I need a reset

I'm having this awkward battle with online connection again.

On one hand, it's a great tool to connect with others like me and to share the things that are important to me with others who will care just as much as I do.

On the other, I feel like a number. And while I've never been an obsessive tracker of followers on any of my social media accounts, that pull to "check in" constantly is kicking me down.

So a break from everything that defines your likeability as a number is necessary. At least for me right now. Social media is too loud again and my brain already has 100 hamster wheels running. So I'm away from twitter and facebook and instagram for the forseeable future.

When I get my brain calmed down again I'll record another podcast.

After Quiet

Funny thing about being quiet for such a long time. There is so much to say, but it's hard to get it out. It all seems inadequate after a long absence, so let's start with the basic thing:


Sometimes media is so loud that I can't hear anything else. It rattles around in my brain along with the chores that need done and the grocery list and my work in the studio and time with my family...and I lose track of all the things I want and need to do in the middle of the noise. So I take a break and get my head right and come back better for the absence.


So here I am. Back from the absence, hopefully with more to say.


A little backtracking and a "where we are now" so that tomorrow we move forward:

1. Influenza A hit Ellie over Christmas break and she's finally back to normal. She had to go in to get IV fluids,which was one of the saddest things I've ever had to do with one of my kids, but she bounced back tremendously the next day and even more the next day. Definitely the right decision, but hard on all of us at the time. Thankful that no one else in the family was infected.

2. I have not been well these last several weeks because of the autoimmune thing. That has certainly influenced the lack of wordage in this space. Sorry about that, but the best thing I can do during a big flare is stay warm and sleep a lot. (Check and check.)

3. I have been knitting, but not as much as I would like to and not anything of exceeding interest or difficulty. Mostly socks, because they are beautiful and easily repeatable. My sock yarn stash may have grown in the last several weeks.

4. I started 2 college classes last week. I have not been to college in... a long time. I'm really loving how the professors post their notes on blackboard and I can just print them off before class. Seriously. My messed up hands are super appreciative of not having to write for an hour straight and hope I got it all. Studying? I'm still figuring that one out. Like I said- college and me haven't been a thing for a long time.

The things is, one really crazy semester of school and work and homeschooling is going to set me up for something awesome next fall, so I'm doing my best with crazy right now and spending all the other minutes sleeping. Really. Ask my kids. And my husband. I'm not the most graceful sleeper, but I am a frequent one.


As for this space...

Another episode of the podcast is coming. I don't like to make promises on my time right now, but hoping for next week.


I've been interviewing different needle brands for sock knitting and have a new and surprising (to me) favorite, so organizing that information for you too. And pictures... there is a camera deficiency at our house after Ellie "retired" the most recent camera. So it's cell pictures, which are.... fine. Hoping to remedy the camera situation soon.


If you want to find me in other spaces, I'm most active on Instagram and Twitter at the moment, but check in on  Ravelry, Pinterest, and Facebook from time to time too.

Hello!

Hello everyone, I'm Sue- joining this blog with Erin my oldest daughter. I am new to blogging so this will be quite the adventure. She asked me to tell you about myself and the kinds of projects I work on.


BACKGROUND

I was one of those kids that did arts and crafts all the time. Making my barbies clothes, making Christmas trees out of folding the pages of a readers digest for hours and then spray painting it green, painting by numbers kits, etc. I starting real sewing in Jr. high on my moms old singer machine. I later discovered mom knew the basics of sewing but I needed more instruction than that.


In high school I took 4 years of sewing, and as a senior I made a winter coat and a men's suit jacket, welted pockets and all. I kind of wish I still had that jacket to see what i would think about the workmanship on it now! I pretty much sewed my own clothes and even made my prom dress and my brides maids dresses for my wedding. After all that I pretty much can read a pattern and learn to do it, just by doing it. I'm a visual learner so If I can see it it makes sense to me how it was constructed.


I know I am mainly a quilter because I always want to quilt, but I have to be in the right mood to do all the other crafts I like to do. I run a long-arm quilting and sewing business. It funds my sewing habit so as not to take money from our family budget. I try to keep the business part time so that I have time to sew my own stuff. I can tell the balance is out of whack if I'm missing my own projects.



