Distance learning

Online school started this week. I sit on the couch answering "hangout" conversations with my students. This goes from 8 to at least 4 in the afternoon. And then in the evening I have been making calls to families to help the students get online. Or I have been answering emails and such.

They have been LONG days. Many of the students are trying. Some things go well; and other things not so well. Teachers adapt and we keep going. Oh, and did I say long and tiring.

So Thursday I finally sewed. I finished my Bonnie Hunter setting blocks.  Today I hope to make the corner blocks.
Then it is putting it together.

But just like many of you on your blogs, I feel like a need something NEW.   

Today we supposed to be our quilt show. And of course, it is canceled. We are having the raffle Sunday for he beautiful blue and white quilt from the Edyta Sitar book something about blues. We made it bigger than the one in the book. And a beautiful appliqued border was added: I had made all the bias stems.

GOOD news: Corners finished. It took several hours.  That is not because they are complicated, it is because I didn't have enough pink cut out. After a little specific cutting of the right shape and color, they are done.

Bottom line, DONE!  And assembly has started. Slow and steady!

And then I laid them out.  Toot, toot, to toooooooo.

Drum roll, please.

And then I found these extras.   Hmmm.  This goes to show: I am a VISUAL learner.

I look at the pictures of the directions, read it once, and relay on it for the duration.

Those 16 sets were not just for the setting triangles, silly.

Still, major progress.

Coronovirus schooling

My new teaching station is the end of a couch.  Why because the only table and chairs I like are the ones   I sit cross legged on the couch. It is the teacher in me or just my cold small stature. So the end of the couch it is....at least until I formulate something different. 

I have a box of student folders where I keep track of grades weekly as well as work they need to do.  These I already have been using all year, just brought them home and placed in one box.   I have 3 stacks of think heavy books, these are mostly for me as I am old fashioned and can page through a text book faster in my hands.  I use both my school computer and home laptop. 

We are doing google hangouts already ( our classes start Monday and this week has been planning for that.) But as I am a support teacher, I communicated all missing work to be done this week as a way for them to "catch up".  But not all are taking advantage of that.

So I have worked with about 8-10 kids already. 

I visited school today to get  the textbooks. I was surprised at how emotional  I felt back in my classroom without students. There were a few staff members: mostly administration, office people and custodians. Very eerie. But very sad. Some districts are talking about no school in the buildings for the rest of the year.  While some days are kind of crazy. I don't want the year to end like this.

Coronovirus and quilts

So I had a lovely quilt retreat over the weekend. We were to have stayed in the dorms of a university. But they closed the dorms to everyone .

Good news, we went to a nearby hotel. The rooms were very nice.

And we had a communal small meeting room to sew in.

And sew I did:

I managed to get all my sashings on this quilt.

No borders, just quilting left to do 

This is from the Beyond the Battlefield book by Mary Etherington and  Connie Tesene.

The colors are more vibrant in person: rich and earthy.

Many of the prints are Kim Diehl.

Here are a few of the other quilts made by some of the others:

These blocks are hand appliqued from Piece O'cake  

Pattern is called Aunt Millie's Garden

And I did also manage to work on my setting triangles for Frolic.

Only a few more to get together. 

Coronovirus shuts down the country.

 And yes, I am supporting distance learning for my student starting next week.

This week I will let them know what they need to complete that was already due.

We are to be home as are many schools in many states; our end date is April 6.

Our spring vacation is starting April 10.

This gives me more time to clean my sewing area. And sew, sew sew.

Goosey top

I worked hard at getting this all together  today.  I spent the day getting the last blocks conncected, ironed, and trimmed all the loose threads and leftover corners of paper on the back side. And then it needed a really good pressing and adjustments of a few intersections. 

O.k., correction. I did not trim every single thread on the back. At guild recently a long arm quilter, suggested that it needed to be done to prepare for long arming.   Who sees the back?   

Do you trim all your threads on the back?

Currently it is 39 by 39 inches. After staring at it tonight and even getting it ready for a thin border of white, I have decided to add  a thin border of blue followed by a larger border of white. 

Here is a singular block. And yes, they were paper pieced. 

Goosey blues

Last year in preparation for our guild's yearly quilt show, I started a blue and white quilt: 

And after finishing 17 of these blocks, it sat while other projects took precedence. 

Each of the 4 blue pieced parts is 3 and 1/2 inches making this block 7 and 1/2.

Here is the back, although I have already spent an evening removing the middle paper pieces .

You can however, find the blocks on pinterest ( by Bonnie Hunter called Wild and Goosey)

I was so optimistic to think I could make an entire quilt out of these. 

And I am not going to piece anymore.  I just have too many ideas of projects to make.

So I decided to make a wall hanging size: 

And here it is at this point in  major pieces with more time to sew today.

I think it is realistic to get it done for the end of March.  

Quilt show and a dozen stars

For my Bea et Cecile quilt along, I have my 16 stars done. 

One project done for February! Whew!

Now to assemble and quilt it!

Saturday I went with 2 friends to the first quilt show of the season. 

So inspiring and so fun to get away.  It was even up to the 40s for the weekend.

This quilt was in the back of a booth. All little pieces, but so pretty.

The owner of this store from Richfield, loves working with tiny pieces.

And here are several quilts from the show:

This is a famous building in downtown Milwaukee, the old gas company.

The flame at the top changes colors depending on the outside temperature.

This was a gorgeous Sue Spargo quilt. 

Love the black background and tiny polka dot binding.

And I loved this one.  

You normally see it in solids, but I truly was struck by the use of printed fabrics.

Then I went to a lecture on color and scrap quilts. This is Judy Gauthier from Ripon, Wisconsin.

Her store, Bungalow quilts has awesome bright fabrics. 

She also has 2 great scrap quilt books. She has a system with 3 1/2, 4 1/2 and 5 inch blocks 

So many samples, it was wonderful.

This one was from leftovers of a quilt.

Loved this scrap quilt top with the grunge gray background. 

This is only a section, but it was so striking. 

Of course, I made several purchases for some fabric and patterns.