It's been a while! I was so excited to share my blog link with Facebook friends...and then I apparently fell off the face of the Earth. But really I just got sick. I'm finally feeling better and feeling way behind on many of my regular habits, including blogging. I've also gotten behind on: running, my rec soccer team, work at school, my baking challenges, socializing with people, pretty much everything. So I'll probably have several posts in the next few weeks as I try to get caught up.
Since I've been sick at the exact same time that the world is freaking out over how it feels like fall (y'all), I've been making a lot of soup. My husband is not entirely a "soup person," and he also hasn't been sick, so I'm sure he is tired of it by now. But if I'm cooking and I'm in the mood for soup, well then by golly that's what I'm making. He'll make a bagel if he doesn't want to eat it, which just means more soup for me, so I won't complain. Here are some of the soups I've seen on Pinterest and made in the last month, with a little review of each.
Red Thai Curry Soup (from Amuse Your Bouche)
Rating: Make again with revisions
Review: Everything I wanted in a curry soup, and the red curry paste added a nice change in flavor from the traditional curry flavor. I wanted it to be spicier (thanks, sinuses) but didn't add anything to spice it up aside from the ingredients listed. Next time maybe I'll add some red pepper flakes.
Sausage, Spinach, and White Bean soup (from Damn Delicious)
Rating: Make again with revisions
Review: I like soups with beans and a little kick, and this fit both of those categories because I used hot sausage. My husband and I both agreed we didn't care for the celery in this soup. It just didn't really fit in. I also did not make this in the slow cooker, and instead made it on the stovetop and let it simmer for about an hour. I really like the idea of this soup, but would definitely leave out the celery next time
Cheddar Ale and Bratwurst Soup (from Baked by Rachel)
Rating: Make again
Review: This was SO delicious. Probably because I put extra cheddar in it. Or maybe because it was the beginning of October and the world was all "Oooh Fall! Ooooh Oktoberfest! Oooh pretzels!" I had made some pretzels for my baking challenge that week and with Bratwursts in the freezer, I just had to make this soup. We ate it with the pretzels instead of out of bread bowls. Hubs said this was definitely a winner, and I agree- the flavors were strong and combined well to make a hearty soup.
Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup (from Katie at the Kitchen Door)
Rating: Make again for me, not for Hubs
Review: I loved everything about this, but the texture of it was not something my husband enjoyed. He said it seemed like it should be a bisque instead of a "hearty" soup, and I agree. I might use a canned coconut milk next time, to thicken it a bit more, but having grown up on my mother's potato soup, the texture of this soup felt familiar and comfortable to me. The recipe suggested serving the soup with brown rice and lentils. I went with plain rice and lentils; didn't bother me one bit! Adding the orange juice is an interesting idea for this soup, and it gives it a surprising citrus after taste. This was excellent sick day soup.
Soups up next on my list:
- Chili, still deciding my favorite recipe
- Ribollita (from Erren's Kitchen)
- Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy noodle bowl, one of my all time favorites from Rachel Ray that I haven't made recently and I'm craving it again. My dad's wife made it at a family gathering several years ago and I've bookmarked that recipe and made it several times since then.
The "make again" rating system is something my husband and I use to avoid the debacle of having to say food we make is either not good or lying and saying that it is good even when we don't like it. He told me he was afraid he'd have to say everything I make is delicious, and then risk me continuing to make things that he hates. I felt the same way about when he is cooking, since he cooks less often (and I don't want to discourage it!). So if we don't like something the other one makes, we'll say "It's good, but not really a 'make again' good." No hurt feelings, all honest, and keeps us both looking for new things to make instead of eating the same things all the time.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Debunking Common Core Math
On Friday, after a long day of school where I had lost my voice, the internet had been out all day, it poured and the kids were stir crazy, I decided to "zone out" for a minute and check Facebook, to clear my brain and take a time out before getting some other work done. This was both a positive and negative choice. Positive because it inspired this post, which I believe is truly important and probably the only thing I have to say worth sharing at the moment. Negative because it did not give me a "time out," and instead put me in a foul mood. Why? Because people post things like this on Facebook, and it drives me crazy:
It drives me crazy to read so many people bashing Common Core, telling their kids it's not important, spreading viral posts with incorrect information, and worst of all, giving the public another reason to trash the teaching profession. It's exhausting to be a teacher, and it's even more exhausting to come home and see my social media overrun with comments about the "Satanic" Common Core. I fully believe that if you take away one thing from reading/glancing at/or "National Geographic"-style picture stalking my blog, it is the following:
There, I've said it. And in this post I'm going to tell you why it's true. I've learned that in order to change someone's opinion, you need to have authority. You'll read this with your own perspective, and maybe you'll think that I am full of it, so let me try and set the mood by telling you 3 reasons why I'm qualified to tell you what you should think about Common Core:
1. I am a teacher; I teach math to 7th and 8th graders. Specially, I am one of 4 Special Ed teachers at my school, and I work exclusively in inclusive math classrooms. I work with THE best team of Math teachers who are true experts in their field, who teach responsively to their students' performance (using myriad data), who care about the education of ALL of their students, and who do all of those things while being ethical, responsible, team players, and most of all, fun to work with. Therefore, we all enjoy our job, we take it seriously, and we perform our job requirements to the best of our abilities. Can you say that about you and your coworkers? Honestly? I can.
