Parting Gifts

The end of this school year had several good-byes.
I teach at a high school that has a long history...it was founded in 1890.  Yup, it's 127 years old. There are many traditions in this place, but a way of saying farewell isn't one of them.  Each year, the now defunct social committee planned some type of parting gifts for the folks leaving.  Those who had been there for a longer time got some larger, nicer, more meaningful parting gift, and those who were new-ish got something small (candles, lemons, mug, etc.).  The art teacher did, and still does, make a handmade book for folks to write thoughts and memories down and to say farewell.  They are amazing, and involve ceramics and/or painting and/or hand-stitching on beautiful paper.


At a previous school I worked at, the tradition was that if you had been there 5 or more years, the secretary knit you an afghan in school colors (side note: babies got a baby afghan in school colors!).  Folks often stayed till the 5 year mark just to get the afghan.  I'm fortunate to have an adult and baby version.  They are beautiful, and remind me of the wonderful years I spent at that school.
Exactly what it was intended to do.


So, as I mentioned, my current school didn't have this kind of on-going tradition.  The last few years, an assistant principal has been in charge of planning the farewell lunch and gifts.  I emailed one and asked what she thought of creating some type of tradition. She thought it was a great idea and gave me free reign (silly girl!).  I made wall-hangings/table-runners for folks in out school colors of purple and gold. This came from a Row-by-Row pattern of rain drops.  I experimented with other layouts, and other color combos, but it really wasn't spectacular.









 
As soon as I made what you see here, the original pattern, it was right.
Three of the folks who were leaving this June had been there more than 5 years.   I made 4, just in case.  Some folks don't announce their retirement or employment changes too far in advance, so I wanted to be ready.  The good news is I'm ahead for next year...

Also, my son finished 6th grade this year.  It was his last year in elementary school.  Next year, he'll be a seventh grader in Junior High.  He is able to attend a junior high near my school, and I will be able to drop him off at school in the mornings on my way to work. Our daycare provider, Miss Janet, has been an amazing gift to our family.  She has stuck with us through some very difficult times.  One morning as I was dropping the kiddo off, she asked if I had seen a certain quilted pillow her daughter had shown her. She described it to me, and was really struck by it (she had never mentioned something like this to me before!) and what one could do with it. I told her to have her daughter send it to me on Pinterest, and I'd check it out. It was books on a library shelf in a way that I had not seen before.  I had a conversation with her daughter about her favorite colors - bright pastels - and I was off to the races.  It would be the perfect gift. I went through my selvages and fabric that had pictures on it, and did some fussy cutting and fancy stitching.  Even managed a water theme with all those aquas and blues.


This was "due" the same day as the purple and gold rain drops. If you read my previous post, you may note that Mary, my big machine went kaput.  Impeccable timing, but somehow not surprising.  I mangled my way through the quilting, and got it done.
  
I'm grateful that I  am allowed and encouraged to make gifts for folks.  I love making, and I'm blessed that people like what I make, and they feed my habit.

A Trio of Pouches

After an amazing vacation to the Florida Keys, I am home and sewing again. I missed the time with my machine. I had forgotten, in the interim, that Mary, my big Brother machine, was in for repairs.
It can straight stitch and zig zag, but couldn't free motion without snapping needles. Good thing that I bought a 100 pack of Schmetz needles via Massdrop. I snapped 5 in 15 minutes, and went to my local Quality Sewing and Vac for help. They filed a burr (or three) from the needle plate so I could eek out the 4 projects that were all due in a day and a half. It worked for about 10 minutes. But now I knew it wasn't me, and 4 needles snapped to finish up the projects (I will post about those later...).
I also forgot how to actually thread my Featherweight as well. The stitches were a bird's nest. And as we know, if there's a problem with Flossie's stitches, it's not her. It's something I did. I made multiple tries and FINALLY got it right. My brain was too muddled from a long vacation and lack of practice!
So anyway,  I got to play!
I will be leading a staff sewing "fling" next week, and the group had requested zipper pouches. So I've chosen two simple, beginner-friendly ones. The first will be a flat pouch, and then a pouch with boxed corners and stitched in tabs around the zipper. I'll try and remember to get pics and post them. BUT, as I was trolling around the internet looking for simple patterns and some measurements, I came across Noodlehead's open-wide pouch tutorials. So cute, and pretty easy, and a way to get back into the zipper groove.

I like how they came out, and getting to play with some pretty fabrics in bigger chunks. Note to self: time to get a bigger variety of zippers on-hand!
I made the full set of three...the large is huge. Part of me wants to use them because they are so pretty, but they might make a great gift for someone.