MIDNIGHT QUILT STUDIO


Midnight Quilt Studio is in my unfinished basement and when I sew I mostly watch BBC (Downton Abbey, Doc Martin, Sherlock)  and some other t.v. series. I love my new wireless headphones- now I can hear the t.v. over the hum of my long arm.. No more dragging a cord around!


My customer work consists mainly of long arm quilting. Right now I'm doing a lot of twin size T-shirt quilts from start to finish, for high school graduates to take to college. It's a fun and memorable gift.


I also finish and repair old quilts. Some were found in an attic and needed some love, borders, quilting and binding. Some need totally repaired with new (but old looking) fabric to repair damage. Those quilts are a labor of love- I make very little money on them, but if that was my special family quilt and I didn't know how to fix it, I'd want someone to love on it as they fix it, so that is what I do.


Another part of the business is alterations. I used to do clothing alterations for a clothing store and ran a home alterations and sewing business. At one point I made 150 black choir robes for my daughter's high school. Now I try to made the alterations part a very small part of my business and do it to help out my friends, their friends, and their friends, and... try to get it to stop there.  Last year I altered  two wedding dresses, relined a winter jacket, a bunch of hems, replaced zippers... oh, how people are afraid of zippers!


I also have a group of older ladies ( 55-85) who come to my home and I give them small sewing and quilting help. One year we made a king size Block of the Month quilt just to learn. Now we bring a project to share and get help and ideas. I also design patterns when we can't find what we want. I love teaching women to know about the little helpful things that give them better results with their projects.Now my 20 + year old daughters have bought sewing machines and want to learn to sew. Of course, they want my skill level in just a few easy lessons that took me 40 years to acquire, but they'll figure out soon that it takes time.



MY PROJECTS


My own personal projects learn toward primitives, darker colors and applique, and I love to sit and piece a quilt. To listen to the hum of my machine zipping along at "rabbit" speed.  I do a quilt each year to keep me challenged. This year it is a Di Ford Quilt from Quilt Mania's Primarily Quilts book called Rotherfields Greys. It has lots of hexagons, which is a new technique for me. It is a 2 year Block of the Month club from Homestead Hearth in Mexico, MO. When I learned to applique I spent a whole year practicing different methods on one quilt to find out that "needle turn" is my method. It did take me a year to be comfortable and know what I was doing and not have to think so hard with each applique piece, but now I love applique. So stick with it! You develop skill with lots of practice, rarely on one project.


I also make a lot of baby quilts for my 12 grand kids. The rule is 1 for a baby shower gift, another when you turn one year old and then more if the kid asks. I try to keep a stack of them ready at all times.


Lest you think all I do is quilt, I occasionally do counted cross stitch and crochet, but only for smaller projects. I can knit and Erin says I am an experienced BEGINNER. I can read a pattern but forget how to do things that I don't do often enough. So I call Erin or get on youtube to see it done. I started a cardigan in Jan of 2013. I have the front and back done and two cuff up sleeves started with 4" on each one. I am learning to do the magic loop on these sleeves. I will then finish with a collar and front facing. The goal is to finish by Dec. 2014- two years for a cardigan... I'm okay with that.


I'm looking forward to sharing projects here and working with Erin on some new projects too. I'll share more next week!

Just a Few Changes...

If you visit the site directly, you've already seen... but I'm making some changes on the site, and I'm really excited about them.


1. I'm working on a re-design, so don't be alarmed if things are a bit shifty over the next few days. Since this is my side gig at the moment I unfortunately can't spend a bunch of hours on it in a row so I'll be working on it in the evenings (and maybe tomorrow afternoon if we end up with a large amount of snow and all or part of my teaching schedule cancels).


2. I'm making a name change to Midnight Fiber and Fabric Studio (and hopefully a URL change to match in the very near future). This name better describes what I'm doing in this space AND in real life at home. After all- most of my creative time is found late at night (hence midnight) and as I work on opportunities lately, the studio part is becoming more and more true. The most important part of the name change is...


3. My mom Sue is going to join me in posting in this space. She's a quilter and serious sewist- in fact, she's my go-to guru when I need help sorting out my sewing and machine issues I'm having. For now, she'll be posting on Thursdays and as she gets more comfortable in this space she will post more often. I'm excited to have her working with me on this project. Her aesthetic is quite different than mine, but very beautiful. I really value the opportunity to have different types of work shown here. I hope you will enjoy her work as much as I do.

