WIP Wednesday and 100 Quilts for Kids!

I've been busy doing what I do best--teaching and crafting, working on my masters, hanging out with my dear husband, posting to Instagram, but not blogging :)

But it's time to link up with 100 Quilts for Kids--so I'm back on the blog!

I did manage to use some layer cake scraps to make this little quilt for charity:  It's the first quilt I've made start to finish in 5 days!

So glad I could participate in DC Modern Quilt Guild's cause--these quilts are all going to children living in the DC General Homeless shelter--I just wish it was more than one quilt...

Also on the sewing table is the JeliQuilts Triple Goosed pattern that I started over summer vacation:

That's all for now...I'm off to prep for Back to School Night :)

**Linking up with WIP Wednesday and 100 Quilts for Kids (see the link for more details on how to participate!)**

100 Quilts for Kids

Each summer our guild, the DC Modern Quilt Guild, hosts an annual charity drive gathering up quilts we've made together or individually to donate.  Check out more about 100 Quilts for Kids here!

When I joined the guild three years ago, I started this quilt with fabric inherited from my dear grandmother-in-law.  It's been sitting, waiting for binding, all that time.  (I really hate binding quilts...it's sort of ridiculous.)  Well, there was no "I'm new to this school" or "We just bought a new house" excuse this year--so may I present...the finished quilt!

I've also been busy knitting and sewing up a storm--including teaching knitting classes!  Hopefully many pictures and posts to come soon, but here's a shot of my quilting on one of our group charity quilts :)

 

WIP Wednesday

Yay!  I actually have works in progress to share!

 I finished this quilt top started for charity a few months ago and haven't shared yet.

My great finish in the past week was a baby boy quilt for a friend.  Last week I worked on the quilting and spent our weekend trip to Ohio sewing on the binding.  I plan to work on the label today.

While Katie was visiting I made her a few quick project bags.  A "custom" fit zipper case for her needles from a craftster forum:

And a lined drawstring bag from an InColorOrder tutorial as practice for the upcoming DC area modern guild swap.

 I also finally basted the owl quilt using the student tables in my classroom. (Basting is an issue in a tiny apartment...anyone else have this problem?  How do you work around it?)  I want to get my FMQ skills back up to snuf, then--let the quilting begin!

Upcoming projects:
-Baste and quilt my t-shirt quilt.
-Practice FMQ with a silly project for my classroom.
-Use some fabrics I inherited from John's grandmother to make some of Tula Pink's City Sampler blocks.

Now I'm off for a walk/jog before it starts to rain!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Science Olympiad, School, and other things that keep me from having the time to blog...

Wow...it's been a long time.  I'll jump right in.

1.) Science Olympiad--I've been heading up our school team this year.  They've been passed from teacher to teacher and I stepped in with the hope that I'd enjoy it enough to be their sponsor for more than one or two years :)

Well, the year is nearly over, and I do LOVE this team.  If you're not familiar with SO, it's a competition that involves a team of 15 competing in 20+ science and engineering events (Anatomy,  Boomilivers, Robot arms, Chem lab, and Experimental design to name a few.)

Here we are at States with our 1st place trophy!!!

They did so well, and I'm so glad I can be there to support them.  At dinner, they went around the table and thanked me individually.  Apparently the things they appreciate most are my organizational skills, care and concern, and my cookies (I'm not surprised they like the cookies...who doesn't love cookies?)

Now we're headed to Nationals next weekend.  SO exciting and overwhelming!  I helped design our t-shirt and am in the progress of working on a banner.  Any tips on easy ways to finish off the edges?

2.) School.  The life of a teacher...let's just say that Teacher Appreciation Week falls in May for a reason.  We need it.  Personally I'm trying to deal with some ethics violations (cheating).  It's really unfortunate and very disappointing and is totally NOT my favorite part of the job.  Overall, I LOVE this new job and TJ and know that next year will be so much easier.  I can't wait to be able to focus on adapting my lessons instead of creating new ones. (Actually, I should be typing up a new "body systems" project right now.)

3.) There are some fun projects in the works.  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

John took me to Needle and Thread in Gettysburg for some shopping therapy just this weekend.

Jumping back in time, we went to my cousin Emily's wedding in Austin, TX.  It was SO great to see family and they had the most hilarious photo booth.  Steph and the other bridesmaids were beautiful.

Over spring break (in March) we also went to the George Washington Hotel in Winchester.  If you can catch a Living Social deal like we did--it's an unbelievable deal!  That was the same weekend we went to the quilt museum. 

Then Mom came to visit.  Here we are on a House tour.

Somewhere between spring break and now we went to Greenwood, SC for a wedding.  It was a short weekend trip, but we had a great time!  I'm always amazed how many people I still haven't met in this very small town.  They all know John and have great stories from his childhood. :)

I also got to spend an afternoon at the zoo with Cynthia.  It was my first time at our National Zoo, and I'll definitely be back.  We had a great time.  If you haven't, be sure to check out their Amazonia exhibit.

I have had time to get a few projects underway...

 

Over spring break I finished the charity top (finally!) and made this "Sweetheart Chic" apron.

Started the cosmos sampler to get some practice at embroidery.  I believe I took this picture while I was quarantined in bed with some kind of vicious bronchitis...winter in a room full of sick kids with unfamiliar germs was not kind to me this year.

Spent one morning rearranging fabric.  Now I'm ready if our guild hosts another scrap swap ;)

And finally started a project with a beautiful jelly roll Mom bought for me in Florida.  More of this to come as soon as I can get back at the sewing machine.

For now...I'm going back to fixing fajita bowls (YUMMM) for dinner, studying up on immunology, and grading the statistics part of the kiddos' research papers.

We're all a work in progress...

Reading everyone's 2013 blog posts and surviving the past few days at work has got me thinking a lot about people and development.  I've learned that even very bright students need to have skills modeled to them and then have time to practice those skills in a useful context.  Actually, my teaching philosophy lately has been all about skills--what can I teach them as people, as learners, WHILE they learn biology.  I've also been trying to have a good attitude through an insane amount of responsibilities (I'll spare you the details...but I love my job, and I don't mind giving 150%, and I was still pushed to tears and delirium in the past 48 hours).  However, I've come out on the other side (for a brief gasp of air) and people seem to be responding to the good attitude...who knows, maybe it will even catch on!  My hope for 2013 is to continue to keep growing--as a wife, a teacher, a friend, a knitter, a quilter...

And on that note...on to the quilting!

Still working on the charity quilt for QuiltCon with DC Modern.  Here's some of my favorite shots:

Here's my plan for the rest of the quilting:

Of course, with limited free time these days, there's no other projects currently in progress.  But I'm itching to finish:
-The Owl Quilt (Hooterville) for UFO Sunday
-The pink floral quilt just needs a border for a finished top
-My t-shirt quilt needs two sashings and borders for a finished top
-One charity quilt is waiting for binding
-One charity quilt is in pieces...might be a while for this one

And I really want to start working with these beauties:

I have a special plan in store for them...my first design!

What's your current personal or quilting WIP goal?  How do you want to grow in the new year?

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday and Free Motion Quilting Friday!