2. I have a Master's degree in Special Education (from a top 50 School of Education). "Special Education" is the art of educating those whom society labels "different," and who have qualified to meet the Federal guidelines for having a disability which affects their ability to access "typical" education. Part of my master's program was spent learning about all of these federal guidelines, regulations, and the legal paperwork that takes up a large part of my time at work. I take my job seriously because if I do not, I can cost my school district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention losing my job and teaching license. The other part of my master's program was learning how to teach the core content areas (Math, Reading, Writing) as well as adapt grade level work to meet the needs of students with varying disabilities. I took an entire class dedicated to learning to teach math using the Common Core.
3. I have read the Common Core. I've used it daily. I've used the extended standards as well, which are the Core standards broken down into their most basic pieces (for students with severe disabilities). I have taught Common Core Math Standards from Kindergarten to Grade 8 in my 4 years of teaching (including teaching summer math at a private school). I'm very familiar with it.
Hopefully by now you understand that I know what I'm talking about. No, I'm not saying you should take my word as Gospel, but I am suggesting that you should refrain from slamming anything I say until you've done your homework.
1. Common Core Math is a SET OF STANDARDS. Here's an example of a first grade math standard in Common Core: "Standard 1.NBT.2.A (NBT = Numbers in Base Ten) Students can understand that the two digits of a two digit number represent amounts of tens and ones." And that's what the whole of Common Core Math looks like! It is a list of COMMON standards, organized by the 5 principles of mathematics, which outline the skills students should have in order to have what is globally considered to be "an understanding of mathematical principles and processes." That's it! We use it in the US in order to make sure that students in the same grade levels in different states are learning the same material in their math classes. This also makes our federally mandated assessments more representative of how each state is performing, but that's an aside.
2. Common Core standards are NOT NEW. The standards were essentially developed in response to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) surveys done in the 1990s. The TIMSS done in the 1970's (which showed the US was performing VERY poorly in mathematics instruction) sparked a movement into researching and developing new methods of teaching in order to develop this mathematical understanding our country was lacking. By 1996, when the 1995 TIMSS results came out, the USA was STILL lacking. There were many countries outperforming us. We scored 13 points below the international average in math performance, and we trailed the leading countries by more than 100 points. We were the country pioneering computers, laptops, and the internet, and our math scores were completely non-competitive internationally. Our government and math education researchers got to work trying to find a way to shift mathematics education across the country. The Common Core standards were developed and educators continued the research to make sure the standards were relevant and appropriate. In the early 2000's, the standards were presented to the states as a way to improve their mathematics performance. The subliminal tagline included was that if states compelled teachers to teach to the standards, they would improve not only test scores, but individual student mathematical reasoning skills. This was over 10 years ago! The wave of parent outrage over not being able to help their students with homework, which has become commonplace in the media in the last 2 years, is NOT due to Common Core! Which brings me to my next point...
