A New Day. A New Month. A New Blog

Yesterday was a very scary day for me. Not because it was Halloween, and not because my First Grade devils, angels were a teensy bit excited, but it was also my last day as a nonblogger. My palms were sweating, my heart palpitating, one leg had the shakes, and I needed a glass of wine (perhaps two) to calm the nerves.

Today, I was able to stay under the covers for a few extra minutes because we have NO classes today.  November 1st is a day off for the students. My district is brilliant!

As I took full advantage of the extra lounging time, my thoughts turned to November, wintery weather, warm blankets and quilts. Quilts! 

My childhood is filled with fond quilting memories.  My mother played host to many a quilting bee. Women and laughter filled our house for days.  I looked forward to dinner hour; the women would leave and I would have the quilt to myself.  I would lie on my back under the quilt 'tent' and look up at the swirls and whirls of the different stitches and be mesmerized by how different each woman's stitching was, as unique as her fingerprint.  I was always a bit sad when the quilt was finished and the laughter vanished along with those decadent little treats my mother seemed to only produce for visitors.

When I was 5 years old, my mother announced she would help me make my very own quilt.  We decided to make a 'house' quilt.  (I was a closet architect at 5- still am) We traced the little houses out of fabric and I still remember the scent of the black fabric pen with which she added the details.  Oh, how I LOVED that quilt and still do.

As I waxed quilt nostalgia, I decided November is the perfect month to introduce my first graders to the lost art of quilting. A few weeks ago, we had a fabulous field trip to an art cente and my honeys were absolutely thrilled to learn how to weave.  Since then, I have been trying to decide on an ongoing ''hands on" project.  Quilts are perfect for patterning, geometry, heritage, developing fine motor skills, art, oh soooo many curriculum connections, and every quilt tells a story. 

Here are a few books to get you started...

   

I have been admiring Reagan Tunstall's geometric monthly quilts for a few months, and I am going to pop over to TPT and grab those tonight.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geometric-Math-Quilts

Reagan always has amazing ideas on her blog:  http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.ca/

FREE!!!  (probably theee most loved teacher four letter F-word) I had a quick browse at TPT and discovered many great quilt ideas. 

Next stop...off to get donations of wallpaper samples for my students to start creating paper quilts. 

I promise to share our quilting progress.

Busy Hands...Busy Minds