Messenger Bag!

This is a flap type messenger bag that goes over the shoulder and can criss cross the chest. It measures 15 X 11 X 3. It was a little confusing to make but I got through it.

New Shoulder Bag with tie closure!

I actually finished this yesterday but it was wayyyyyyyyyy past my bedtime when it was done so I didn't try to take any pictures and get it posted.
I didn't get much accomplished today. I ended up going to the library and then the fabric store to get some magnetic snaps for my next project. Then I just had to look around at everything. I found some clearance fabric to make some springtime baskets out of and I got a zipper for a bag I want to try.
Then I met a friend for lunch. I don't get to see her very often because of work so it was nice to get caught up. But then, by the time I got home my energy was sapped. I had to rest for awhile and am just now getting to the pictures and posting. I feel like these kind of days are wasted as far as getting work done.

A Simple tote!

Boy, yesterday I felt like a truck had hit me. Today I am doing better. I have a runny nose and eyes and am still achy but I can at least do something today. Yesterday, all I could do was sit around. It was a very frustrating day!!
I whipped up this little tote today. It is reversible and really cute if you are in a hurry and just need a little something to carry a few things with you. Actually, you could fit quite a bit in it!! The bag itself is 13 inches wide and 10 inches deep. The longer strap is 8 inches and tucks really nicely through the smaller handle sealing the top of the bag so nothing falls out. It is really quick to make too!!!

New tote!

After our Christmas dinner I tried out this new design. This is a smaller tote, about 12.5 X 9 inches. It has outer pockets created by the way the straps are attached. It was a little difficult to put together at first but now that I have done one I know it will get easier. I think adding a strap with a button or velcro closing would be a nice addition. Perhaps a small inside pocket too!!

Merry Christmas and another tote!

I actually started this yesterday but only got the lining and straps on today. I put a pocket in this tote that's why you see an inside shot of this bag.

A Different Bag!

Well, I tried a different little bag today. This one is not quilted but it is lined. It has a button closure with a little pink ribbon. I think it would be cute for a little girl!

Kindle Cover!

I finally got around to making the Kindle cover. I originally made one using a design from Moda but I found that it didn't work out quite right. I don't know if it was me or the pattern but I adjusted it and I think this works better. Plus, you don't have to worry about putting on a binding.

Rag quilt tote!

I worked on this most of the morning and just took it out of the dryer. Now, I did stop and get up and move around as my back is killing me today so it wasn't constant sewing. But it seemed to take a bit of time. I do have to say that I like this bag alot. It is reversible too! Now I am on to working on the kindle cover!!!

Another Bag!!!

I only finished one more bag today. I had PT in the morning and then a dr. appt. in the afternoon so my sewing time was broken up. I think this bag is a bit unique as I used the southwestern themed saint fabric to make it. It will be a conversation piece!!!
I am going to try a rag bag next. We'll see how that turns out!!

More Bags!

I worked on some more bags today. I finished 3. I did two with a pink African themed fabric and 1 with a purple quilt square I had leftover from a quilt. The purple one is quite tall and thin. I am not sure how much I like it yet.
These bags are all lined and quite sturdy. I free motion quilt them all too.
I also made a little tea sampler bag too. I don't think it turned out quite right so I will try again tomorrow. It is getting too late for me to be up and sewing now. I couldn't sleep well last night, and was up quite early so I am going to make it an early night tonight.
I am hoping to finish snipping the rag quilt tomorrow so I can get that up on the blog.

Forgot the Supervisor!!

Last night when I added my bag pictures I forgot the most important picture of all! That of my darling supervisor! My dog Rappy, is 12 years old and I am never without him by my side if I am at home. He is such a love! Who could ever guess that one could become so attached to a dog, but he is really more than a dog, he is a people!! At least he thinks he is!!

Look What I Found!

