Leaving a Legacy of Needle Arts

Summer School for Middle School is about learning something new and FUN!!



No papers or projects to grade! No tests! But lots of fun!



For the past couple of years I have been teaching a class called "Needle Me This!" (An homage to the Riddler from TV's Batman.) Yeah, I know, I am dating myself.



Why I created this class...



I grew up in a small town in Missouri outside St. Louis only 3 houses from one grandma and 1 mile from the other. And my great-grandmother lived halfway in between. All of them were sewers and needle artists. From them I learned hand sewing, crewel embroidery, Swedish embroidery, pulled thread work, smocking, crocheting, etc. (My grandma J. tried and tried to teach me to knit, but I found it too hard to keep the tension even, so I gave up. I needed what I tell my students all the time, "More practice!")


I was one of the lucky ones. I had women in my family who not only did needle arts, but were also willing to "pass it on."



A lot of my students these days don't even get to see their grandparents that often. Our families are all too spread apart anymore. Plus lots of them don't have grandmothers who know this stuff nor do they have the time to teach them. A lot of grandmas nowdays have full time jobs. Heck! I'm old enough to be their grandma and I'm STILL working full time.



Anyway, back to my Summer School class...



I want to leave a legacy of Needle Arts. So, in summer school I have been teaching students to crochet a scarf with a simple single crochet stitch. It's really fun. The kids do a 2" x 2" sample of some scrap yarn and then get to start on the real thing. This takes most of a week. Remember, I've got about 20 kids and almost all have no experience. It takes awhile to get everyone going.

This was done by one of my students in about a week of 2-hour classes!

After about a week, I introduce a second project: a needle point bracelet or a macrame bracelet--it all depends on what kinds of kits are available. I give them a couple of days for that. Most of them work on it and then go back to their scarves (those take more than a few days).

How many of you made loop potholders when you were a kid? I lived in a neighborhood with no girls even close to my age, so I did a lot of reading and stuff I could do by myself. I made potholders for my mom and grandmothers. Some of them became rugs for Barbie. I remember jumping on my bike and riding to Ben Franklin for more loops.

Anyway, it's a really fun and fast project. Plus the kids taught me you could make a bracelet or a long belt by fingerweaving the loops. Yeah, teaching the teacher--it happens!

So far, the class has been pretty low tech. Next time, we'll continue with the other projects, plus how technology is introduced into a basically hands-on class.

Happy sewing and quilting!

Vickie

Inspiring Future Quilters & Fiber Artists

I'm Vickie. I've been a Middle School FACS teacher for about 12 years. I came back to teaching in my mid-40's because as a single mother, I was afraid my son Jared would be grown and gone and I would have missed it all working. Yeah, I'm still a working mom, but at least I get home earlier most nights, and I've had a few weeks in the summer off to actually spend time with him. (Well, he doesn't have as much time for me since his girlfriend replaced me.)

Oh, for those of you who don't know, "FACS" is what used to be called "Home Economics."

I absolutely love what I do--both working with middle schoolers and teaching FACS! There is nothing so rewarding as hearing students say, "This tastes great!," or "Look what I made!"

The idea to start blogging was inspired by two very different women: Leah Day of "365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs" and Susan of "Hanging on by a Needle and Thread."

Leah is 20-something mother of an adorable young son who has vowed to design a free-motion filler design for every day of one year. Wow! What an undertaking! And in just a few months, she has created more than one hundred designs. Hopefully, I will be able to do all of them one day.

Susan is more of my generation--old enough to be a mother and grandmother (although, I started on the mother thing late, so still no grandkids for me--besides, I'm really TOO young to be a grandma yet!) Not only does is Susan doing some great quilts, she also introduced me to the "skip stitch" blade for my rotary cutter. I am so excited to be able to do more quick and easy blankets for "Project Linus."

I have been trying to get students interested in doing quilts for Project Linus for a couple of years, even providing all the equipment and materials out of my own pocket. I just can't seem to get them interested in something that takes a while, but they don't get a grade or extra credit for.

Anyway, I got my "skip stitch" blade in the mail yesterday and have already bought some remnants of fleece and as soon as I get the baby-weight yarn tonight, I am going to try my hand at those really cute and easy crochet-edged baby blankets.

My mom, Yvonne, likes quick crochet projects she can do in the winter when it is too cold to hang out in the yard. I don't know how many crocheted hanger covers she has made over the years. I wonder why I have never been on the receiving end of those hangers? Maybe 'cause she knows I can crochet and should be able to make my own. When will I ever have time to do that?

Anyway, my goal is to make some blankets myself for Project Linus, get some students to do it, too (I know single crochet is not that hard to learn), and also get my mom to make some, too. I mean, how many crocheted hangers does a person really need?

So, that's my first post! I am off to the sewing machine to do something fun. Yayyyyy for snow days!

Happy sewing and quilting!

Vickie