A New Summer Quilt!

I can remember a time I use to make a quilt every month...

...now here I'm posting one I made last summer that I finally got quilted and 

the binding sewn just in time to enjoy it for the summer!!

The pattern is called: Friendship Scrap Block from www.quilterscache.com.

The very best part...it was made from left over fabric from this Lori Holt Kit: 

(Which by the way, makes me smile everyday as it brightens my little laundry room.)

What else makes me smile is the fact that I loved this fabric so much, I now have an oversized 

lap quilt to enjoy and ALL my extra fabric was used!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!

I hoping more sewing is in my future, as I find myself at another cross road. Yep! Last week I hung up my school lanyard and recess whistle after 33 years of teaching.

But! I'm NOT retired! 

I have actually been transitioning into a new District job as our very first Talented and Gifted Coordinator. This has proven to be the most empowering transition I have made personally in quite a long time and one that is worthy of one of my "Life and Learning" post. Hopefully some words of wisdom and inspiration will come to me, but for now, I'm simply relishing the process of change and personal growth I'm experiencing. 

I just turned 57 and got to happily celebrate with these two:

I feel blessed in so many ways and am looking forward to having one more chapter in my career.

I hope this post finds you, my old blogging friends, doing well.

With Smiles, Val:)

Aughhh....

The first rainy day of Fall....just makes everything feel so much better!

New slippers in the mail from my mom also keep my toes warm for a cozy afternoon of binding.

I have found teaching in a comprehensive distant model to be weirdly exhausting emotionally.

Zoom, Google Meets are common place forms of communication and teaching.

By the weekend, I'm just done. I hoping as the rain clears tomorrow to go for a long mountain hike to enjoy the fresh air, beautiful Fall leaves and rejuvenate my heart and head. How about you.? How do you keep yourself rejuvenated as we continue to find ourselves living a new normal?

With Smiles! Val

It's Monday! Today let's:

Here's a peek at Comprehensive Distance Learning from a teacher's point of view:

Our teachers are ROCKIN' IT!!!

Their dedication, creativity and hard work remind me to:
   Attack this day with enthusiasm.

                                                                            Stay Positive.
                                                                             Be thankful.
                                                            Replace "Have to" with "Get to."

        Be a blessing to others. 

With Smiles! Val

Slow Blogging....

Ugh! I'm such a "slow blogger" these days and can't seem to find my ol' blogging "mojo".

 In reflection, hubs and I are busy enjoying our empty nest, even during a pandemic,
life seems to keep busy...although we really miss eating out once a week.

As a teacher, working from home has been very odd. It's hard to believe sometimes the reality of this Corona Virus Pandemic. Luckily, I have found my hand stitching to be a great comfort during my numerous Zoom Meetings each day as know one can see what I'm doing! LOL!

Anyhoo, that doesn't leave me with anything crafty to really share with you here on the ol' blog. But!

If you are new to my blog, I welcome you to take a look around by clicking on my tabs at the top of the page and my post labels at the bottom of the page. With seven years of quilting documented here...there's plenty of inspiration to be found and friends to meet by following the blog links on my sidebar. 

As always...

With SMILES! Val

When You Can't Reach the Peddle....

While visiting our grand guys this past weekend, knowing I made quilts and after inquisitively watching me stitch during movie time, one of their friends really wanted me to teach him how to sew. My daughter didn't hesitate to unpack her sewing machine and we let the boys dive into a box of fabric scraps. As I sat and worked on some binding, I taught the oldest, who is nine, how to use the machine. I taught him the main parts of the machine: foot, pedal and the ol' 1/4 inch! 

 He was very focused, detailed oriented and caught on quickly. Well, before I knew it...

.

..he was quickly on his way to making all the younger boys their very own blankie, even

seeking their help when he couldn't reach the pedal himself! (Look at how focused they are!)

After busily rocking a teething baby,

...I soon returned to the kitchen to find all the older boys giving sewing a team effort!

(Is this just not adorable!!) One at the machine, another at the pedal, and one

guiding the fabric. I was so happy my daughter caught these moments for me!

By the end of the day, our guy had made four blankies for all the younger boys.

He spread them all out and I was flattered when he insisted that I join him for his finale! 

(As you can see,  I was busy giving our little grand guy a bath...and well, 

you know how one year olds LOVE to splash and play in water!)

As if the story can't get any better....we soon realized he can earn a Boy Scout patch for his efforts!

I truly had the best weekend with these guys and loved sharing our hobby with them.

Simple Joy: SNOW!

Nothing brings me more JOY this time of year than 

watching kids react to the first snow of the season!

They exclaim!

 They persevere. 

 They begin to roll....

...and roll....

  ...and roll!

 Nooooottt the amount you my friends are receiving back East here in the United States...but if ya ever drive by a snow filled school yard, whose fields are scattered with snowballs of a variety of sizes, you can now  smile knowing the JOY of those happy little people behind all that rolling!

Simple JOY: "Vintage" Sweaters

Okay....so this has been my very favorite sweater forever!

My mom made it for me when I was in college and when our Winter temperatures begin to greet us with frosty, 18 degree days, it not only gives me comfort and warmth, it fills my heart with JOY knowing it was handmade just for me by my mom. (Thanks mom!)