3. Nothing in Common Core says to teach using "new methods." The shift in curriculum and the reason that Common Core standards focus on concepts such as the above mentioned "numbers and operations in base ten" (which means adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using 10 as an anchor number) is to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts in order to more easily manipulate numbers and complete operations mentally instead of needing paper and pencil. The reason many adults can't help their children with this homework is likely because they are not competent in the understanding of the topics themselves. Yes, they learned the algorithm to add and subtract, but can you explain, using mathematical vocabulary and sound reasoning, what exactly you are doing when you "borrow" while using those algorithms? Do you know what an algorithm is? (An algorithm is simply a set of steps to follow to complete a process, by the way) The Common Core standards dictate that students should develop a deeper understanding of number sense, and yes, as education innovates and evolves in its practice, there are new methods developed for teaching these concepts. However, their sole purpose is conceptual understanding, not practical application. The Common Core does NOT dictate that students balance a checkbook using tenframes; in fact, it dictates that students learn the standard algorithms (or "old fashioned" way) of performing all operations. Instead of teaching first, and hoping conceptual understanding comes later, Common Core starts with the concepts and ends with the algorithms. Which isn't a crazy statement in the slightest! If you were a mechanic, wouldn't you start with understanding the parts of an engine before you learn the steps to repair one?
4. Lastly, I agree that some of the new methods may not be great methods for teaching these concepts. However, I'll repeat that Common Core does not mandate using any specific method to teach specific standards. New methods are typically distributed by school districts or district math coaches, who are not infallible, and who are absolutely able to fall under poor guidance. Individual teachers as well could be using bad methodology (can I call it math-odology? No?) because most districts forego training due to strict budgets. The previous school district I worked in adopted Common Core standards across all subjects (Did you know there's Common Core Language Arts too?? Surprise!) during my first year there and did zero training on Common Core standards or the vertical standards map (which is how the standards build from year to year) until the next school year! That's like me requiring a restaurant to abide by new health standards and then giving them the details of the standards a year later. That is what is ridiculous. Teachers should be able to explain Common Core to their parents, and supplement them with information that parents can use in order to be able to help their children with homework. If teachers aren't educated in the standards, though, well, no wonder parents are upset!
Blogs, like this one, exist to share opinions. Social media in general exists so that people can share their feelings, thoughts,medical concerns, and opinions. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I respect that, but just because teaching "seems like an easy job" and has a reputation of being the profession you choose "if you can't actually do anything" doesn't mean that people uneducated in education topics have the rights to rail so hard on a SET OF STANDARDS which guide instruction.
Get informed, people, before you rant. And PLEASE, cut your teachers some slack! They are superheros in the midst of some pretty crappy circumstances right now, and your rant about how they're failing your child, when actually they are giving your child a better understanding of concepts that you were deprived of learning, is the last thing they need to see at the end of a long day of TEACHING. Respect the teaching profession and engage in purposeful, forethought dialogue instead of hateful rants.
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| Source |
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| Source Don't even get me started on the grammatical error in the first image, which has gone viral and been on news shows. It should say "old fashioned" because it is past tense. Ugh. |
It drives me crazy to read so many people bashing Common Core, telling their kids it's not important, spreading viral posts with incorrect information, and worst of all, giving the public another reason to trash the teaching profession. It's exhausting to be a teacher, and it's even more exhausting to come home and see my social media overrun with comments about the "Satanic" Common Core. I fully believe that if you take away one thing from reading/glancing at/or "National Geographic"-style picture stalking my blog, it is the following:
Our society should not have a single problem with Common Core math.
("problem" pun intended)
There, I've said it. And in this post I'm going to tell you why it's true. I've learned that in order to change someone's opinion, you need to have authority. You'll read this with your own perspective, and maybe you'll think that I am full of it, so let me try and set the mood by telling you 3 reasons why I'm qualified to tell you what you should think about Common Core:
1. I am a teacher; I teach math to 7th and 8th graders. Specially, I am one of 4 Special Ed teachers at my school, and I work exclusively in inclusive math classrooms. I work with THE best team of Math teachers who are true experts in their field, who teach responsively to their students' performance (using myriad data), who care about the education of ALL of their students, and who do all of those things while being ethical, responsible, team players, and most of all, fun to work with. Therefore, we all enjoy our job, we take it seriously, and we perform our job requirements to the best of our abilities. Can you say that about you and your coworkers? Honestly? I can.
