*new* chair

i went to the local flea market last weekend and found this little chair for calvin. friends of mine have a similar little red one and i always thought it was so cute. this one was pretty dirty as you can see but it was only $15. here are some pictures from before i finished cleaning it:

(in this picture i had already cleaned the seat)

pretty nasty, huh? i saw some potential though and the colors matched our living room perfectly. so i scrubbed it with baking powder and voila! it came totally clean.

the tag on the bottom says that it adheres to the safety standards of 1937, so i think it is pretty old. now (maybe) 70 years later it looks almost brand new and ready for calvin to enjoy!

youthology

real or fake?

youthology.com

quilt

i finished calvin's crib quilt. i love the way it turned out. i started it the moment i got home from my sewing machine class because i really wanted to practice using my walking foot. i did not have a high expectation for the final product, but it came out great and very unlike any quilts i have made before. here's a few pictures...

i already have the fabric picked out for my next quilt. it will be for my friend who is pregnant and due in january, which seems far away, but always seems to creep up fast.

i can't stop...

watching these films. a class i am taking called 'culture, media and education' introduced me to this sight. enjoy...

http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/

first day.

room 3 was filled with hopeful nervous third graders on wednesday. brand new binders, newly sharped pencils, untouched erasers sat anxiously on top of sterilized desks. everyone felt sadness for the end of summer and excitement for the beginning of a new school year.

everyone that is except for me. i wasn't there. for six years i have started the school year as the teacher, but this year i will be starting as a student. i miss the few days, hours, minutes before school begins for the year. all the colors of construction paper are in order and accounted for and every marker is capped. nervous excitement brims from within me. as the students walk through the door i know i am where i belong.

but this year i am a stranger to what lies ahead. i will be a master's student at an ivy league school. i am the one who is hopeful and nervous. i have my binder (labeled), pencils sharpened (and pens), and a stack of loose leaf paper. i am physically ready for the first day of school on thursday. as i walk though the hallowed halls on thursday and enter my first classroom, i hope i feel like i belong.

sewing straight...

quilting lots of equally spaced straight lines is harder than i thought. at first i was frustrated and ripped out my first two sewing lines, but now i am talking myself into liking the imperfect 'handmade' look.

using my new walking foot and trying out different stitches is fun and i think the quilt will look fine in the end because there will be so many lines that each line's imperfections will not be as noticeable. at least that is what i keep telling myself.

now i just have to start sewing the lines that go the other way.

martha!

i am going to see her, live and in person. we are totally going to become bff!