Class Quilt

Every year our 2nd grade teacher has the students in her class make a quilt. The students come up with the quilt idea and then they learn some basic hand stitches. The students are always enthusiastic and excited when this time of year rolls around. This year the theme was "One World, One Nation" - I thought that was a very sophisticated theme for 2nd graders - Go Students!!
They decided to put a picture of the globe in the middle and flags from their ancestor's countries all around it. Myself and three other mom's helped out with this project. One of the mom's cut out all the globe components, I sewed the globe together, and another mom sewed the globe to the background fabric.

Sorry this picture is sideways! In class, the students cut out felt and handstitched their flags together. Then they embroidered their names under their flags. The teacher contacted our school photographer who graciously allowed us to use their images on our quilts. I printed out each child's picture on fabric, cut them out and then attached them to the quilts underneath their flags. The fabric I purchased was supposed to be able to be ironed on, but it was peeling off so I just tacked down each photo with "real" stitches to make sure they would stay put.

Here is a picture of the finished front. The front was finished before school ended in June and all the kids were totally thrilled! I think this is a great quilt - imagined by and mostly made by the kids - love it, love it, love it!! Another mom put on the backing and binding over the summer - perfect don't you think?

I also put the class picture on the back of the quilt. The quilt was delivered and hung in the class the day before school started this year. WHEW!! We wanted it up before the first day so the students could come back and see the finished quilt. Made it just under the wire!

Granny Stripe Blanket

More progress on my Granny Strip Blanket. All the different color combinations have really taken me out of my comfort zone which is a really good thing!
The top part of this picture shows the new rows that have been added since the last time this blanket was blogged.

I tried to get some pictures of the whole thing - not too successfully as you can see :o)

There are now 45 stripes

and it measures: 50 1/4" long X 48" wide

Almost done!

Blankets, Blankets, and more Blankets

WHEW!! Finally, Finally, Finally!! Yeah Team! The last blanket is done, done, done :o) I like the way the color changes on this one the best. If I were to make one of these for us, this is the color way I would choose.

Started: 07/16/10

Finished: 08/26/10

Needles: US13

Yarn: 2 strands held together

Lion Brand Homespun

Color: 377 Harvest Lot: 99377460

Color: 309 Deco Lot: 104060

Just shy of 7 skeins of each color

Zee pile of 6 blankets!! Can you believe it???? All six are for holiday gifts and they are totally complete! Even I am having a hard time believing this!

Here three of them are again - folded and stacked

Here are the other three folded and stacked!

Such a great feeling!

Booooo! Summer vacation is over!

This summer, as with all of our summers, has been so much fun. Just hanging out with eachother, going on day trips, reading, playing games, going to the park, flashlight tag, and so much more. I am so sad that in two days time it all comes to an end. The kids are very excited to get back and to see their friends - I, on the other hand, and very sad and melancholy. I am truly going to miss being with my kids everyday. I know I am kind of a freak - most of my friends are happy to get back to a schedule and have some "down" time. I guess I will enjoy some of the down time as well, but it is with very mixed feelings.

We all played games - even preschool games...
play dough figured in big time.....

"big" leggo - we all got involved in our creations...

bean collages....

so fun....

cornstarch packing peanuts make great building materials.....

for all.....

reading time for all....by themselves or to others. We all would sit down on most days and read quietly for a bit.....

arranging and rearranging the fishes....

Kate enjoying some late afternoon rest time.....

puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles....

games, games, and more games....

The summer was such great fun. It's not to say that the kids didn't fight (they did), or to say that everyday was full of exciting things (it wasn't), but overall it was fantastic and I am sorry that it is over.....oh, well....something to look forward to next summer!!!

A Finish!!

The 5th blanket is finally finished. It felt like it took a really long time to sew these strips together, but the edging only took two evenings to finish. These blankets are really easy to make and they are soft, but I am ready to move onto other things. I wonder what I will choose next.....there are quite a few UFO's around here to work on, but there are always new ideas floating around in my head. Lovely patterns that I have either made note of in magazines or printed off the computer - yarn in my stash to be used - new stitches to learn - it might take a bit to settle on something or a few somethings. There are also the holidays to be preparing for. The lists have all been made, but now to get down to the creating! Hmmmm lot's to think about.