2. I have a Master's degree in Special Education (from a top 50 School of Education). "Special Education" is the art of educating those whom society labels "different," and who have qualified to meet the Federal guidelines for having a disability which affects their ability to access "typical" education. Part of my master's program was spent learning about all of these federal guidelines, regulations, and the legal paperwork that takes up a large part of my time at work. I take my job seriously because if I do not, I can cost my school district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention losing my job and teaching license. The other part of my master's program was learning how to teach the core content areas (Math, Reading, Writing) as well as adapt grade level work to meet the needs of students with varying disabilities. I took an entire class dedicated to learning to teach math using the Common Core.
3. I have read the Common Core. I've used it daily. I've used the extended standards as well, which are the Core standards broken down into their most basic pieces (for students with severe disabilities). I have taught Common Core Math Standards from Kindergarten to Grade 8 in my 4 years of teaching (including teaching summer math at a private school). I'm very familiar with it.
Hopefully by now you understand that I know what I'm talking about. No, I'm not saying you should take my word as Gospel, but I am suggesting that you should refrain from slamming anything I say until you've done your homework.
So, with my preface given, let's get into the reasons why no one should be complaining about Common Core Math.
2. Common Core standards are NOT NEW. The standards were essentially developed in response to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) surveys done in the 1990s. The TIMSS done in the 1970's (which showed the US was performing VERY poorly in mathematics instruction) sparked a movement into researching and developing new methods of teaching in order to develop this mathematical understanding our country was lacking. By 1996, when the 1995 TIMSS results came out, the USA was STILL lacking. There were many countries outperforming us. We scored 13 points below the international average in math performance, and we trailed the leading countries by more than 100 points. We were the country pioneering computers, laptops, and the internet, and our math scores were completely non-competitive internationally. Our government and math education researchers got to work trying to find a way to shift mathematics education across the country. The Common Core standards were developed and educators continued the research to make sure the standards were relevant and appropriate. In the early 2000's, the standards were presented to the states as a way to improve their mathematics performance. The subliminal tagline included was that if states compelled teachers to teach to the standards, they would improve not only test scores, but individual student mathematical reasoning skills. This was over 10 years ago! The wave of parent outrage over not being able to help their students with homework, which has become commonplace in the media in the last 2 years, is NOT due to Common Core! Which brings me to my next point...
3. Nothing in Common Core says to teach using "new methods." The shift in curriculum and the reason that Common Core standards focus on concepts such as the above mentioned "numbers and operations in base ten" (which means adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using 10 as an anchor number) is to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts in order to more easily manipulate numbers and complete operations mentally instead of needing paper and pencil. The reason many adults can't help their children with this homework is likely because they are not competent in the understanding of the topics themselves. Yes, they learned the algorithm to add and subtract, but can you explain, using mathematical vocabulary and sound reasoning, what exactly you are doing when you "borrow" while using those algorithms? Do you know what an algorithm is? (An algorithm is simply a set of steps to follow to complete a process, by the way) The Common Core standards dictate that students should develop a deeper understanding of number sense, and yes, as education innovates and evolves in its practice, there are new methods developed for teaching these concepts. However, their sole purpose is conceptual understanding, not practical application. The Common Core does NOT dictate that students balance a checkbook using tenframes; in fact, it dictates that students learn the standard algorithms (or "old fashioned" way) of performing all operations. Instead of teaching first, and hoping conceptual understanding comes later, Common Core starts with the concepts and ends with the algorithms. Which isn't a crazy statement in the slightest! If you were a mechanic, wouldn't you start with understanding the parts of an engine before you learn the steps to repair one?
4. Lastly, I agree that some of the new methods may not be great methods for teaching these concepts. However, I'll repeat that Common Core does not mandate using any specific method to teach specific standards. New methods are typically distributed by school districts or district math coaches, who are not infallible, and who are absolutely able to fall under poor guidance. Individual teachers as well could be using bad methodology (can I call it math-odology? No?) because most districts forego training due to strict budgets. The previous school district I worked in adopted Common Core standards across all subjects (Did you know there's Common Core Language Arts too?? Surprise!) during my first year there and did zero training on Common Core standards or the vertical standards map (which is how the standards build from year to year) until the next school year! That's like me requiring a restaurant to abide by new health standards and then giving them the details of the standards a year later. That is what is ridiculous. Teachers should be able to explain Common Core to their parents, and supplement them with information that parents can use in order to be able to help their children with homework. If teachers aren't educated in the standards, though, well, no wonder parents are upset!
