as well.  =)

Gratitudes:
1. For teaching at a great high school with supportive administrators.

2. For a great class of middle-schoolers - they give me hope for the future!

Stretching Art 2012

This week has been filled with a lot of sewing for a change.   Finished up the top for a signature quilt for a friend that ended up being a king-sized top.   And it's off in the mail to them.    Am looking forward to hearing that how the recipient likes it.   Am glad to have it finished up.

Today i started working on the thread painting on the challenge quilt that I need to have finished by the end of the month.  I haven't done as much thread painting as some peopel would do, but that is for two reasons - one, because this is the first time that I've done anything like this, and second - because I just wanted it to give the idea of what is there and not fully "color" the picture in as it were.    I've finished the thread painting for all but the background of the quilt center - but am still debating on what to do for the tan background fabric.      Basically all that is left

now is just the binding and adding  sleeve and label to the back.    I'm planning to get everything finished up this weekend so that I can get it in the mail for the exhibit that it will be in later this summer.

And last week, I finished off another UFO block into a pincushion.   It went out in the mail as my final Pay-It-Forward gift for 2012.  

Gratitudes -

1. The school board approved my contract for next year.

2. The new pain med has made a world of difference in how the arthritis in my knee feels.

More pincushions and a couple of boxes

Have still be working on getting pincushions made for Pay-It-Forward gifts that I need to get made and into the mail.     The two that I finished yesterday were made from scraps and orphan block sections.     The purple one will be headed off to a new home once I pick up mailing envelopes.

The orange one may end up living with me for a while because I really like how it turned out.   I made up the pattern I used for it and I'm considering making it into a bigger size and using it as the basis for a quilt.   That'll be a while down the road tho because I won't have time to do anything like that for a while.  I have one more pincushion to make for a Pay-It-Forward gift and have pulled another orphan block for that.   I plan to sew it up today and then everything will be ready to mail off to their new homes.  =)

In student teaching this past semester I ended up having 3 prep periods.   A lot of the time I used those periods to not only get ready for the classes that I was teaching, in addition to working on my homework, but all to refresh my skills in making things from wood.   I knew that there was  a possibility that I could end up having to teach a wood shop/materials processes type of class and my skills have pretty much line dormant since way back in junior high except for one class here at Purdue.     The main wood used in both was red oak.   Also used was poplar (in the bottom box) and small amounts of black walnut, white oak, and cherry in the top box.

My enjoyment in working with wood as I've been working with these boxes is but one of the  things that has confirmed I'm teaching what I should be.   =)   I've even thought about in the future about getting some tools so that I can make more stuff......lol.....or maybe I just need to find someone who already has it all that will let me use the stuff.  

Gratitudes:

1.  for the abilities and enjoyment that God has given me in making things - both quilted and in other mediums.

2. For a prof who is willing to work with me so that I can complete both his class this summer and still take the 2-wk training class that I need to take for the teaching position that I've offered.