The Class Quilt

Most of you know I'm a teacher and most of you know I work in a job-share.  I feel so lucky to be able to have a great career and also have one extra day off each week.
(So thankful for great teaching partners too!)

Today I spent the day in my daughter's second grade classroom.  I taught second grade for many years, before moving to kindergarten, and I really do miss the independence and confidence that second graders bring to the classroom.  Well, it's auction time at my kids' school and I'm helping out with our class auction project.  We're making a Friendship Quilt, with Moda's Double Chocolate fabric line.  Oh, how I love those colors!


I pulled out a few of my favorite fabrics from the bundle and precut the squares that we needed for the project.

After a quick introduction in the classroom, I started pulling kids out to the hallway to start sewing with me.  They LOVED sewing!  I've gotten pretty good at sewing sideways.  I let the kids sit right in front of the machine and they really do the sewing.  I just make sure to sit right next to them, looking sideways at the machine, and help guide them when they need support.  No one will  be sewing their fingers into the quilt on my watch!!!

Once we had the triangles pieced, the kids started arranging the squares into the Friendship Star.  

It always amazes me the way some kids just "see" how shapes fit together and others really have to work at it.  I'm one of those that really needs to work at it, so I think I'm a bit envious of those people who can quickly make beautiful arrangements with shapes.  I love the conversations the kids have as they are arranging their shapes too.  Working with these little guys just makes me happy!

Once they figured out how to arrange their pieces, we were ready to sew the small blocks into a larger block.

I'm kind of in love with the colors in this quilt!

Some kids talked about how their moms or grandmas sew, and others had never even seen a real sewing machine before.  Some kids talked about the old fashioned foot pedal machines that they had seen in cartoons, and others talked about family members who own multiple machines.  Regardless of kids' experience sewing, they all had a great time!  There were happy giggles, lots of questions about how the machine works, and lots of kids who were eager to convince their parents to let them sew at home.  One little boy even said, "I'm totally going to ask for one of these for Christmas!"  How cute is that?

Twelve little Friendship blocks are ready to be sewn together.  I'll be spending my next day off finishing the blocks with kids who were absent, and working with kids to sew the blocks together.

The quilt will be auctioned off at the school auction, in March.  I can't wait to hear which lucky child will get to take home a quilt made by all of his or her friends!  I think it's turning out pretty enough that the parents will be excited to have this in their home too!

Happy quilting!

A Few Favorite Teacher Gifts

I'd like to say that I took the time to have my kids make gifts for their teachers.  The reality is, that I barely got the gift cards stuffed into envelopes and delivered on the right day.  My students and their parents, on the other hand, made some pretty cute creations for their kindergarten teacher.

First up, the melted snowman ornament.  LOVE!


These little candies were delicious.  I wish I could show you what the peanut butter meteorites look like.  They didn't make it to the end of the school day.  They were very tasty.

One of my girls described how she made soap with her mom and sisters. I've never made soap before, but it sounds like fun.

How cute are these little elf shoes?  

In addition to these cute little creations, several parents went in together on a gift, and I also received many cards, treats, and gift cards to a few of my favorite stores. Oh, and my favorite gift of all was an email I received from our assistant superintendent.  She had been sent an email from one of my parents, who just wanted to share a few things about my teaching and our classroom.  I can't tell you how much it brightened my day teaching career! I have fabulous students and parents! I feel truly blessed.

Happy Holidays! 

Guys Only Cookie Exchange

I popped into the school library this morning, and this is what I saw.

The men in our building decided to have a guys-only cookie exchange.  They had to bring 5 dozen cookies.

 AND

They had to do all of the baking on their own.  

I love this idea!  I'm sad to say, I didn't get to try any of the mouthwatering goodies, but I'm trying to practice a little self control when it comes to sweet treats this season.  I was very impressed with the variety as well as the quality of their cookies.  I hope this is the first year of a great tradition for these guys!

By the way, our staff had another cookie exchange over the weekend and the girls were invited to that one too.  So, please don't worry that we were feeling left out!

Happy baking!