Blogs, like this one, exist to share opinions. Social media in general exists so that people can share their feelings, thoughts,
Get informed, people, before you rant. And PLEASE, cut your teachers some slack! They are superheros in the midst of some pretty crappy circumstances right now, and your rant about how they're failing your child, when actually they are giving your child a better understanding of concepts that you were deprived of learning, is the last thing they need to see at the end of a long day of TEACHING. Respect the teaching profession and engage in purposeful, forethought dialogue instead of hateful rants.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
A Star Wars Birthday
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| The decal was a gift Hubs received at the party |
For inspiration, I (of course) turned to Pinterest. Good news? Pinterest is full of Star Wars party ideas. Bad news? They are all posts with titles like "For your 5 year old's birthday party!" and when I thought about how much work would go into some of the decorating ideas, for just a few hours of entertaining mid-20's PhD students, I had to turn away from Pinterest. I only took away one idea: I'd seen a "Pin the lightsaber on Yoda" game, and thought that would be fun, especially after some guests had enjoyed a drink or two. I was little bit over the lightsaber hype after my Pinterst excursion though, and wanted to change it up, so things got a little nerdy. I had to ask the hubs for clarification on vocabulary before I decided on the exact title, and we settled on "Pin the Superlaser Cannon on the Death Star." Also, a Death Star is easier to draw out on posterboard than Yoda, for sure. |
| The Spread. |
My next focus was obviously planning the food. We were having a later party so I just wanted to prep some snacks. I picked out of the cookbooks a few dips and a cookie recipe. The dips were fairly tasty, and I really liked the "Darth Maul Dip" which was actually roasted red peppers, garlic, and cream cheese all food processed. You then, of course, sprinkle poppy seeds on top over the mold of Darth Maul's face and add
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| Wookiee Cookies and cupcakes. From this party, I learned that Wookiee is, in fact, spelled with two "e"s at the end. Who know? |
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| Phone picture of the painting setup. You add vodka to the food coloring/gel, so that it dries faster when you paint it on the fondant. Just a little goes a long way! Other than that, it's just like painting with watercolors. |
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| Close up of the Yoda cupcake; I'm shamelessly proud of mixing the perfect Yoda-green on the first attempt. |
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| Adding a striped paper straw when serving is a way to make this a fancier drink! |
"Yoda Soda," or, the tastiest party drink
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Gallon of Lime Sherbet
- 2 Liters of Sprite
Directions:
Scoop out the lime sherbet into a pitcher or punch bowl. Fill the pitcher or bowl 1/4 to 1/2 full with scoops, not packing the scoops or trying to save space. You will need room at the top of your pitcher. Then pour Sprite over top. As you do, the soda will foam up. Pour the Sprite until the foam reaches just under the top of your pitcher or bowl. When the foam dies down, add a few more scoops of sherbet, and repeat adding Sprite and sherbet until you've mixed your desired amount of punch. Pour into glasses (or scoop out of punch bowl with a ladle) to serve.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Clip Show
My husband and I are Netflix "binge watching" all of the seasons of Malcolm in the Middle. We do this, during the school year; it's nice to have some time to snuggle up on the couch after a long day at work. Last fall we made it all the way through the Castle series, seasons 1-8! We may sound lazy, but we really only watch an episode at a time, and some evenings we won't end up watching due to other commitments. So really, I guess we don't "binge watch," we just become series monogamists? Maybe? Is that a thing?
Regardless, while watching Malcolm in the Middle, we rediscovered the lost TV art of the Clip Show. Aka, when you don't have material for a whole new episode but you have an episode spot in the season to fill, so you do a clip show of previously filmed stuff and make it a new episode that's sort of a flashback.
I have some new posts in my brain, but don't have the material juuuuust yet to write out those posts. So I'm doing a clip show of my own and sharing some old photos I took that are still entertaining to me. Here we go!
