Author: Teresa

Quilts, good books and dogs. Plus a cup of tea. Life is good.

Discipline means putting first things first

November 12, 2014

Oh, how I wanted to spend the evening puttering in my studio!

HOWEVER, I forced myself to be disciplined and put first things first.  I spent the 2 hours necessary to prepare for tomorrow’s meetings and events at work.  I did manage to get about 15 minutes of studio time in where I fussy cut squares and sashing for a pillow project that’s due later this week.  A little bit of studio time and smooth start to the day versus lots of studio time coupled with the mad dash to get everything done while trying to get out the door by 6:15 a.m.?  No brainer! I’ll take the smooth start any day!  Actually, I’d like to be in my studio by 6:30 a.m. every day working on my craft business rather than commuting to an outside day job.  That’s my end goal. I try to keep this in mind as I make myself stay disciplined and focused on getting things done when my creative genie is calling me to the studio.

Memory Quilt

October 21, 2014

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This t-shirt quilt was made for a customer whose father passed away in April.  Although Dad had several t-shirts, she selected the ones that meant the most to her.  My favorite t-shirt is the one she made her Dad featuring photos of the two of them.  (It’s top row, middle block).  The center block includes an English translation of a special verse from his funeral program.  I used a stylized Old English font and printed it on Electric Quilt’s printable fabric. The verse was then framed with cornerstone and outer border fabric.

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Blocks on this quilt are 15″ and quilted in a wave pattern to mimic the sashing fabric. Most of my quilts call for a solid-color sashing.  This customer wanted to select her own fabrics. She prefers brown tones and loves batik fabrics, so we met at a local quilt shop to find the just right fabrics.  I think her selections work quite nicely.  That’s the beauty of a custom quilt – you can make it your own.

Look what we did in school today!

October 18, 2014

Pom pom spiders just in time for Halloween!20141017_134230

Both the kids and club sponsors had a blast!  We made one incredible mess of the classroom we use for our club meetings, but today’s experience definitely fit the definition of learner engagement.  Club members learned to do quick division in their heads the old school way (sorry Common Core) to figure out roughly how many spiders we could get out of a skein of yarn.  Students learned how to measure 10 yards of yarn using yardsticks and using the 12″ floor tiles.   Real life experience!

This is why I love teaching.