A Moment of Silence...

"No School" is a happy announcement to the second graders in my classroom. You do not have to give a reason, they just know it is an undemanding day for them. Hooray!

But, I try to give instruction on why Veteran's Day is not just another day out of school. What is a Veteran, and why do we honor them? Being an "Air Force Brat" myself, as was my Larry, having deep ties to our country was built in. I love my country, but the people in its armed services are the true heroes that made our country ~ America. Unfortunately for our little guys in my classroom, when I explained that any person in the military, or "army" in general is what they recognized, was what Veteran's Day was for, they all could raise their hand that they had someone serving, be it uncle, aunt, brother or cousin (none had a parent in duty currently).

Respect is earned, but it is taught, also. In our classroom of 7 and 8 year olds, we spoke of people who went into military service. While we all agreed that we do not like fighting, we did understand helping to keep people safe when there was danger. You have to agree, war being explained to the young is a hard subject. But, I always want a child to have the respect of a person who serves, including police, firefighters and others that give, to protect them. Me. Our nation. Our freedom to worship Jesus, too, as we just finished up our studies on the Separatists, who then became our Pilgrims. (They thought there was a tie to Vet's Day, since we read of the Mayflower landing on November 11, 1620. Kids are cute!)

After the discussion, we observed a moment of silence.
Always, this is most touching, as you rarely catch a group of children still.
Straight and tall, proud as the soldiers they honor.
We stand for one minute,
(I have also showed them how to watch the sweeping second hand),
and then we bow and pray.
We pray for all that we know serving, and Grandparents and Dads that have served, and all those we do not know.

and to all you know, too. God bless our Veterans!

Our America Quilt, September 2010

Thank You, Veterans,
Pokey

Keepin' It Real

I was reading over at Vickie's blog, and she shared on coming across a "challenging" sewing lesson. Haven't we all had those times? We don't always share, though. (Mary had shared recently, too, and since their same challenge had happened regarding the same project, I'd say there might need to be some changes to the product.) I was thinking that we sometimes ought to present the problems we face, just to keep the quilting real. It sure has inspired me.

I had sewn my crazy patches (for the last quilt I completed) way before the quilt was finished, August '07! When I shared my quilt in class, I also expressed the fact that the squares were 'a pain' and finished out almost 1 1/2" smaller than the pattern I'd used from a magazine
had said they should (because of the -razzle-frazzle!- bias).Well, it had me frustrated, and I put them away. Not being all the way a dummy, thankfully I squared them up before packing them.

When Press had approached me at the end of June for a quilt in September (!), the packed away squares made it easier to forgive my imperfections and use these perfectly good -but not true to the "pattern"- pieced patches, and go on to what I'm happy to call a completion.

Anyway, after "share time" in my quilting class, two different people came and told me, "You know, if you kept this to yourself, no one would know." I realize they were only encouraging me. The fact still stands, though, that if we do not share the reality of creative struggles, there are those of us (maybe new to quilting?) who would not continue the craft if they do not "discover" we all hit a tough lesson in our projects from time to time. It's not all projects, but it does help to know that problems can be part of the creative process. Maybe this is why I enjoy puzzles....

Aside from lessons learned, I have a couple of sweet quilts I'll be sharing soon, all pink and brown and I'm having fun! Sometimes, quilting is all good ~

Happy Quilting!
Pokey

09/06/10 edited to add for Rita's question~
As far as the magazine the crazy patch pattern came from, shucks if I remember! But you can probably trace one out, it has five pieces, four go around the center "cup". It was red check first, then navy floral, 3-white background stars, 4-red, then 5-triangle of r/w/b/brick print. I created my own stars. Personally, if I were to try this patch again, I think I'd paper piece it. Sorry, I hope this helps a bit ~

pokey

"Our America" Quilt

I was asking a lot of my sweet Larry..."Okay, hold it up off the ground...."

"The light would be better outside, let's try out there...."

"Okay. Could you hold the back up again...?"

"Pokey, do you know how hot it is?"

"Yea, but that time it looked like 'a man hiding behind the curtain shot'."


"That's it. We're done. You have to have a good shot there, somewhere!"

"I love you, Larry." "I love you, too, I held your quilt up, didn't I?"

(I'm grinning) ROFL

He's so good to me ~!
Happy Quilting! Pokey

~Edited to add to Amy's Sew and Tell ~ do go visit the other finishes there!