These are my mother's crazy dogs. She actually has more dogs than this, but at the time, I was taking random pictures with my then-new DSLR camera and happened to catch this mirror shot of all of them looking at the same thing. The mold on the mirror (it is a relic from my great-grandmother's house, and I believe it has been cleaned since) gave the image an antique-y feel, and I just laughed when I zoomed in and saw all of the dogs looking at the same thing! They are VERY energetic and crazy entities, so this moment of stillness was a rare occurrence. 
This is another of my mom's pets- she is a camera ham, she loves attention, and she loves naps in front of open windows. She was being very cute one day years and years ago, and looked right at me when I took the picture. This photo was taken at my childhood home. It was an old farmhouse without central heating or air conditioning. In the summer, the windows were always open. While we endured the heat, humidity, and suffered on the breeze-less nights, the cats were in heaven. Except of course for when they tried to swat at bugs outside the screens and then knocked the screen out and fell out the window, or just hit their faces on the screens. Cats may always land on their feet but I'm not convinced they're a very intelligent species...
Senior year of college some friends and I went camping during spring break. Wild and crazy, I know, but we were the kind of students who had spent all of our previous spring breaks on volunteer and mission trips. Plus, we were flat broke. I worked at the gym on campus and got discounts renting camping equipment. The four of us decided to venture out into wild and wonderful West Virginia and camped around the Blackwater Falls area. We hiked the Seneca Rocks area. It was early March, so everything was cold and icy, but starting to have that fresh Spring glow.
More pets...what can I say! I love capturing various animal expressions. This is a former roommate's dog, Bubba, who is unfortunately no longer with us. She left to explore Europe for a bit and I stayed home and hung out with Bubba. He was so depressed without her! He would lay around by the doors, sleep in her bed, and refuse to go outside unless I was going with him. I tried to spoil him with treats, trips to the dog park, and snuggles, but he was still downhearted. This picture captures his depression so well. I love it. I miss this guy!
This photo was from my grandparents' house one Christmas many years ago. I have not been back to visit them for many years, and I am deeply sad/sorry/regretful about that. Hopefully that changes soon, but for now I'll take the nostalgia of this photo. I had just gotten my DSLR that winter and I was trying out some of the editing and filtering.
There's nothing particularly exciting about this last picture, but it's really memorable for me. When I was in high school, I went on a field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, where we were supposed to complete a photo scavenger hunt. It was one of the best field trips I've ever gone on, as a student or teacher. We had certain requirements for the scavenger hunt, and it was exciting to see what each group had put together when we returned to school. I later attended college in Williamsburg, and while taking a random walk down DoG street one day, I remembered the photo I took for the scavenger hunt, and recreated it.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Indian Inspiration
The "India" challenge on my baking list was one I was really looking forward to completing. I think that Indian recipes are often so much simpler than what I often cook or bake. I love the aromatic spices of Indian culture and the flavors they produce! Another great attribute of Indian recipes is that they are often nearly-vegan to start with, so if you are adapting a recipe to fit certain food specifications (allergies, dietary needs), it's simple enough to find a recipe that will easily fit your needs.
These cookies I made, for example. They are called Nan Khatai cookies and I used the recipe found on Blend With Spices. The directions were clear and simple. The ingredients were few and readily available- the only catch was the Cardamom. I don't use cardamom often, so when I went to the store and saw that the tiny 3 ounce container was $15 I went on a mini rant to my husband in the middle of the baking aisle. He just looked at me like "uhh....." which is understandable. It's probably the same look I gave these two college girls once when they stopped me in the same baking aisle and asked me if they could just melt butterscotch chips and use it as salted caramel. Uhhhh....
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| My little jar of Cardamom |
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| Step 1: Mix dry ingredients. Step 2: Add wet ingredients |
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| Step 3: Drop onto cookie sheet |
Anyways, these cookies have a basic recipe with few ingredients. No refrigerating the dough, no extra steps needed- just mix, bake, and done. They tasted delicious! I might use less cardamom next time, because I found the taste to be a bit overpowering. However, the almonds on top help to smooth out the taste of the cardamom, so don't skip on the nuts if you make these!
I thought I'd blog the process of these cookies, you know, step by step style. I realized as I was uploading pictures that I took really boring and non-descriptive photos of the process. I also realized I need to edit the lighting in the photos because my kitchen has this one horrible fluorescent tube light and everything in the kitchen- cabinets, appliances, counters- are an off white color, so there is little natural looking light. When I take photos without flash, they come out a little dull. I could definitely have edited these photos and skipped this whole paragraph explaining myself, but I'd rather get the post up! I'm sure I'll regret that later...Enjoy for now!
