WIP Wednesday #15: Megaquilter Down

This is my mother-in-law's Around the World quilt, intended as a donation to CLC International.  I finished the machine quilting this week.  It's a small quilt, and I had it mounted one way on the Megaquilter to do the latitudinal lines.  Then I took it off and remounted it the other way to do the longitudinal lines... because the Megaquilter, not being a true longarm, can't do too much range of motion vertically.  All well and good, and I had done about half of one globe, when I must have pulled the top thread too far as I was trying to pop up the bobbin thread and KLUNK... broken needle.  And then, KLUNK.  Klunk (blunt needle). Klunk again.  Four ruined needles in quick succession and a call to the dealer... the timing's probably off, needs servicing.  Bring the machine in, pay $100 plus and wait for 3 weeks.  Seriously?  Do you know how much trouble I had getting that baby on the carriage 4 years ago?  I'm going to have to take pictures and notes as I disassemble the remote power switch, the stitch regulator, etc., and I'm going to have to have help physically lifting the thing off the carriage (after removing at least one of the bars). Ick.  Just when I was finally getting close to the point where I could work on some of my own quilts.  Oh well, it probably needed the servicing anyway.  But the dealership is on the far side of town, and no way will I be able to free up enough time to take it over there until Saturday.

So I quilted the rest of the quilt on my old Viking, which is a trooper even if it doesn't have a cool name like "Megaquilter."  And was able to hand it off to Grandma (I was on a deadline).  And I mended a pair of pants for Primigenitus that had had the side pocket seam ripped out (had to rip out the lining first, resew the seam, topstitch the seam for extra security, then resew the pocket lining).  And I did do 1 and 1/2 blocks of the Farmer's Wife, but no pictures this week, too tired.

I had moments this week where I asked myself, "Why am I sewing anyway if I'm not having fun?" Seriously, I had all the enjoyment in sewing that I might have had from working in a sweatshop, and less pride in my workmanship.  Almost all my sewing was for other people, not me.  I had much more fun with my knitting, where I produced a finished object: Stashbuster Spirals with a Sweet Tomato Heel, this pair for Tertia:

They fit her pretty well, maybe a little long in the foot.  But the heel is amazing.  I'm thinking of using this heel for all my socks from now on, it's that simple and elegant.  It works very well with the Stashbuster Spirals.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced even though I don't have much progress to report on my own account.

Quilts of the Past: Ohio Rose

Today is my birthday and tomorrow would be my mother's, Rosalie Ruth Maffett Bogue.  She was born on Columbus Day in 1940 and died of breast cancer on Groundhog's Day in 2004.  So here is the Ohio Rose quilt I made as part of the Mom Memorial Quilt Project, from her clothing, particularly the woolen and heavier-weight fabrics.

As a matter of fact, I had enough fabric for two quilts.  One lives with me and one with my sister Sarah in Virginia.

I was able to use some unconventional fabrics like knits on the appliques, which was kind of fun.  I also played around with the decorative stitching on my machine for the appliques, which are fused onto the backgrounds.

And for the hanging sleeve on the one I kept, I used the Mickey and Goofy measuring chart from my childhood that was "too special" to throw out.  Thinking about it now, nothing is that special, but I avoided having to make a painful call by putting it in the quilt.  Mom would probably have approved.

Book review - The Parthenon Code

I love mythology.  These are the stories that have inspired and delighted for hundreds of generations, and they are nowhere near tapped out, as anyone who likes the Percy Jackson books will tell you.  I must have been about 9 when my grandparents let me take Myths of Greece and Rome, by H.A. Guerber, from their library.  I read and reread it, and now am using it as the basis of my mythology unit for my 8th graders.  You're never too old to have these stories read to you... of course, you can't expect 13-year-olds to take them seriously (Cronos wearing "world's best dad" t-shirt while eating his kids... Juno, transformed into a cow, asking Jupiter "does this transformation make me look fat?"... Cupid and Psyche relationship status on Facebook: it's complicated.)

Which is why The Parthenon Code: Mankind's History in Marble, by Robert Bowie Johnson, was such a disappointment. I wanted to like this book: saw a blurb about it years ago and thought, "Oh cool, a Christian view of mythology."  It's kind of a special interest of mine... I believe that most of the myths originated in the time before Moses, perhaps even before Noah, and that many of them contain garbled but recognizable variations of Biblical truth.  Other fascinating books I've read that touch on the subject include Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods by Gerald McDermott and The Real Meaning of the Zodiac by the late D. James Kennedy - I recommend the Kennedy book as an approachable introduction; it's based on a sermon series he gave.

I had to get Johnson's book through inter-library loan; it's a vanity press publication, and has effusive praise on the back cover ("The most original book of the decade, if not the last fifty years") and overleaf ("...presents nothing less than a thoroughly substantiated unified theory of human history.")  But when I checked the bibliography, there was not one single reference from earlier than 1900.  This would seem to me to be a problem in a work touching on classical culture.  He also made the very puzzling choice of using the Concordant translation of the Bible for his Biblical quotes.  The extreme literalism of this translation is disastrous for anyone looking for clear English.  As a teacher of an ancient language, I spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to coax young students to form translations in good English.  This translation takes them in the opposite direction.  Rather than "the earth was formless and void" he insists "the earth became a Chaos," after God created it.  There are some serious theological problems there.

