handmade

children’s craft project–washi tape quilt block
by

children’s craft project–washi tape quilt block

As a kindergarten teacher, I am always trying to come up with simple projects for my students.  In math this year, we are starting out with basic shapes, which we are then exploring further by making simple quilt blocks.  I came up with a way to make a simple quilt block using cardboard and Japanese washi tape.  I made a simple square design using small strips of washi tape, but you could easily expand the idea to make more complicated shapes.

Cut a small, square piece of cardboard. For an even easier route, I like to save the cardboard pieces used to package fat quarters as they are already in a great square shape.

Measure a half inch border all the way around the square. For younger children, you may want to darken the pencil lines using a felt-tip marker so they can see them easily.

Choose your first color of washi tape. Stretch gently across the entire width of the top of the smaller square (the one outlined in pencil or marker). Tear or cut with scissors when you reach the other pencil line. While cutting with scissors makes a cleaner edge, I find the tearing adds some nice texture to the piece. Tearing is also a great way to build finger strength and dexterity in young children.

Select your second color and pull the washi tape gently across the left side of the square. You will want to line up the top of the new color with the first color’s bottom edge. Stop and tear or cut when you reach the other pencil line.

Continue in a counter clockwise direction, changing colors as you wish. I chose a new color for each side.

Continue in a counter clockwise motion, with each new square getting smaller and smaller. I stopped after three little squares were created in washi tape.

I finished off my quilt block by filling in the smallest remaining square with a vivid color to make the quilt block pop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

art show and etsy shop update
by

art show and etsy shop update

Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of participating in RAW Raleigh: Mixology, an art showcase hosted by the national non-profit organization RAW.  It was a fantastic event designed to help aspiring artists promote their work, and I was honored to be selected to participate.  After many long nights working, I was able to pull off the showcase, and update my Etsy shop as a result.  Please check out http://rawartists.org for more information about the showcase.

by

harvest dinner (or an alternative thanksgiving)

Because we’ll be traveling to Montreal this year for Thanksgiving, we decided to host a harvest dinner, or an alternative Thanksgiving feast before Thanksgiving so we could visit and eat delicious food with the other part of my family.  I spent much time at the farmers market selecting our food for the evening, and we all pitched in to set the table and cook the food.  Here was our menu: curried butternut squash soup—spinach, feta and Israeli couscous salad with red wine vinaigrette—homemade honey oatmeal bread—garlic mashed potatoes—roasted acorn squash with sage butter—steamed green beans—french silk chocolate pie—apple raspberry pie.

photos:

1 paper garland

2 place setting

3 found natural materials

4 table

5 pie crust weaving

6 couscous salad

7 full plates

by

small hurdles

These past few weeks have been really difficult at work.  There are so many hurdles in the public school system, that it’s hard to remember sometimes how much we teachers make a difference in the lives of the children we teach, especially when many are in a state of mind where teachers are the villains perpetuating a broken system.  I try not to fall into the trap of pessimism, but after weeks of feeling like you’re not making any progress, it can be tough to see any change at all.  So to try and work through these feelings of being stuck, I spent this past week documenting things in my life for which I am grateful, and for which I don’t have to explain myself or justify why I do it.  Like going to the farmers market today—this is how food is meant to be bought and consumed—with a simple greeting to a local farmer, a conversation about slaughtering practices, about a pig’s diet and life on the farm, and by a conscious choice of what your money buys and which you subsequently put in your mouth.

I have been a vegetarian for years, but over the summer, I decided I needed to learn all the things I could about meat, which included eating it.  As I like to know where my food comes from in general, and I am deeply concerned about slaughtering and other practices related to the meat industry, my exploration into all things meat has consisted of only one actual eating experience.  Today, however, I moved that count up to two after an in-depth conversation with a local farmer about raising pigs for meat.  Kevin and I ended up buying a sea-salt and celery cured German sausage, which I cut up later that morning and sauteed in a little olive oil for breakfast.  We paired the sausage with poached eggs topped with parmesan and slices of Arkansas Black apples, picked that morning.  Food grown with care, cooked with love, and eaten with vigor: this is something I am grateful for.

Week 4 or 5 (I can’t remember) of not buying bread but making our own: this is something I am grateful for.

Good, hard rain in intermittent spurts throughout an entire week so our weary plants can finally not have to work so hard to get the water they need: this is something I am grateful for.

Hours on the city bus and curled under a blanket in the mornings reading a book about a love of farming, of life, and of relearning all those forgotten skills—it helps to know that even though we are not yet able to live on our own parcel of land, that we will some day.  We can have chickens and bees, pigs and goats, and all those other wonderful aspects of simple life spent growing that I spend just about every moment dreaming and thinking of.  Oh how beautiful words can make everything right again, and how a single memoir can reinvigorate you to rethink and rethink: this is something I am grateful for.

And while we might not yet be able to grow the kind of life we want to in our apartment, we have evidence everywhere of things growing: from the little succulent garden transplanted earlier in the week, to the hot peppers that prolifically fill their containers, to the homemade food that graces our table almost every night of the week.  I look forward every day after work to coming home, where we have created such a peaceful and welcoming space: for this, I am grateful.

by

a wedding gift

This weekend, Kevin and I are headed to Maryland for a wedding.  Yesterday, as I was finishing up work, I realized in our preparations for the trip, we had forgotten about a wedding gift.  Fortunately I was able to find their registry online, and when I saw a set of linen napkins, I immediately thought of making some simple table linens.  I have an entire bolt of unbleached linen, which was a gift years ago, so, using a cloth napkin of our own as a template, I cut out four squares from the linen.

I sewed a simple rolled hem to keep the edges of the linen from fraying.  Then, while at a meeting, I carved a linoleum block stamp.  Using textile printing ink and a brush, I stamped the linoleum block print onto the edge of the linen hem.

As the couple getting married had specified on their registry that they did not want any gift wrapping, Kevin had the brilliant idea of rolling the napkins up, and I fastened them with vintage lace and a piece of twine.  The simple wedding gift is now tucked away in our suitcase.

by

a simple quilt project

Since it’s been so hot this summer, we’ve been sleeping under a thin quilt my great-grandmother made long ago out of an old sheet and old dress fabric.  Because it was hand-pieced, however, the quilt is very fragile, and we’ve been wanting to find a substitute for daily use.  This weekend, I got inspired and made a very simple quilt.  It only took me one day, and as I am not the most patient of seamstresses, it was a perfect design that didn’t cause a lot of frustration.  I used fat quarters from my collection of fabric, with a simple floral cotton backing, which I also used to bind the quilt edges.  The whole thing is machine-stitched, with no piecework.  It fits perfectly with our simple design aesthetic.