"Emily's" Blanket

Started: 6/24/10

Finished: 8/12/10

Gifted: For E for the holidays

Needles: US13

Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun

Color: 404 Lagoon (blue) Lot: 105085

Color: 309 Deco (cream) Lot: 102885

I think this shot shows the color a little better. The teal is not a solid teal color. It actually has quite a few flecks of other colors (lighter blue, red, purple) in it and there are long color runs of different shades of the teal color - I think this adds a little bit of interest.

More camping activities

This is where I could be found in the early morning and the evening right after dinner while camping - knitting by our campfire. This was so very relaxing, I have been trying to figure out a way to make this happen at my home - I think it would be frowned upon to light fires in my backyard!! Anyway, a fair amount of knitting happened.

The 6th and final blanket was worked on almost everyday...
The stack of strips - 4 of them - the blanket is now completely knitted! WAHOO!!!! It just needs to be sewn together and the crochet edge put on. That is happening now in the evenings while we watch our shows and wind down at the end of the day.

I always bring a book with me to read.....except for this time.....I had placed it on the piano right by the front door to take along with us....and forgot it. Oh, Well - we had just been to the library for the kids and they let me read their books. The above book, First Light, was pretty good. It was very, very similar to the City of Ember but in a different setting. I totally enjoyed it. My oldest daughter had read it, then I read it, and now 10yo son is reading it. It's nice to be able to talk to him about a book while he is reading it - he gets much more out of it and I find it so enjoyable.

This book is about a troubled youth who gets a second chance. Also an enjoyable read. 10yo old son will like this one as well.

This is a cute take on an old tired story line. I thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed out loud many time. My 8yo daughter is reading it right now and really likes it - I also think the 12yo would like it as well.

This one is very well written and based on a true story. It touches on a whole bunch of issues that were nice to discuss with the 12yo. I was hoping the 14yo would read it, but so far she is not interested. I think the 8yo would enjoy it and will try to guide her to it as soon as she finished the genie book. I found it so nice to read some of these books. I don't usually have time to read all the books that they read. My kids are voracious readers - it's hard to get them to stop reading to go to bed!! I do try to keep up with the core literature they read during the school year. First, it's great to discuss these books with them as I read them at the same time they do. Second, I enjoy re-reading these books now as an adult. Some of them have a much great impact like Island of the Blue Dolphins - I remember reading it and thinking how scary it would be to be all alone on an island, but also how exciting. Now after reading it as an adult, I found it also amazing how she survived and also thought about how hard it would be for her to reintegrate into society. Talking about that with my children and hearing their feedback and thoughts was enlightening. Right now I am reading the prequel to Anne of Green Gables and am having a hard time putting that one down - I guess it runs in the family!! I hope the girls will want to read it because I am enjoying it so much!! Well, it's back off to the everyday chores of my daily life. At least the laundry is FINALLY caught up from being away for so long!

Camping trip crochet

We went on vacation for 12 whole days!! 12 days of fun - 12 days of uninterrupted family time - 12 days with the hubby - 12 days of bliss!! 8 of those 12 days were spent camping and what a fun, peaceful, relaxing, serene time it was. It kind of made me want to move into a more rural area with not so much hustle and bustle. We hung out and talked, played games and cards, hiked, cooked together, cleaned up together. We arose with the sun and basically went to sleep right after the sun totally went down for the day. Although not before huge quantities of smore's were made and consumed!!
As always the question of which projects to bring on a trip are of a big concern to me. This time there was also the space contraint to think about. With all the clothes, camping gear and food there was very little space leftover. This is the box of yarn for my granny stripe blanket that sat on the floor in the front passenger well. It really wasn't too bad!!

Side view of "the blanket". It was a lot of fun to work on this. And to get to change yarn every two rows was a huge plus for me. I like the way the double crochet stitches look.

The last few rows that are being worked on. I'm not quite sure why the crochet bug never hit me before - it has me now with a vengence!! I have a few ideas in my head of other things I would like to create with yarn and hook.

The blanket now has a total of 28 stripes - I think it might take 50 or 55 stripes to get it to the size I would like it to be. Just a little lap quilt to snuggle up with and keep us warm!!