Johnson is interested in using analysis of the art on the Parthenon and ancient vases to prove his pet theory that Greek mythology stems from the line of Kain (he insists on this spelling, and also "Kentaurs") and is diametrically opposed to the true Biblical religion.  He claims that Hera represents the "primal Eve," Athena  or a-thanatos, the deathless one, represents "the deified serpent's Eve," and the little-studied old sea-god Nereus is actually Noah, who gets no respect from the line of Kain.  There is no mention of Deucalion, the Noah-equivalent most mythologists mention.  Art history helped make Dan Brown's The Davinci Code a huge phenomenon; Johnson probably hoped for some of that action.  I did enjoy the analysis of the art on the vases, and I'm not unsympathetic to Johnson's interpretation, but I think his labored writing style and preachy tone spoil any worthwhile point he was trying to make.  I get the impression he wants to market his books to Christian homeschoolers; but their money would be better spent downloading the Kindle version of Guerber's Myths book.

The Schedule

I mentioned at the beginning of the school year that the schedule was probably going to be my hill to die on this year.  I have a little better handle on the schedule, and I still don't like it.  But here it is.

Every weekday I wake up between 5:30 and 6:00, if I haven't had insomnia already.  I slowly acclimate to being awake while doing a little reading, and Steve heads off to work about 6:00 or before.  I'm showering by 6:30, dressed and waking up kids by 7:00, packing lunches and supervising breakfasts, chores, and the ready for school rush.  Georgie arrives around 8:00, picks up Primigenitus, Secundus, and Quarta, drops off Little Joe, who then proceeds to watch SuperWhy with Tertia until 8:30.  They then make their way into the living room and wait for the bus, which is supposed to arrive at 8:45 but is usually more like 8:50. 

After helping them onto the bus, I throw the laptop into the bag and head off for the 16 minute drive to Cedar Tree, where 1st period is nearly over by the time I arrive.  I deposit my things in room 202, put on my glasses so I'll look more like a teacher, and pack up the things I'll need for 6th grade in the little basket.  I usually manage a bathroom break, and get to the G4 classroom at 9:20.  They wrap up math and segue into Latin, and we really work quite hard on learning the difference between nouns and verbs.  I'm not always sure it's doing any good.

10:15 and I send G4 off to recess and hike back to 202, where the Seniors have their cubbies and are grabbing what they need at the same time 7th grade is thinking about settling down instead of blocking the door.  Room 202 is not really all that large, and that's about 25 people that can be in there at once, all clustered around the door.  By that time my throat is beginning to be hoarse so I fix myself some hot water for tea in the microwave.  The bell rings for 3rd period, and class begins.  We work very hard on learning the difference between active and passive voice, and between present tense and all the others.  I'm not always sure it's doing any good.

11:10 and the bell rings and the 7th grade leaves, 8th grade enters, and 12th grade is in and out once more: potential for 33 people in transition in room 202 at once.  11:15 and 8th grade Latin begins.  We work very hard on remembering 5 years' worth of Latin grammar and vocabulary and developing the ability to write translations in Good English.  I'm not always sure it's doing any good.

At 12:05 the bell rings and Logic 2 sprints out to lunch.  Rhetoric 4 enters more sedately; they take turns heating up things in the microwave and chatting about vegetables.  I might stay to wrap things up for the next day, or do a little bit of grading, but I have to be out of the classroom by 12:35 every day except Tuesday (when I stay for Logic teachers' meeting during lunch anyway).  I usually leave campus in time to be home by 1:00 if I don't have errands to run.  I might eat lunch myself anytime from 1:00 to 2:00.  If I'm fortunate enough to be at home I spend a little time on the computer and try to relax.

Then my alarm rings at 2:15 and I leave to go back to Cedar Tree to pick up Secundus and take him to Columbia River for Cross Country practice by 3:00.  Unless it's a meet day, and then I drop him off at the meet.  I don't get to stay and watch him because I have to be back home by 3:30 when Georgie drops off Primigenitus and Quarta, and definitely by 3:40 when the bus drops off Tertia.  It holds up traffic until it's sure she's going to be able to get in the door.  Then it's the checking homework, cleaning out lunchboxes, and pre-dinner rush until, well, dinner.  Then supervising dishes, baths, and the bedtime routine (although that's been shaky lately).

Some days I get to do extra stuff, like Mondays when there's laundry to wash and sort and Primigenitus works in the afternoons, and Secundus has to be taken to special dinners with the team, and there's Knit Night.  Or Tuesdays, weekly lunchtime staff meeting or monthly all-afternoon inservice; or Wednesdays, grocery shopping (if I'm lucky I have time to put away the ice cream before making the 2:15 run back to Ridgefield for Secundus pickup and then immediately afterwards the 3:00 run for Primigenitus, Quarta, and 2 of Primigenitus's classmates -- yes, there are 3 round trips on Wednesdays); or Thursdays, when Primigenitus has drama practice and the veggies get picked up; or Fridays, when there's almost always an evening event somewhere.