Friday Night Finish for Amy's Sew and Tell!

It's Friday night at 7:39 p.m., but what can I say? I worked at school in classroom set-up/clean up. Thank you, Lydia, Beth and Jeffrey! We went to a late lunch. We shopped at Joann's for pattern reviews for Lydia's wedding dress (WOW!). Lydia and I came home, and...

Hurray, the quilting is done!


I even signed it.

Okay, I will be binding it this weekend, and I'll share the big finish, but I think it can be posted to Amy's Sew and Tell tonight, I'm tickled!

Go see the other finishes (you'll love Amy's own finish this week)! And, thank you for peeking in!

Happy Quilting!

Pokey

So Far...

Just a few photos to show progress...

on the charity Americana...

on the snowladies

and their evolution, decided to go with the applique smile, not the snaps. Decided I liked the same color outline, not the all black outline Decided in the from Accuquilt die cut to be her 'flower' on her hat, for several reasons
(Would YOU want to cut to cut those by hand? no)
Boy! Don't I want one of these!!

Also, I want to share this sweet pumpkin quilt that came in the mail yesterday. Gail of The Cozy Quilter recently had a giveaway celebrating 30,000 posts. She is a very accomplished quilter! You should see her little pumpkin patch. She also sent along a precious pin from her guild, I'm so honored!! Thank you, Gail!




Happy Quilting!
Pokey

Edited to add on 8/18/2010:
Yes, I did design the snow girl. As a matter of fact, see the blue grid drawing? That is actually my first rough draft with pencil and 1/4 inch graph paper, and then enlarged on the copier! Notice I moved the bird from one shoulder to the other in the project, since the scarf and the hat/flower were already on the left. I was going for the look of her listening to the birdie's song, but I felt it still had that feel with the girl looking at it, too. My artist husband Larry drew the final birdie. It's a cute one!

Wish I had one completed as I wanted them to be, I still have incomplete prototypes. Oh, precious time...I'm off to the classroom today, but I did get my borders on the charity quilt, yippee!

Pokey

Happy Friday

What have we been up to at the Davis household?

Well~

• a four patch swap with Bingo Bonnie of Nap Time News, 200 finished squares!

• Lydia's finished a few more of her coveted pillowcases! The applique ones since the Southern California Quilter's Run last week, and her first attempt.
• She has a new appreciation for what she has seen done for years, but she has a great "eye" for cuteness. Look at that pirate pillowcase with the eye patch!

• Lydia is crocheting a purse from a tutorial at Attic 24, I'm loving this one!

• And look at this cool item that Papa made for her while we were in Nebraska! It is actually a re-purposed "Banana Tree", you know, the ones that are supposed to help keep your bananas fresher by hanging them up. Well, he used a fishing lure hoop attached to a dowel. She winds her yarn on an empty cone thread spool, and her yarn feeds off, without twisting or tangling! C-O-O-L!!!
  

• some studying for my next week's teaching. 43 Chinese Jr. High exchange students, in a week's English class with yours truly. (Yikes! Pray for this, please, I have 3 weeks of teaching this July. I'll have a different group each week, so I'll breathe easier after the first one.)

• Cleaning, uh, I should be!

Admiring the RED additions~

Admiring the orange additions~

• working up a Snowman, no, a Snowlady! for a class swap.

Love the snowy background prints we found this week.

• I'm making a charity quilt for my BIL Preston. He's a Chaplain for a men's prison in Colorado, and this will help (hopefully!) him continue the "Good News" to the guys that need it~as do we all :-} Hey, Annie, I found missing squares!!

A couple of wins~Thank you Amy, for the sugar free dessert!



~and thank you, Cara, for my lovely notebook cover. Lydia is trying to lay claim, it is so neat!

Now, I've been admiring these cute little pincushions that were given to some fun ladies at a little retreat this past week. I bet some of you have seen them, too~

I Know, I Know! Too cute, huh?!?

Well, Lori of Bee in My Bonnet has a sweet tutorial and a giveaway for one of these cuties, and you know you want one, too! Go sign up, her giveaway ends July 7th, midnight.

Well, Hope you all have a Happy and safe 4th of July~
remember to pray for our servicemen and women overseas !

Happy Quilting!
Pokey