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| And, voila! Cookies. |
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
T-Shirt quilt: Finally complete! (picture heavy post)
Here's a secret: I actually finished my T-Shirt quilt over a month ago. I've even used it twice since then. Sorry, y'all.
This is a special post- this blanket has been something I've wanted to complete for several years! I kept getting side-tracked, starting it then stopping, then starting again but forgetting what I was going to do, then having to redo things and oof! It was a very time consuming project. Every single step of it. I don't want to dissuade anyone from undertaking their own t-shirt quilt, but I will say this was a heifer of a project to undertake.
Things I learned
Or, how to avoid a disaster
1. I am not a quilter. Nope.
2. I rush through planning projects sometimes. This is not one of those things you can rush through! I learned that the hard way, more than once. Yikes.
3. Have a plan that you know you can follow. And keep it nearby for handy reference. I really should have printed out a plan at the start.
4. I have more skills than I thought when it comes to sewing! I also have fewer skills than I thought, as I learned from a few different points where I actually thought "UH. What is this tutorial even asking me to do?!" Oops.
5. Even if there are flaws, it still looks impressive once it's finished. People do NOT notice the things I do, like the lack of straight stitching, the pen marks I can still spot on some of the shirt fronts, my terribly tied knots between the layers...people only see this massive quilt and the shirts which make it up!
Resources for the T-Shirt-Quilt-Project(-That-Lasted-Forever-Because-of-Poor-Planning):
~Here is the website I should have followed the whole time. I found it AFTER I had already (poorly) cut my shirts and attached fusible. Most Unfortunate for me, but fortunately for you, I can save you that anguish.
Some Notes:
~ If you are a first timer, absolutely go with the "blanket as the batting, sheet as a back" suggestion. And if you are not a first timer, definitely do NOT try to put a square in the middle of the back of your quilt, even if the fabric is beautiful and you only have a square of it. It is not worth the trouble it takes to try and sew in a square between two single pieces of fabric and also be precise. Nope.
~Where the tutorial tells you to iron, don't think "Awwww heck, this fabric seems fine. Plus I hate ironing, so I'll just skip that step." It will not turn out well for you.
~You do use a lot of thread, but JoAnn Fabrics typically has spools (decently sized) of "quilting thread" that are 99 cents. I found the quality to be fairly sturdy!
~TAKE YOUR TIME doing the "math" parts. As a good friend's dad says, "Measure twice, cut once," or as I have adapted it "Measure quickly then cut once, and then do an hour of extra work for each hasty cut because you forgot about x, y, or z, ya dumb dumb."
Here are a few other tutorials which are thorough:
~ Cheap Chic Home
~ Sew Caroline (Part 1, there are 2 parts total)
~ Almost Casual
~ The Dixie Chicken (Part 1, there are 3 parts total)
I used some extra interfacing I had laying around, and unfortunately, it wrinkled in the dryer after I washed the quilt. You can see in the picture to the left how it has wrinkled; basically the interfacing disconnected from the shirt and bunched up underneath. When it is hot out of the dryer, I can sort of stretch it back out, but it stays pretty wrinkled. I have a few shirt backs like this. I didn't know that interfacing adhesive could go bad, but I suppose it did!
Video I used for the edge of the quilt (I did not do as much ironing/gluing, hence my non-straight lines)
You can sort of see the tiny yellow blob there, left of center in the picture to the left. That's one of the ties on the quilt, to hold the front and back together in the middle spaces of the quilt, so that it doesn't "bubble" out. These took a painstakingly long time, because I did them at/near each corner seam. I am not patient enough nor advanced enough to sew a quilting design into the quilt, so I went with the ties as a more practical option. I think it looks great, actually, and they are small enough that the bad ones are relatively hidden anyway. Wink!
Ta-da! What do you think? Is this a project you'd undertake? Or do you have a project that you've been putting off because you know it will take a lot of time?
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| Yes, that is a Harry Potter pillowcase in the background. |
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| Back of the quilt. The square in the middle was not a smart move, sewing wise. |
Things I learned
Or, how to avoid a disaster
1. I am not a quilter. Nope.
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| Front of the quilt! Yay! |
3. Have a plan that you know you can follow. And keep it nearby for handy reference. I really should have printed out a plan at the start.
