Girl Scout Follow Up

The meeting went pretty well, especially for a first day back.  We almost didn't have a meeting because I didn't have a co-leader for the day.  I went ahead and started anyhow, figuring I could write a note to the other parents asking them for a little more support or it can't happen.  Fifteen minutes in, my co-leader came in with her daughter (who is homeschooling this year), and she promised to be there on time for the next meeting.  She just got my email a short while before and raced over to the meeting. 

The girls drew self-portraits and I talked about Catherine of Aragon, though I didn't mention her name, just to see if they could guess who it was.  They couldn't.  I gave lots of hints about the husband--they guessed Charles I, Edward II, and Harold.  Don't know who Harold is.  Unless she was thinking about the last Viking, Harold Hadrata...not likely.  Anyway, I said he had six wives and THEN they got it!  Fun to watch those light bulbs go off.  :)

I demonstrated the stitch, but we really ran out of time for them to practice enough, so they are having trouble working on it at home.  Maybe I'll have a refresher course for next meeting and they can keep on working while we talk about other things, brainstorming how to change the world and stuff.  I'm going to be meeting with Brownie leader and the Service Unit leader in a couple days to see if I can get more information about when the books are actually coming out and if there are any other online sources to consult to get a jump start on earning badges.  I'm really irritated that they left us hanging without much to work from for the first part of the school year.

One of the things I was looking into was the "artist" badge that each level can earn, and it appears that there are no needlework or fiber-related badges anymore.  Nothing.  No quilting, knitting, weaving, sewing, embroidery...nothing.  It's all drawing, painting, and that sort of thing.  I think there's also a digital photography badge.  OK...  And geo-caching.  Really?  I don't have a GPS.  I don't know how we're going to do this, but we're gonna wing it.

Anyway, I got a bit more done on my blackwork sampler.  I decided to make a few of the blocks different sizes.  I did a bit of research and it turns out these samplers were very common in the 1500s; this was a way to practice stitches and, I suppose, to use them as a reference later for when you want to do a big project or need a variety of patterns for a shirt, skirt, stomacher, or some other big garment.  I'd like to try to make a garment with blackwork on it, so I might go down and pick up some wash-away stitching stuff I saw at the store.  I think I'll need it to make a coif since I don't trust my linen to be even-weave.  I need to look up the how-to on making a coif.  When you start, they're just this rectangle with wavy edges (like these at left), then you sew one seam and it's a hat.  I made one once but it turned out a funny size.  Maybe I mis-measured or put it together wrong...I'll have to check that.  This will count as my A&S 50 project as well as a costumer's guild Journeyman item. 

Dad sent me some pictures of the fishing adventure he and Cammie had last month.  She had a blast hanging out with him and catching a few fish.  And she looks just adorable in these armpit waders and fins. 

What's really funny is that with the sunglasses and hat, she looks an awful lot like my Dad.  Without the cigar.  She's really looking forward to going out again soon.   

We've been running ragged this past week with soccer practices, games, Girl Scouts, karate, and school.  Today was picture day at school followed by picture day for soccer teams.  I ordered a group picture for each of Cammie's and Ben's teams, but I snuck this one while they were setting up.  These really are a terrific bunch of girls.  Not all of them are destined to be stars, but a couple of them may go on to play high school or college ball--they're good and passionate.  One of them is new to our team this year--last year, her coach was not very supportive and critical of her speed and grace.  Not a good experience for either of them.  Our team isn't about that, so Coach P (on the right) asked her to join our team and she's having FUN!  And that's the important part.

I'll have to keep that in mind for scouts, too.  Even if they don't earn badges, we can still have fun. 

K

Busy week! (Like you're totally surprised)

I went out and bought the darn Journey books.  I have been looking through them and am convinced that these are meant to create activists out of these little girls.  The Agent of Change book is all about changing the world.  Not fixing stuff that's broken, improving community safety, or reverting back to old traditions, but changing the world.  I have no idea what these 4th graders can do to "change the world" or even make a small change to their community.  Heck, most of these girls don't live in the same zip code--they're spread out all over the county.  However, one of the items in there that they discuss are powerful women in history (although all the women they use as examples are non-caucasian).  That's up my alley, so my thought was to find a few women in history (of any color) who were powerful, influential, and respected, and I may just focus on religious women (since this is a Catholic school).  I'm starting with Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife.  She moved from Spain to England as a teenager to be wed to Arthur, Henry's older brother.  Arthur died, so she was then married to Henry.  She loved needlework, in particular a form of needlework that became known as Spanishwork.  After the divorce, it became known as "blackwork".

I started working on a blackwork sampler to use as an example for the Girl Scouts meeting we have planned for Monday.  This will also count towards an Arts & Sciences project, and is actually a precursor to another project that I have planned, which is an Elizabethan coif that is covered in blackwork.  I'm going to use linen, but I will have to see if the threads are even-weave, and if not, I can get some wash-away aida cloth stuff that I can iron on and then it'll dissolve in water when I'm done.

This is what I'll have the girls make for scouts--a bookmark!  It's also got the Celtic knotwork--the school is proud of its Irish Catholic heritage, so it's totally appropriate!  Although it looks complex, it's simple counting.  I'll have to work on the handout for it to make it simple.

I am also working on these new Turkish socks.  I started these then had to rip them back to the toenails to add a few more stitches on the sides to accommodate the width of my feet.  My ingenious idea for the yarn is barely visible in this picture, but I took the two balls of yarn and tied them into a handkerchief to keep them from rolling around and unspooling or tangling.  So far it's working really well!

I also still have to do more work on the embroidery project for the 12th century tunics.  This is done with perl cotton, not embroidery floss.  I still have the wrists and hem of the dress, plus finishing all the seams.  Right now it's got rather ugly temporary hems done.

I got some good news from Donna about a quilt that I finished for her Mom--she got a 2nd place ribbon for "My First Quilt".  Her mom celebrated her 85th birthday recently and while she's done quite a lot of sewing, this is the first quilt she ever did.

I entered a quilt challenge for my guild--it said to make a quilt (with certain size parameters) with the theme "Celebrate!"  Mine is "Happy Birthday!"  It needed to have 20 of something in each quilt--mine had 20 different fabrics used in the quilt top, and the ribbons are 3-D.  Note that the hanging tabs are candles. :)  This is something we can pull out for each birthday party to hang with the rest of the decorations.

Emma is hosting her birthday this weekend, so we have three giggling girls joining her, who will likely stay up late, eat lots of pizza and junk food, and watch movies.  Thankfully she's outgrown the need for expensive themed parties with all her classmates in attendance.  I've never been good at doing those anyway...  Meanwhile, my DH has made a wise decision and has escaped the house to attend a man-fest at the Sounders game.  It's also a friend's birthday, so they went out for celebratory eats and will likely go out for celebratory beers after. 

They also had the raffle quilt on display at the quilt guild meeting--this is a stunning piece of work that won the Best of Show award at the fair this summer.  Just awesome!!  It's a "Baltimore Album" quilt using bright Kaffe Fassett fabrics that are all the rage.  This picture doesn't do the color justice--trust me, it's bright!

Gotta go order some pizza and get ready for a night of giggling.  Wish me luck.

K