Author: Teresa

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

Our R.E.A.D. program begins

December 12, 2024

Big Girl is demonstrating what good listeners do while waiting for our next student. What you don’t see is a small group of special needs students being read to by a teacher in the opposite corner of the library. Sadie’s being quiet, listening attentively and watching the speaker.

We have four students we’ll see each week – 3 boys and 1 girl with very different reading levels and backgrounds. Sadie was so excited to get to work this morning! The front office buzzed us in and she led me straight to the library once I obtained my visitor pass. Zoomies around the library while I set up and an enthusiastic greeting for our first reader made for a great session. We worked on assigned reading passages together and students learned to use text evidence to figure out the correct answer to the comprehension questions. A little bit of test taking strategies thrown in there too, but it’ll help come time for Milestones testing next spring. This is exactly what I wanted to do in retirement.

P.S. I understand her friend Barney (the K-9 dog assigned to the school) stopped by to check on us, but we were busy with a student and he didn’t want to interrupt.

In other news:

Next week marks my final Monday enrichment class at CAA. My rolling tote is already packed for the lesson and activities. I’ll spend some time this weekend weeding my general craft supplies and gifting a couple of teachers the bulk of them. In late January, Sadie and I will return to CAA as literacy volunteers on Thursday mornings. This could morph into a homegrown read-to-a-dog program as there is another family in the school community who also has a certified therapy dog.

Our therapy dog work is definitely influenced by the academic calendar. Most school and library visits wrap up by mid-May. Summer months tend to be slower with random summer camps and corporate event visit opportunities. Sadie and I try to make one visit in June and another in July/August. Our established school and library programs typically resume after Labor Day.

Someone asked about the cost of being a therapy dog volunteer. There are certain requirements as to attire/accessories for the handler and dog. You’ll definitely need at least one logo shirt, harness/scarf for your dog and a 4′ leash. Besides the $40 in annual dues to the national organization, it’s really up to you. The more visits you do, the more it will cost in terms of dog grooming, logo attire for you and transportation costs. If you do kid and young adult visits like Sadie & I do, you will also need to budget for trading cards, stickers, pencils, bookmarks and other swag to pass out on visits. It all adds up to a few hundred dollars each year plus my time. Money and time well spent, in my opinion.

Quilting through the holidays

December 9, 2024
Stacks of Hourglass Quilt Blocks – Week 3 of the Bonnie Hunter Old Town Mystery Quilt

I’m tired. No wonder. I’ve made about 400 little bits in total for this quilt over the past two weeks. I’m all caught up and I’ve successfully figured out how to cut QSTs for the hourglass blocks using Bonnie’s Essential Triangle Ruler. Minimal unstitching and everything turned out the correct size, with only a tiny bit needing to be trimmed away. Last time, I used my Featherweight and the blocks turned out too small. This time, I used my Elnita EC30. Having the ability to adjust the needle position made all the difference for me.

I’m thankful that Bonnie Hunter offers a mystery quilt along during the Christmas season. This is my first time participating in one of her annual mystery quilts. The project has helped keep me engaged and in relatively good spirits during what can be a hard time of year. Family drama isn’t pleasant – especially when it causes a rift among family members on my side. Five years later, I will say the peace that comes with not having to deal with certain folks during the holidays is a gift in itself. This year, there are signs that some of the younger family members as they reach adulthood are interested in rekindling the familial relationship. This is welcome news.

The next two weeks will be a flurry of activity, but Christmas will be spent at home with hubs and Sadie. Christmas and New Year’s fall mid-week, so I’ll be able to stitch with some of my Friday Sew Squad at the library between Christmas and New Year’s. Are you joining the Stitchin’ Heaven crew on New Year’s Day? I’m with Team Rob and have already pulled my bin of red, white and blue fabrics. It’s a fun day and you don’t have to complete the quilt unless you want to. Last year, I made a handful of blocks, which became placemats to donate to Meals on Wheels. Placemats in patriotic colors are always welcomed by the staff.

Oh, and I’ll be working on the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt until it ends in January.

Cutting Quarter Square Triangles

December 7, 2024

There are many ways to cut QSTs. In this case, I wanted to cut my QSTs from leftover strips – like Bonnie Hunter does – without having to buy another ruler. QST math formula is finished size of block + 1-1/4″ equals the size square to cut. You then cut on both diagonals to yield 4 QSTs. I did just that and compared one of the QSTs to every ruler I had. I’m sure there a mathematical formula to figure out this out, but it’s Saturday and I didn’t feel like mathing that hard on the weekend.

A QST has a 90 degree angle at the peak. If you have a companion angle ruler, you could give that a try. I do not have one of those, but my Clearly Slotted Trimmers Ruler B (even numbers) provided the solution. The original strip was cut at 1-1/2″ and the hourglass blocks finish at 2″. If you see the comparison with the QST sample I cut, the 2-1/2″ line is where I need to align the ruler with the bottom of the strip to cut the correct size QST. The little bit (point) at the top that’s missing is okay, because the hourglass unit will end up slightly oversized and need to be trimmed to 2-1/2″. I cut full sides on the legs of the triangle – not cutting off the dog ears as I would for a regular HST.

My preferred trim down tool for hourglass blocks is my Tucker Trimmer from Studio 180 Designs. As you can see, the end result after trimming is a perfect 2-1/2″ hourglass block waiting to be sewn into a project. Now to make a few dozen more. The bonus: I used up short strips of fabric I would have otherwise thrown out.

Challenge yourself to figure out solutions using what you have on hand.