Summer Plans

My goal for the summer (while not in school) was to work on several quilting projects. I did start on my sister's t-shirt quilt and have half the blocks sashed. I did very little cross stitching.

Today, I decided to watch a couple of older Fons and Porter episodes. I became inspired to start a project I've had planned for ages.

 I had all of the materials to do a few notebook covers. I have had this project ready to go for over a year. I decided it was time to get started.

I cut out all of the pieces. It is a very simple cover, you need a piece of quilted fabric cut to wrap around the notebook you choose. A couple of pieces to hold the notebook in place and an optional pocket for pens or as a catch all.

I cut all the pieces and then cut binding strips. I wanted the project to go quickly, so I machine stitched the binding to the front and back, adding a decorative stitch for the front of the piece. I'm not sure I will do that when binding of the entire piece. Next, I sewed the small pieces that hold the back of the notebook in place. I'm sewing four covers at once. So I stopped after turning the last strip inside out.

I still need to sew the pieces together and add the binding. But that will wait until Monday. I need to purchase some large buttons for the flap and I want to try to find some darker velcro for the closing. 

I realized that I needed to photograph my progress while I was sewing along. It is great practice for my photography class. I'm pleased to say I shot the entire time in manual mode. A big accomplishment for me. 

Not that every shot was good, by no means, some were really bad. But I'm learning from my mistakes. Mistake #1 is not wearing my glasses and having the diopter set for corrected vision! LOL Several of my photos were blurry because of that.

Asher decided to come and watch my progress.

Tracy

Summer's Over

Or so it seems. Teachers in my county have had two complete days of inservice. Tomorrow, we have an administrative day which means we get some time to spend in our rooms prepping for the new year.

We will get schedules and student rosters tomorrow. This will give us some specific prep time. I received my textbooks today for one class. I have already started pulling materials. I know that sounds a little slow, but I've never taught this class and had no idea how the text fit into the curriculum standards.

I have a new photography class assignment and I hope to be able to take some pictures at school depicting the first day of school. It will be a "day in the life of" study. I'm looking forward to the photo shoot.

I will be teaching 8th grade US History and several more classes. I'm looking forward to next week when students start.

Tracy

The End - Bye Harry

I went to see the last Harry Potter movie today. Sis and I splurged for 3D IMAX and it did not disappoint. Of course it was a different take than the book, but I expected it to be different. In preparation I've been retracing the series. I'm on book six. My trip to Alaska came mid-read.

I am sorry to see Harry all grown up.

On the photo front, the assignment this week was to do a diptych. I naturally drew a blank and had to call sister for artistic pump priming. She helped a lot. I took one set today that I liked and hope to do another tomorrow. As I look at the pics up close I realize the focus could have been a little sharper. Also, no matter how much delinting I did, lovely cat fibers still show up on the black velvet.

Blogger still doesn't like to upload my pics. Will try from different computer tomorrow.

Weekend Arrives

It is hard to believe we came home on Monday. Sunday, we did another tour of Anchorage and then drove to Whittier. It was a wonderful trip. The town of Whittier is exactly what you imagine a seaside Alaskan village to be like. It was foggy and boats were out in the water. It was very poetic. We had to drive through the continent's longest tunnel to get there. It was a unique experience.

We started our day by seeing a black bear cub and ended the evening with a moose and calf sighting. It was a great day.

After traveling all day Monday, my body decided Tuesday was a day of rest and I slept in late and went to bed early. We had school in-service Thursday and next week the school year starts.

I leave you with these memories of Alaska.

Saturday - tourist day

All I can say is wow! I serve an awesome Creator and His work is magnificent.

blogger hates my photos so I will post some here - flickr.com/noahtracy

Friday - End of park experience

Thursday and Friday were big days for the mission teams. We ended our time with park parties. One we hosted and one we served as cooks and clean up!

But we started each day with a time to run team errands. We had completed all of our in-park service projects and the ship hadn't arrived for the food bank. So we spent Thursday getting team pictures printed and while running into the stores, team members made a great decision. They decided to bless the children in our park with backpacks.

It was great fun, they purchased backpacks, pencil boxes, markers, and notebooks. We filled the boxes with candy, gum, and our team picture. We took the two mornings to purchase the items and then prepare the backpacks.

On Thursday afternoon we had our park time and we just loved on the kids. We saw new faces and had a great time just loving on the kids. That night we had our park party. It involved a bouncy house, hair paint and hot dogs. Needless to say, the kids had a blast. One of the teams here came and did drama skits, a great time was had by all.

Friday afternoon, we had a small turn out. We got to visit with most of our regular kids and we just spent the day giving out lunches and hanging out. The sun was out and you can tell the kids aren't used to warm 70+ degree days. They loved to stay in the shade. We had a great time handing out backpacks and talking to the kids for the last time but it was bittersweet. But we know the next team will have an awesome time with these kids.

We spent the evening on kitchen duty and serving at another teams block party. It was near our park and the make up of kids was a lot different. This area had a lot of Laotian immigrants and their turn out was huge. We cooked over 150 hot dogs and there wasn't a hot dog left when we packed up.

Team devotions and prayer times have been awesome and tomorrow we pack and leave Graceworks. We will have a fun day going to a glacier and having lunch at a wilderness park with all the mission teams.

Our team is tired but still ready to face the day! Can't wait to see God's creation tomorrow.

Friday -