Friday, May 31, 2013

finishes

This week has been a decent week for finishing things.  The most prominent finish in my mind is finishing the school year.  I am checked out and done for another school year.  Despite it being the last week of school, I got a few other things finished, too.
I found time to reread the two novels above-How Sweet It Is by Alice J. Wisler and Sisterchicks on the Loose! by Robin Jones Gunn.  They were both worth rereading.  I would recommend Wisler's book to anyone who likes baking.  Gunn's book is for people who like to read about adventure and friendship. 
I also made four pot holders.  They make nice end of the school year surprises.  
This quilt top got put together, as well.  I started it back in April.  I think I am going to add a border so it is a bit larger.  Have you finished anything this week?


Saturday, May 11, 2013

sewn book tutorial

Materials needed:  paper for inside pages, cardstock cover about a half inch longer and wider than the inside pages, embroidery floss or other string for binding (about twice as long as the spine portion of the book), one needle ( I use tapestry needles because they are not too sharp and that kind of needle has a big eye), two paper clips, and one push pin
1. Fold all pages and the cover exactly in half.  For best results, I fold each piece of paper separately.
2.  Use paper clips to secure pages together like shown above.  This will prevent the pages from moving around while sewing.
3.  Poke three holes about equal distance apart on fold line with push pin.  Sometimes I mark this with a pencil before poking the holes.   
4.  Thread needle and slide end of floss underneath one paper clip.
5.  Sew through center hole, then sew through either of the other two holes to other side.
6.  Now sew through remaining hole.  Your book will now look like the one below.  Sew through middle hole again. 
7.  Knot the two ends of the thread together around the center string by tying it twice.
8.  Clip edges, and decorate cover as you would like.  Clip edge of string about an inch from the knot.
I use copy paper for most of the books I make, but drawing paper works well too. 
These are easy enough to make with elementary students and can be done with a small group (5-8) in less than a half hour.  My students do everything except poke the holes with a push pin.  It is a fairly quick project and the fun part is decorating the book and filling up the inside.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Apples A to Z

Apples A to Z by Margaret McNamara is a new alphabet book I stumbled across at the library.  It has great information about apples and would be appropriate for preschool to any age elementary students.  It would be great to share with a class while doing a unit on apples or farming.  My favorite page is the one for letter V because it is for varieties.  The page shows 26 different varieties of apples, one for each letter of the alphabet.