Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Fifth were Firsts!!

It was the very first time that a vehicle like this ever turned into my driveway. At least not for the past 10 years. Ray brought 23 young fifth graders from Weston School District to my door. The same district I use to be a teacher's aid at. And some of the very same students I use to have in kindergarten class. Oh, I can't tell how good it was to see them all again. There were a few new faces sprinkled amongst the smiles. And thank goodness some adult volunteers came with them!! I cannot thank THEM enough.











We had 10 sewing machines set up at the retreat and the machines were only vacant long enough for an adult to change a needle, rethread the needle, or untangle the knotted mess in the bobbin case. They kept them humming.




Never have I seen so much determination to complete a quilt in a day. Eleanor Burns would have been proud. (She is a quilt author who touts Quilt-in-a-Day patterns). Mrs. M. the teacher, not being a quilter herself, was awful brave to take on this project. A teacher with alot of faith!!
A little Unsewing


Let me back up a bit. About a month ago I received this wonderful letter from Ramsey asking if I could help their class. He wanted to raise money for "Walk with Grace" a local chapter for Cancer research. After many emails back and forth with the teacher, we settled on a date. Mrs. L helped design a do-able quilt pattern for the kids. All the quilt squares were cut ahead of time and bagged up in individual little kits. 1 block per student. Most had them sewn together by 11:00am!! They were soooooo excited to ring the bell, hold up their block as everyone stopped and cheered and proudly walk it over to the design wall.
The students ate lunch on the deck while a few adults scrambled to square up the blocks. After lunch, on to the sashing and corner stones. Take a look at the progress. And the results. To make it just a tad bigger, I am adding, with their approval, a 4" border of blue around the outside. It then will be returned to them to sandwich together and quilt. I think they are going to tie it. And then sell raffle tickets. This is a photo of the 'real' kids and all their energy.
I think they all had a great time. And a new appreciation for quilting I hope. They didn't want to stop. Some sewed little squares together to take home mini 2" pillows. You should have seen the darling pillow some of the boys made me as a thank you gift. Keep sewing kids! Never stop the creativity!!
Bye kids!! Thanks for coming! Patsy

Monday, April 27, 2009

Monkey Business

The Story Continues.........


There's a story that started back a year ago. Two sock puppets named Dick and Jane, met, fell in love, and got married. That was last year. The wedding was briefly interrupted by a disheartened sock Monkey who loved the groom too.
Well, this year their lives continued....... seems there is a few additions to the family.
A set of twins......and then a surprise event. Another 'older' monkey child was handed over to Dick and Jane to raise. It seems sock Monkey had a child too. Oh, where will this go next year? Stay tuned.


Phyllis did a demo on how to do the toothbrush rugs. She also showed us her "Carriage Wheel Rug" which was published in 'Country Handcrafts' magazine a few years back. Way to go Phyllis!!
Here is the Homestead Under the Stars kit is somewhat disarray Joan??
Here is a puzzle that a friend let me borrow. It proved to be quite 'puzzling'.
There was a Stow away trying to go back to the big city with a few girls. I have always made it known that our cats like to jump in the cars when you are loading up, but I never thought I'd have to warn you to check your vehicles for chickens! This is one of the new ones I just acquired and apparently she is very inquisitive.
Glad she didn't leave any 'footprints' in the car.
This pin cushion of the week was from Primitive Gatherings I believe. I have one like it. Too cute!

Some Show n Tell for you............

The following jackets were all made by Sharon (in the purple) modeled by her friends.