And the most exciting part...

4. I am starting a podcast called Midnight Fiber and Fabric. This is something I've wanted to do for several months, so I'm jumping in with both feet. I signed up with Libsyn and everything is just about ready to go. The first episode will be available on Monday, February 10. I'll have show notes up on this site and I would really appreciate it if you would take a listen next week and let me know what you think.


I'm really excited about the new direction for the site and I am so grateful that this space is available to share creative work.

Would you vote?

:: I'm deep in planning for the next year in the studio and there are big changes ahead in schedule and format.

:: It leaves me with more time to be with my boys, to homeschool, to cook, to make things to live an intentional life.

:: So my mind is stuck thinking about time and how best to use what I have and it begs a thought...


:: Would you mind taking a moment to glance at my sidebar and letting me know what you like to read in this space? Would you mind clicking through from your reader for a moment to help me decide where my time is best spent in this space? You can select more than one option and I would greatly appreciate your time and thought.

Our Education Style

I am the queen of taking the parts of an idea that I know will work for me and my family and changing it to fit us exactly.

That's why you'll quickly find that my inspiration for our home education comes from a little bit of everywhere.

- Narration (Charlotte Mason)
- Work periods and presentations (Montessori)
- Individual-inspired projects (Project-based learning or Reggio Emilia)
- Main lesson books (Waldorf)
- Practical life work (Montessori)
- Copywork (Charlotte Mason)
- Unit studies (that aren't really unit studies)


All these pieces come together in a way that works well for us, and we change any part that ceases to be useful.


For quick definitions:

Daily work: This is the work we do every day, even when there is no currently active unit or project. It includes faith, memory work, phonics and math.

Math: our math "program" is comprised of 3 parts.

1. Gain a skill or continue work on the current skill. This is usually verbal I present a new skill Montessori- style and Ender has time to work with the material on his own. Not all of the math materials are the exact materials that the Montessori method calls for, but they use the same principle. We work on this skill each day until it is mastered, whether that is only 2 days or a few weeks. Sometimes this work will pogress into writing, but right now it is mostly manipulatives. I try to keep this time short(about 10 minutes) unless he'd like to work longer.

2. Math journal to review. Ender has 1 task each day in his math journal. I write the date and a prompt at the top of the page and he draws his response below. A prompt might be something like, "Draw 2 tall building and 2 short buildings. How many buildings are there all together?" This is a way to review skills he already has and also to encourage a bit of pencil work. Math journal time is probably his favorite portion of our daily work.

3. Active review. We also review 1-3 skills in active work each day. These are his choice a la Montessori and can include any work he's already learned. This work period lasts anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on his choices that day.


Unit: Our units are not units in the traditional sense of encompassing as many learning areas as possible. Our science units focus on the science topic and social studies units focus on social studies. If math, art, music, health or something else plays a part in the unit we certainly use it! I just don't bend over backwards trying to find some way to get an art lesson out of a human body study for example. Our units are not all-inclusive, but they do make connections with other subjects as they naturally occur.

Fresh Start

Hello again!

We're making a little switch from wordpress to blogger. I'll be working on moving posts over from the old blog to here in the next several weeks, but it will be quite a process after 2+ years in that place.

So why did we move? Well, blogger is a little more user-friendly for my particular set of technical skills and it offers a few features that I didn't have before.

So hang out a bit, get used to the new digs and let me know what you think!

A Few Notes

** I updated the About Us page for my own clarity. I needed to re-define what this blog's purpose is so that I use it the way I need to without unnecessary guilt.

** If you're interested in a new educational blog, Check out Amongst Lovely Things. I like her term "Relaxed Homeschooling". That's totally my intent.

** If you're hunting for Kara at Rockin' Granola she can no longer use her typepad account and has moved to blogger. You can find her new place here.

** If you're wondering where all the Montessori stuff went from this blog, I'll be honest with you. There's been very little "formal" education here. The grown-ups have been very stressed out busy with the end of the school year (Superman=finals, violingirl=scheduling for summer lessons) so the children have been busy digging in the dirt, visiting the zoo, creating "the longest train track EVER" and reading lots of books. Mama will be back to more organized things soon. Only two more weeks of school year lessons and then we're into a much lighter summer schedule!