With that said, I never think twice about wearing it nor the cardigans she makes me until one of the younger teachers at school commented this week: "Val, I love all the vintage sweaters you wear." Bahhhh....my mom and I got such a kick out of that! I'm vintage!

Speaking of "vintage"...these sweaters below are from my youth and in in my efforts to downsize and simplify in my life, I'm "moving many things on" that I now longer use. 

These sixth grade girls were literally filled with JOY to inheritate sweaters that "Mrs. Reynolds" herself wore when she was their age! They called them their new favorite sweaters!

 Curious if you too have a cozy, "vintage" sweater you can't wait to wear once Winter arrives?

Sending warm Winter hugs your way!

Retired Quilts & A Little Blogging Break

Happy Happy August everyone!

With two weeks of family fun and vacations behind me, I sat down and looked at my desk calendar this morning realizing that a time of transition is once again approaching as my summer vacation begins to wind down and a new school year begins to appear on the horizon. 

This year I begin my 30th year of teaching and with it, a transition out of the classroom as a 

second grade teacher to that of a mentor coach and reading specialist. 

Which means, it's time to retire all my classroom quilts:

So what does that mean? What will I do with them?

Well, I gifted one of the student created story quilts to a previous student who is now starting seventh grade. I'm gifting the polka dotted jelly roll quilt as part of a school auction, the other three I kept.

I'm really excited for this change in my career and the opportunities it will bring.

But, it also means I'm gong to be busier than usual, which I have to admit, I'm also looking forward to that too as I've really needed a change. Along with mentoring new teachers, I'm also responsible for our weekly staff professional developments and admittedly, that is always fun for me too. LOL!

So what does that mean for my blog? For my quilting? I really don't know.

 I have found myself wanting to "downsize" and simplify more and more in every area of my life. In example, my husband and I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning out my classroom and after finding teaching resources dating back to 1987 (Okay....these are literally older than most the teachers I even work with) Yes, we decided to purg most of it. After seven LARGE cafeteria trashcan fulls, I moved into my new office with only a few boxes left to move. I turned the lights off to my old classroom with a smile and a feeling of exhilaration for that which lies ahead and pride for that which has been accomplished over the past years.

I also talked to my mom about my desire to downsize my quilting too. I mean I love my sewing. I'm never without a hand project or two and well, as an avid knitter, she understood that feeling of having a stash of WIP and an overwhelming amount of projects awaiting our attention. She encouraged me to continue my "stash busting" efforts and to give myself  permission to just enjoy the hobby without blogging or completing customer quilts as I enjoy my new transition. So with that said, I am putting Tuesday Archives on hold for just a little bit and will downsize my weekly blogging efforts as well. I'm hoping that come September, life will find me returned to my Sunday sewing as the two things I enjoy most about blogging is being able to document and share my quilty adventures and the inspiration I find from each of you. I appreciate and value our virtual community and just wanted to say thanks for your patience and wonderful support during this transition of mine.

Don't Miss Out!

I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with our local middle schoolers as a teacher of one of their Summer Discovery Camps. 

Sorry for the blurry picture.

June has been such a great month and the past two weeks teaching camp have been especially rewarding. But now I get to look forward to the rest of my summer with no obligaitons and some rejunating sewing and down time. I'm ready.  

And boy! There's a lot going on right now here at the ol' blog:

Don't miss the opportunity to win a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop.

Click HERE to participate as we celebrate our 200th Tuesday Archives Linky.

For all you who participated in our Eye Spy Swap, 

next week I'll be sorting and getting some happy mail on it's way to you. 

THANK YOU to everyone for being so timely in your sending packages.

 Everyone who signed up for our 5th Annual Pirggy Bank Saving Money for Quilting Challenge.

mark your calendars for July 6th as that's when we'll count our savings and post about our quilty purchases. I think I'm going to beat hubby this year!!!

Gotta' love Summer!

I Specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from. Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

Summer Discovery Camp!

My summer continues to leave me with little time to sew. Last week I had my annual "Grammy Camp" (post to come) and this and next week find me teaching an eight day Discovery Camp at our local Middle School. My camp: Community Photojournalism. We're having a great time.

"Campers" are learning the attributes of taking a good photo and use them to write blog posts to share their ideas. Each student picked a place within walking distance of our school to highlight.

 It's been fun to watch them take pictures beyond the world of "selfies" and
begin to see themselves and the world through the eye of a "photojournalist". 

Unfortunately, due to our school's internet server, we were unable to use any blogging host outside of  the "Google Classroom", thus the kids can only share their blogs with eachother. But they are enjoying this new experience of combining photos with writing and are truly "happy campers."

Take note, next Tuesday we'll be celebrating our 200th Tuesday Archives Linky with a 

$25.00 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop.

I'm hoping to get some sewing in this upcoming Sunday. Until then, I can be found in the classroom and Friday and Saturday on the golf course as hubby and I are off for another fun weekend away.

Arg! Time to Spring Forward!

Many of us woke up Sunday with an hour lost. I'm personally all out of sorts with it staying light later. Then Monday rolls around and we're  back to "going to work" in the dark. Arg!

I don't feel sleep deprived, more wanting to spend more time outside at the end of the day yet it's still too cold. But oddly, I still like it all. I grew up in Arizona with no Daylight Saving Time. I find that it helps add a little hop to our routines. How about you? Do you like Daylight Saving Time?

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.