Here’s one of mine!

I cannot begin to tell you how much joy this 26 pounds of scruffy fur has
brought to my life (and others through our therapy dog work).

Our next door neighbor is giving him a big hug in this picture.

Adopt a shelter dog!

I work as an elementary library media specialist at a Title I school located in the second largest school district in the state.  The district has 100,000+ students.  Approximately 1100 of those PK-5 munchkins attend my school.  I also serve two very different schools within the same building.  Yes, this can be a logistical feat sometimes –  and a nightmare on other occasions – but we’ll leave it at that.

Faced with a 65 million dollar budget deficit, the district’s senior management team has proposed a number of cuts.  Among these is cutting the library media parapros (my helper) back to part-time.  Much discussion has gone back and forth on the district’s library media list-serv.  For the affected parapos, the potential impact is huge because this change would also bring a loss of health insurance benefits in addition to a 50% pay cut.  Say what you will about civil servants; however,  most of the parapros at my school are married to small business owners.  Their meager paychecks keep the family fed, lights on and provide medical insurance for their families.  That’s about it.

If my parapro is cut to half-time, this means half of my work week is now going to be spent covering circulation duties – you know supervising the library, helping students find books, checking out books and reshelving.  The other part will be spent handling the back office duties that still have to get done – library management, ordering, weeding, updating records, repairing books, analyzing the collection to see where we need more items, evaluating websites for teachers, collaborating on resources for projects, providing technology support and teaching.  Did I mention teaching?????  Yes, this is the one  responsibility that often gets pushed aside. I don’t like it, but I’m only one person and there are so many hours in the day.

Some of my coworkers have talked about how they plan to hustle to keep up the same level of library services…staying later…taking work home…working during the summers.  Blame it on our strong customer service orientation psyche.  We simply want to make our customers happy and will often go to great lengths to do so.

Enough is enough.  As much as I enjoy my work, I already do the job of two people (librarian and technology coordinator) and now I’m expected to pick up the slack of a 1/2 time position as well?   I don’t even get paid the full salary to do the job I was contracted to do (thanks to salary cuts, wage freezes and furlough days).  I have to agree with my husband on this one.  The job they have available is not the same job I had five years ago.  I may not like it, but that is the job available.  I can either accept it or resign.  Simple as that. And man, do I hate to admit it when he’s right.

Hard to believe something so simple can have such a huge impact the success of one’s project, yet it’s so true.  Ever had the quilt binding come loose in the washing machine?  I learned the hard way and now use waxed, hand-quilting thread to hand-stitch my bindings.  That is, unless I machine stitch the binding.

I like to use 50wt cotton thread for machine piecing.  Many of my quilt guild members prefer Aurifil thread.  I tried to like it, but Pfaffie pitched a hissy fit whenever I tried to use something other than Superior Threads products.  Now that I have Jewel, (my Janome 6600), I can sew with just about anything.   What a relief!  Superior Threads products are excellent, but are a little difficult to find in my area.  I have to order them online or buy at one of the big consumer sewing shows.  Aurifil is more readily available (yes, it is a little pricey!).

I’ve also found that the same weight thread can vary widely in thickness.  Connecting Threads offers its own brand of thread, which is a good quality “sturdy” thread that my Featherweight absolutely loves.  When precision matching and scant 1/4″ seams aren’t required, I like to use this thread.  I’ve also had satisfactory results using it in the top for machine quilting when paired with a “thinner” bobbin thread.

My favorite combination for piecing is to use Superior Threads’ Masterpiece/So Fine in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin.  I know they say not to use polyester thread because it’ll rip through the fabric over time, but this stuff is really soft and fine.  If my longarm quilter (who has won numerous awards by the way) uses polyester thread to machine quilt, why can’t I use it myself??????  A large cone of John Flynn’s So Fine costs about the same as a medium size spool of Aurifil.  And it lasts a whole lot longer, too!

In my experience, rayon and silk thread are great for applique work, but I’ve not had any luck at all using them for machine quilting.

Which thread(s) do you like best and why?