Swoon – The Beginning

Remember a while back (and yes, it’s been a while), I posted this picture of my prepped fabrics for my Swoon quilt?  Well, I have good news.  I used some of my long holiday weekend to actually start sewing the blocks, which I can honestly say, take longer than I had expected.  there are a lot of pieces to put together, but the end result is absolutely worth it!

Swoon fabrics cut.

Here are some of my process pics from the first finished block.  “Swoon” is made up of mostly HST’s (half-square triangles) and flying geese blocks.  So first I chain pieced all of the hst’s and pressed them open.

Chain pieced hst’s.

Pressed open hst’s.

I continued piecing and pressing triangles and flying geese, and then putting them together to make 9 smaller blocks.

Smaller block 1

Smaller block 2

Then I combined all of the smaller blocks together, along with the square of patterned fabric to make one giant Swoon block!  I love how huge this finished block is.  Now I have to finish 8 more and then add some sashing.  Stay tuned.

Finished Giant Swoon Block 1

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I Was Ready for The First Day of School

Happy September!!

Week one of school is over, and I can say that I am very thankful for this three-day weekend.  I’m exhausted.  My first week at my new school went pretty well. There were a few bumps in the road (to be expected for the first week), but all in all, other than the 95+ degree temperatures in our non-air conditioned building, things were good. Last Sunday, I spent the majority of the day at school getting my classroom ready for my students’ arrival. Here are some pics.

My reference shelf. I also made some corner bookmarks for my students to help themselves to. All of my book bins are labeled by genre (there is a poetry bin here), and on top I have some featured reads, a book checkout clip board, and some of my pretties (the beaded blue jay and the Boyd’s bear).

This is part of my student support station. My students are welcome to help themselves. I stress during the first week of school that they are responsible for not abusing the student support station, and that they should take care to use the items responsibly. I also have my catch phrase poster, “Keep Calm…”

This is the rest of the student support station. I have mini, Bath and Body Works lotions and hand sanitizers for students to help themselves. I also have sharpened pencils for students to help themselves to. Finally the file houses my absent work folders, hall pass log, and late log.

Here is my assignment board. These are all of the parts of my lesson that I am required to post daily. I made the labels with my cricut machine (the best diecutter ever!).

Here is my desk. This is the cleanest that it will ever be. My goal this year is to not leave at the end of the day without it being cleared off and ready for the next morning. I found my cut glass candy dish (full of jolly ranchers) at an antique mall for $10!! That is also where I found the brass cat figure. My mom sent me the squirrel to add to my collection! I found the footed teacup and saucer at the antique mall too. I use it to hold paperclips!

This is my “teacher board” where I post info that I need to remember and pictures and notes that I get throughout the year. That strawberry paper is glittered!

Here is my classroom library. My books are organized in bins (Container Store shoe boxes) with handmade labels. The bottom shelf houses nonfiction texts.

Add A Little Color To Your Life!

Looking for a quick and easy update for a dull chair?  Paint it!!  Check out the difference that just a bit of spray paint can make to take a great shaped chair from dull to ta-da!!

Before: Dark brown, icky and dull.  Great rounded shape with the cane back.  

Chair after: A bit of blue paint and voila!  Color and life.  It’s a standout piece now!  I love how you can see the detail in the legs now.

So, start looking around your place, or check out those garage sales and thrift stores.  It’s amazing what a touch of color can do!  Happy Weekend.

Hugs,