Slow stitching calms my soul!
We finished the last episode of Adolescence on Netflix last night - I'm so grateful that Tracey left this little bit of her own experience with phones in classrooms. It's a real problem.
On the machine stitching side of things - we do have one top finish!
Tara Miller is the heart, head and hands behind The Quilt District. I love having them visit and see what her amazing quilt-laden mind has been up to.
This is her PDF pattern Legacy Wheel.
Big Blocks, Big Win!
Legacy Wheel is a fast and dynamic finish with 24″ blocks! Gentle curves are easy to sew and create gorgeous lines and movement in your quilt — with very little effort. More bang for your buck, as they say!
This quilt looks amazing in modern, traditional, and reproduction fabrics.
There are acrylic templates for the curved pieces - currently out of stock, but more are coming soon.
For those attending Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England in August -
Tara will be teaching Evie (scrappy improv) and The Magic of Mixing Prints and she will be presenting her lecture Enduring Elements: 200 Years of Quilt Blocks and Motifs.
Festival Workshops are HERE.
Festival Lecture sign up is HERE.
Another thing I'm super excited about - In September I'm taking a Craftours group on an adventure through Germany and Switzerland ending up at the big quilt show in Alsace, France at the same time that Tara is teaching there. We are making plans for a big meet up.
Carrefour tickets for the show in Alsace will be live in a few days. Link HERE.
Find out more about our Craftours Tour HERE. I'd love to have you join us! I've also added a tab for this tour to the top of the blog. You can also click the All My Tours tab to see where we will be heading in the future.
Today we are having our annual "Quilt Turning" Show & Share up in bedroom 5 with everyone gathered around and I can't wait to see what everyone brings to the bed!
Meanwhile in the QPO Studio next door:
I'm pulling sky blue, dark chocolate,caramel and rust along with some creamy toasty neutrals for my next tile floor inspired quilt.
Unit making has begun!
I'm excited about this one - not sure if it will be completed by machine quilting, or if this will turn into the next hand quilting project, but for once I feel like I have jumped head of fall and will be ready for it. LOL!
Binding is happening slowly on my Abundance quilt.
I've turned a corner and am part way up the second side.
The quilters and I stood around the kitchen island talking about it yesterday - We reminisced on how we didn't have phones growing up, and that if parents needed to reach a student they would call the office, and the student would be asked to come to the office to take the call.
And then we veered into how different things are in the USA today where kids need phones in case of school shootings to call 911. And it just hit me in the pit of my stomach.
One comment was - "I know a teacher who installed those over the door shoe holder things and when the students come in to class they all put their phones in their designated pocket and they pick up their phone on the way out of class."
This sounded like a good compromise -
After the episode concluded and Dave and I were discussing what we had just seen - we still have no answers. We fear for Casden. We feel out of our element as parenting goes because so many things have changed so rapidly.
I think the one thing we agreed on was to love your kids fiercely and be into everything they are doing, even their computer time behind closed doors because you never know what is pulling at them or what they are digging into.
Watching from the grandparent's position presents a whole different issue.
And that's all I know about real life situations with teens and pre-teens in school.
And I take a deep breath and look at what quilty good trouble I can get into today as an old lady.
I will be drawing for ONE lucky winner who will receive BOTH of these adorable Summit St. Boxes AND the Fabric Floozy Tee!
Get your entry in on that post and we'll be drawing for our winner on Wednesday 4/16/25.
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have.
Start by appreciating the little things.
Rain is gently falling this morning turning everything around me spring green.
Start by appreciating the little things.
Rain is gently falling this morning turning everything around me spring green.
Happy Friday!
I feel targeted -- LOL! Your quote today hit me hard. I've just retired, and so many things are changing, and some things I want to change, but it just doesn't seem to be feasible right now! I do need to stop and appreciate things even more! My life has been filled with blessings, and the time is now to stop and not only smell the roses, but appreciate the blooms!! Happy Friday!!
ReplyDeleteagree
DeleteIt took me about a year to get used to being retired, give yourself that time.
DeleteGive yourself a year to get used to it.
DeleteLove the view of ladies stitching in the Hens Den with a cozy fire going!
ReplyDeleteI sewed some Old Town flying geese blocks together last night...getting closer to being able to sew blocks together. :-)
Happy Friday, Jenny
I've never married and don't have children, but I see and hear a lot about the cell phone and kids issue. I don't know what happens at school, but I see what's going on on their way to school. What I've seen and wonder about are the kids riding on stand up scooters or on bikes with their heads down intent on their phones on their way to the middle school. My neighbor's kid fell on her way home from school this way. Then I see the kids waiting for the bus to the high school, each of them with their heads down looking at their phones. I fear what will happen when they reach driving age. Aside from that they also stand about 10 -15 feet apart, each one isolated from the other and I wonder if they will be as isolated from each other when they're adults.
ReplyDeleteBut then I also see mothers walking their kids to the elementary school, and often see several with their own heads down looking at their cell phones as they walk. One especially, who has her 2 year old in the stroller, walking the older boys to elementary school, holding both her cell phone and dog leash in one hand and pushing the stroller with the other. When I see her on my morning dog walks, I pick up my little dog because she's got a young white lab at the end of the leash. I've seen that dog faceplant one of the boys, who was holding the leash on the walk to school, when the dog started a run and the leash flew out of the 8 year old's hand. Fortunately, that faceplant happened in the grass rather than on the sidewalk and the kid was OK. After that was when mom started holding the leash, but still, she's got that phone in her hand and her head is down looking at it. But at least the elementary school boys don't have cell phones in their hands -- their older brother is one of the high school kids walking to the bus stop just like his mom and waiting there for the bus with his head down into the phone. And as a sad side note, now when she walks the kids to school, the dog is not with them. When I pass their house I see their dog tethered to a tree and most times her legs are caught in the rope. The other day the dog looked in pain and I took a chance and untangled her. I was worried how the 2 dogs would react, but they were both calm. Now I know I can at least untangle the poor dog when I see it again. I sure hope that dog gets her walk when mom comes home. Sad that the phone gets priority over a dog who needs the walk too.
The whole phone issue could be corrected if parents would have a phone that the children could have if they took the data off. If there was an emergency, the child could use the phone to call for help, but now internet connection.
ReplyDeleteI can see it both ways. I see kids who can't do simple math or remember a phone number without whipping out their phone calculator or contact list to help. On the other hand, I see toddlers who can do more with a phone or iPad than I can. Social media should not be replacing interpersonal skills. We should be focusing on what's going on around us, not on a screen. Kids need to be taught personal responsibility, starting with knowing when to turn the phone off. Internet use should be monitored. However, I've known kids who went on to amazing software engineering careers because they were allowed free use of computers early on. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Parents have to stay vigilant for signs of trouble. My own parents worried that comic books, TV, and rock & roll would rot my brain. No, advancing age is doing a fine job of that itself...
ReplyDeleteOur school district’s phone policy is that the phone is silenced and left in their locker. Dianne
ReplyDeleteIowa just passed a law that cell phones will not be allowed in the classroom. Most comments have been positive. Gloria
ReplyDeleteMiss Papa, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one still working on Old Town. I have 3 more sets of the flying geese to stitch (unless I find another stack) then I can start assembling the big blocks. This last set of instructions is taking me forever! But I am enjoying it.
ReplyDelete