ScrapHappy Saturday - Last Purple weekend

 

Just two more days left in July.   I am working frantically steadily to get caught up.  I think that I can!  Though everything looks like a bit of a mess at the moment, all the pieces are in the works and the scraps have been sorted and cut.   Now I can spend today and tomorrow getting everything sewn together.  Many have already guessed that August will be orange this year.  I used to struggle with orange, but through the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I started to enjoy the variety and spark that it adds to quilts.   I have a reasonably sized basket now and I have tried to work it into quilt backs and bindings this year to keep bulking up the scrap supply

It is a busy time at school right now.  Surprisingly there have been so many teachers in for pre-pre planning.  For me that has meant lots of running around and checking on new people, meetings to discuss curriculum and training sessions of various sorts.   Official pre-planning will start next week which will mean lots of meetings.  We are all still defining my new job together, so it has been lots of fun with new things to learn.   Today is for sewing though!  

ScrapHappy Saturday - Catching Up

Working hard on getting caught up before school starts again. I have three days before teachers are back for pre-pre planning. I think I can knock of blue and purple in that time.  Last week was busy with leadership things and training before the official beginning of the year.  This year is strange because in addition to the usual mandatory pre-planning time, there is also pre-pre planning.  It is entirely voluntary, but they will pay teachers who want to come in early to set up their rooms and get a head start on lesson planning and curriculum.  

There were a few good sunrises this week.  We even managed a morning beach walk yesterday.  It gets so hot though that by 8 am we were both dripping sweat.  I got a haircut yesterday and have an appointment to get an eye exam on Monday.  All the things teachers squeeze in during summer break.  We even met friends for dinner!  My teacher friend who is also wrapping up all the loose ends before the big transition back to working life and her husband who likes to mock us for talking about school too much.    

ScrapHappy Saturday

Summer is going fast! I've been working on getting Sydney's t-shirt quilt finished before she goes off to college. I should have the blocks all sewn together this morning and will run out for some backing fabric.

I am working three mornings a week in July, getting things ready for the new job.  Its been incredibly busy, but so nice to have time to do all of the things that they have always expected teachers to do outside of regular work hours.   There is an extra option for paid time in the classroom before the start of preplanning this year, so hopefully we will all be able to prepare for the new year together.   Next week I am running a welcome training for our new teachers.  So many fresh faces!  The old guard is fading fast.   Our newest Florida education issue is not being able to have any books in the classroom that have not been approved.   They think they will have an approval process in place by January though.   I am feeling bad now about leaving my library of biology novels for the new teacher.  I will have to go and make sure she hides them away until we find out which books are banned.   So far we have been assured that it is still OK to wear rainbow colored shirts, but other districts have already warned against that as well.   Probably a good time to NOT be in the classroom right now.  I am sure I would say something inappropriate and get myself in trouble.   

I did find some more sewing time this week to make these "unpaper towels" for Anna's new apartment in the fall.  After looking through several tutorials on Pinterest, I decided to use flannel on one side and extra t-shirt fabric leftover from the quilts on the other.  After measuring paper towels, I decided to cut the flannel to 11.5 inches and lay it on top of the oversize t-shirt backing fabric.  Then I sewed along the edge of the flannel, leaving a gap for turning and trimmed the backing fabric even with the flannel.   I even made a basket to hold them from extra 6.5 inch squares of the flannel.  I think the flowers are quite festive and went well with lots of different colors of extra shirts.   

ScrapHappy Saturday - Purple

It has been a fun vacation week in the mountains.   Each day I go out and pick some of the local  Virginia Wineberries.  They are actually a nonnative invasive, but the berries are pretty tasty.   

I had enough to make some jam.  I've never canned anything before, so that was fun.  I am not sure that I did it entirely correctly, but time will tell.   There were so many seeds!  Next time I will have to try a seedless version.   There are enough frozen berries thought to take home and try to make some wine.   That is something else that I have never tried.   

We are still trying to get the piles of lumber under control,  This one was practically gone until we went to clear just a few branches that were falling into the driveway.   

Last time we were here we cleared all sorts of vines and dead branches from a group of apple trees down at the base of the driveway.  We were pretty sure the trees were all dead.  We were shocked to find loads of apples growing happily on most of them.    

We also had plenty of time to go to a local winery though, so it hasn't been all work and no play.  We will head out bright and early in the morning.  I have a nice stack of hexies to keep me occupied when it isn't my turn to drive.   I will try to pick out the purple ones first!

ScrapHappy Saturday - Holiday Weekend

 Happy Holiday weekend for those in the US.   We watched fireworks last night at the nearby 4-H campgrounds.

It has been a calm week full of tasks such as taking the dog to the vet and getting Sydney scheduled for wisdom teeth removal.  

I did have some sewing time though and whipped up this mini quilt for a friends birthday.   Then I got carried away with the leftover nine patches and spent two days sewing the rest together into random color combinations.   

We are at the cabin this week and waiting to see how the weather will turn out before deciding on inside or outside chores for the day.   Either choice is likely to start with a trip to town for supplies.  

July is all about purple this year.   I hope you can find an opportunity this weekend to dig into your purple bin and sew what you can find.