So if I had to compare my life to a  movie right now, it would probably be the faster-paced portions of Koyaanisqatsi, but I'd like to get back to Goodbye Mr. Chips (the Peter O'Toole version), which was where it stood for several years.  Actually, even closer would be the sitcom The Middle, which is sometimes just a little too true to my life for comfort.

WIP Wednesday #14

I finished the body of my STARS quilt-along quilt, but still need to decide on and add borders.  I'm debating about making a wonky strip-pieced border, but I'll probably just add a narrow and wider border as the pattern calls for if I have enough of any one fabric.

Farmer's Wife Quilt block #46: Hill and Valley.  Fairly easy except for the small squares at the hilltops: their finished measurement is the square root of 2 (1.41) = 1 3/8" (generous), so they were cut 1 7/8" (generous).  The other triangles are HSTs based on a 3" measurement (cut 3 7/8"), HSTs based on a 2" measurement (cut 2 7/8") and QSTs based on a 2" measurement (cut 3 1/4").

Block # 47: Homemaker.  I had to draw this one out on graph paper (it is based on a 9-patch grid) and then paper pieced the radiating points units.  Then I still had to attach them to the center 2 1/2" square with inset seams.  It is a pretty block, but I'll never make another one like it.

Before making those blocks I did snap a picture of blocks 1-45.  It's getting to be a big bunch!

And these are my current Stashbuster Spirals.  More about them and the Sweet Tomato Heel I'm using on them when they're finished.

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

Tertia recently celebrated her 12th birthday.  She remembers birthdays.  She can tell you the birthdays of her 1st grade teacher, all her family members, and about half of her classmates from last year.  She will give you a hug on your birthday and make you feel like the most special person in the world, and her general outlook on life is definitely the dog's diary rather than the cat's diary.  It's a privilege to bake her birthday cake every year and present it to her for the standard pre-candle-blowout picture.

I don't usually blog about anything with "awareness" in the title, but Down syndrome awareness is a part of my life even when it isn't the official month for it.  There aren't any clearcut or easy answers for some of the questions that come up these days; the challenges of middle school are bigger than the ones in the preschool and gradeschool years, and there seem to be fewer resources, but she needs an advocate now even more than before.  I'm really pleased with her school and her teachers; but it does seem that by being pushy parents when she was younger, we've made her life a little harder now.  She reads too well, and even her math skills are too good, to just let her be babysat in the self-contained special ed classroom; but she will experience occasional frustration and anxiety in the general education and Learning Support classrooms.  Now, I know the "Life Skills" classroom is a wonderful, nurturing environment, staffed by experienced people who care deeply about kids with special needs.  And more and more, parents are hearing how these kids are going to be included in the life of the school.  But too often, what the school officials mean by inclusion is not really all that inclusive.  It's easy to include kids in lunch, art, and P.E. It's a bit harder to do it in academic subjects.  I was a bit shocked when we found out that Tertia is one of only 2 kids that go out of the Life Skills classroom to other classes.  Is she really "smarter" than the other kids, or is this just because we pushed more?  And (this is always at the back of our minds) how much can we get away with pushing before it backfires and hurts her, or gets us branded as uncooperative parents who won't face reality and accept the course of least resistance?

My hope for Tertia in these middle school years is that she can grow and develop without losing that special spark that has made her childhood such a delight beyond anything I ever expected that first day in the hospital, when it seemed we were dumped into the cold unfriendly territory of special-needs parenting.  And a big part of her spark, I'm convinced, comes from the fact that she has been included all along as much as possible in her family, school, and community.  And that inclusion has never been easy... it's hard fought for.  We have found, though, that when you set out with inclusion as a priority, when there is no question of non-inclusion, it becomes much easier.  Actually, it becomes a way of life.  And that's good, not only for our daughter, but for all the people around her.

Quilting Saturday

Saturday was our first quilting day at the church this fall.  We take the summers off, and then every 6 weeks throughout the school year we have a Saturday where anybody who quilts or is interested in quilting can show up at the church fellowship hall.  I always take more work than I have time to do, because it ends up being a big show and tell.

This is Sandri's work... she's always so artistic.

More Sandri. 

And a close-up.  Yeah, the rest of us are just playing with crayons by comparison.

Mary found this WIP on Craigslist and the lady who was "never going to finish it" gave it to her for free in hopes that she might.  It's a quilt-as-you-go piece with some panels already done.

And Julie... she and her daughter brought in 7 vintage quilt tops, either from her grandmother or Aunt Elsie.  This one is hand pieced... the closest I could come to naming the pattern was Friendship Knot, but I don't think that's it.

How about a vintage Grandmother's Flower Garden?  Also hand pieced.

Fans.

Single Irish Chain?

Baskets.

Foundation-pieced scrap fiesta.

And this one, which has some of the most vintagey fabric I've seen.

There were even backings, patched together from bits of muslin and old feedsacks, intended for these quilts and stored in the chest along with them.  Some of them were patched several times... wouldn't want to waste any fabric there!

Yeah, that's why I didn't get much sewing done Saturday.