Doing some early morning blog surfing and I found a wonderful blog from a gal in Australia. She is offering a give-away on New Years Eve. The fabric is beautiful and she is willing to send it anywhere in the world! How very nice of her to do that. Go check out her blog and see how clever she is!
http://retromummy.blogspot.com/2010/12/flower-sugar-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Retromummy+%28retromummy%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Oh boy have I been busy! Since I have been off I have finished one rag quilt (well, not quite finished, I have to finish snipping it), and two tote bags. I know it doesn't sound like much to some of you but for me it is big!!
I really like making these bags. The pattern is so straight forward. I got the directions from p.s. i quilt blog. She had a tutorial for a friendship bag that was much smaller than this. One of the comments after the tutorial was from SewLadySew and she resized it so it was bigger. I followed her directions on the first bag, but I found that her lining was way too big so I made adjustments for the second bag and it turned out great. The green bag was my second attempt.
I have also been using all the fancy stitches on my machine to quilt the bags. I have already found some favorite stitches!!

I am hoping to make a bunch of these bags and start my etsy site. Since my husband has been out of work for 2 years now I have to find some way to bring in extra money. Teaching just doesn't pay all the bills!!!!

A few weeks ago I made this owl. He is cute but I really hate stuffing something that big!!
Last week I made the crow. He was fun and I want to make more of them and put them in decorated canvases. Another of my goals to work on while I am home for these 2 weeks.
I made a kindle cover but I gave it away before I took a picture of it!! Darn! I want to make some more of those but I have to adjust the pattern I found because I didn't like the way it worked out. I'll post a picture of it when I get it figured out.

Quilt Delivered!

Today was the day that I gave the Pastor at the school where I teach the quilt I made for him. He was very surprised and happy with it. I also made him some carrot cake cupcakes that we shared with my class. This was a quilt for his birthday. He said it was too pretty to use and should be hung on the wall. I hope he uses it but if he wants to hang it on the wall he could do that too!!!

One World One Heart Event

A Whimsical Bohemian is announcing the 5th and final OWOH event to begin on January 30th. Please click on the link below to get more information. This is a great event and I recommend it to all fellow bloggers.
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/2010/12/a-couple-of-quick-answers-to-a-couple-of-owoh-questions.html

Butterfly Project

I found this project on another blog. I copied the picture (blog owner gave permission) and her address so that everyone who reads my blog can click on it and possibly join the effort. If you read her entire listing, you see that all the directions to participate are given and if you don't want to participate through her blog you can go directly to the Houston Holocaust Museum. There is a link for educators and since I am one, I decided to click on it. I teach a huge unit on the Holocaust in the spring and I am adding this to it. My class will definitely be participating in this project. I am so glad that I happened upon this blog and am thankful that others are just as interested in stopping the hate as I am.



http://twodressesstudio.blogspot.com/2010/08/butterfly-effect-open-is-calling-you.html

"The Butterfly Project" hosted by The Holocaust Museum Houston in Texas, USA. Their mission as follows:
The Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, we teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy. And the tag line following it reads:
Stop Hate. Starting Here.
The Butterfly Project mandate is to remember the 1,500,000 innocent children who perished as a result of the Holocaust by collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies.


In Spring 2013, these butterflies will then become a breath-taking exhibition to serve as a memory of this event.


Can you imagine? 1.5 million children translated into 1.5 million butterflies....? If you wondering why a butterfly, the project is based on this poem -


I Never Saw Another Butterfly
The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Written by Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942

Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.
Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.
Died in Aushchwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.

Why I Teach

I found this video about teachers on another blog and I just had to put it here. Being a teacher isn't about the money, it's about the children. I am so blessed to have a lovely, sweet group of children this year. And not only that, but their parents are very supportive and encourage their children to do their best. I teach because I love seeing the look on a child's face when they finally figure something out. I teach because I love to see the excitement on a child's face when they achieve a goal. I teach because I love children.

Wind Storm!

The Chicago area has been hit by a huge wind storm. The forecasters claim that yesterday was the worst, but today is much worse as far as I am concerned. We lost have the shingles on our garage. That will all have to be replaced. Am hoping for a little help from the homeowners insurance!!

My trip to Notre Dame was a bust. First of all, the ride there was hell. We got stuck in Chicago traffic and then when we finally did reach the tollway, we were diverted back onto the Dan Ryan because of an accident. So we had to get into the Indiana traffic before we could get on the tollway. When we finally made it to the tollway, there was construction! UGH!! We finally made it to the hotel with only about 30 minutes to spare. Just enough time to change and meet the shuttle. The first conference was a huge disappointment. And although I was promised great food, they had absolutely nothing I could eat. When we finally got back to the hotel, we went in search of food. I ended up with a sad looking spinach salad with a disgusting dressing. They booked us into the old people's hotel, so we had no pool, jacuzzi, nothing! We wandered over to the next hotel where there was a Halloween party going on put on by a local radio station. It was good for a bit, watching all the weird and funny costumes. But the music was way too loud so we ended up back in our rooms pretty early.
Saturday wasn't much better. There was only scrambled eggs for me for breakfast. Then we left for the next conference. The speaker was awesome. Dr. Adolph Brown, Real Talk. He kept us interested and engaged. At lunch, they gave me a plate of fruit. That was it! I was starving. The afternoon went downhill. They made it a question and answer session. So we left! We were going to leave Sunday morning, but since there was nothing to stay all afternoon for we decided to pack up and head home. Oh, I forgot to mention that the heat did not work in my hotel room so it got a bit nippy in there Friday night. We didn't hit any major traffic heading home so that was good. I was happy to be back in my own bed for the night. Plus, I could actually eat!!!!
Well, so much for great all expense paid conferences!!!

Don't know what's up with blogger!

I tried to post all my pictures for my last entry but blogger wasn't cooperating so I am going to try to post them on this entry.
Notice my handsome supervisor!!!

All but the bindings!

Well, I have two quilts finished except for the bindings. I HATE HATE HATE putting on the bindings. It is my least favorite part of the job. I wish I had a binding fairy who could do it for me! I will get to them eventually. The Our Lady of Guadalupe quilt is for the Pastor at the school where I teach. His birthday is in December so I can procrastinate a bit longer on that one!!! The Harry Potter quilt was for my son's girlfriend, who has since moved on, so I think I will donate this quilt to the auction at my school in the spring or I will try to sell it. I am not sure which yet. I might make more money selling it than giving it to the auction and then I could just donate the money. We'll see. I hate to get the blasted binding on it first!!!
This weekend I am travelling to Notre Dame University with a coworker for the Excellence in Education conference. We were nominated and chosen to go and it is an all expense paid trip. I was looking forward to it when I was chosen but now I don't really relish the drive. It will be nice to stay in a fancy hotel having the room all to myself though!!! And no cooking!! Even with my funky diet restrictions, they assured me that they would provide excellent meals for me. Hmmm, I'll let you know about that!!!
I don't look forward to returning to school on Monday and dealing with all the paperwork from Friday. It takes days to get caught up again!! Plus, this weekend, we have to finish report cards. At least they are done online so I will just take my netbook with me and finish them in the hotel room in the evening.
When I return on Sunday, I have to rush off to confirmation. I am a sponsor for a former student so and it just so happens that confirmation falls on the same weekend as this conference. There goes my weekend!!!!

Please help my school win $20,000

Hi everyone, I am asking everyone who takes a look here to please click on the Our Kids deserve the best and vote for my school. We are really late getting into the running so I need a lot of help. The school with the most votes wins the money. My school is very small and we have a very diverse population. Many of our children attend on scholarship. Just like everywhere else in the U.S., our school has been hit hard by the economy. Many of our parents have lost their jobs and are barely making ends meet. This money could really help out our school. So please post this on your blog if you would like to support my school. Thanks to everyone that helps!!!

Where did the time go?

I don't have any pictures to show today. I am lucky that I even have time to attend to my blog. I haven't been very loyal! I have finished the Harry Potter Quilt and will try to get a picture of it up this weekend. I have a 3 day weekend so I might have a little time to do things that I want to do instead of just school stuff. Although, I have an ample amount of that to do too!!
My sister encouraged me to start selling my things so I am seriously considering that. If I decide to open an etsy site I will certainly post that here!!! Anything to bring in a few extra dollars with the dear hubby still unemployed.
I have a lovely group of children this year in my class. So talented too. I am really looking forward to doing lots of fun projects with them this year!
I hope anyone who reads this will stick with me over time. I hope to make this a better blog if life would just slow down a bit!!!

Vacation pictures!

I thought I would post a few of the photos of my husband and I on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any photos together so they are all seperate!!!