4. I have more skills than I thought when it comes to sewing! I also have fewer skills than I thought, as I learned from a few different points where I actually thought "UH. What is this tutorial even asking me to do?!" Oops.
5. Even if there are flaws, it still looks impressive once it's finished. People do NOT notice the things I do, like the lack of straight stitching, the pen marks I can still spot on some of the shirt fronts, my terribly tied knots between the layers...people only see this massive quilt and the shirts which make it up!
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| Close up of the backing fabrics. Totally wrinkly. Sorry, guys. |
Resources for the T-Shirt-Quilt-Project(-That-Lasted-Forever-Because-of-Poor-Planning):
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| This is resting on a full size bed (ha, get it, resting?). |
Some Notes:
~ If you are a first timer, absolutely go with the "blanket as the batting, sheet as a back" suggestion. And if you are not a first timer, definitely do NOT try to put a square in the middle of the back of your quilt, even if the fabric is beautiful and you only have a square of it. It is not worth the trouble it takes to try and sew in a square between two single pieces of fabric and also be precise. Nope.~Where the tutorial tells you to iron, don't think "Awwww heck, this fabric seems fine. Plus I hate ironing, so I'll just skip that step." It will not turn out well for you.
~You do use a lot of thread, but JoAnn Fabrics typically has spools (decently sized) of "quilting thread" that are 99 cents. I found the quality to be fairly sturdy!
~TAKE YOUR TIME doing the "math" parts. As a good friend's dad says, "Measure twice, cut once," or as I have adapted it "Measure quickly then cut once, and then do an hour of extra work for each hasty cut because you forgot about x, y, or z, ya dumb dumb."Here are a few other tutorials which are thorough:
~ Cheap Chic Home
~ Sew Caroline (Part 1, there are 2 parts total)
~ Almost Casual
~ The Dixie Chicken (Part 1, there are 3 parts total)
I used some extra interfacing I had laying around, and unfortunately, it wrinkled in the dryer after I washed the quilt. You can see in the picture to the left how it has wrinkled; basically the interfacing disconnected from the shirt and bunched up underneath. When it is hot out of the dryer, I can sort of stretch it back out, but it stays pretty wrinkled. I have a few shirt backs like this. I didn't know that interfacing adhesive could go bad, but I suppose it did!
 |
| For the edge, I folded it all over twice and sewed to keep it in place. Not fancy, but also not super difficult! |
Video I used for the edge of the quilt (I did not do as much ironing/gluing, hence my non-straight lines)
 |
| More of the edge of the quilt |
You can sort of see the tiny yellow blob there, left of center in the picture to the left. That's one of the ties on the quilt, to hold the front and back together in the middle spaces of the quilt, so that it doesn't "bubble" out. These took a painstakingly long time, because I did them at/near each corner seam. I am not patient enough nor advanced enough to sew a quilting design into the quilt, so I went with the ties as a more practical option. I think it looks great, actually, and they are small enough that the bad ones are relatively hidden anyway. Wink!Ta-da! What do you think? Is this a project you'd undertake? Or do you have a project that you've been putting off because you know it will take a lot of time?
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| I seriously love this pattern. |
Monday, August 17, 2015
Tetris! (long post)
I have played a lot of Tetris in the last few weeks. But not the fun kind. This is the fun kind:
If you want to play the fun kind, feel free to download an app or go to www.freetetris.org. Those are great ideas. No, the Tetris I have been playing looks like this:
Moving is my least favorite thing...ever. Packing, sorting, getting rid of stuff, renting a moving truck, finding people to help out, and cleaning out the old place is enough work- but then you have to unpack! As much as I enjoy organizing things (it just makes life easier), I do not enjoy organizing a whole house/apartment. In as few days as possible. While living among boxes and chaos. Ugh!! I have gotten in the habit of calling it "Tetris" this go around because that's what it has felt like!
A small bit of backstory: We recently moved to a new apartment. We moved for a number of reasons, but I would be lying if I didn't tell you the biggest reason was saving some money on rent. Our old place was lovely and wonderful but rent had been going up steadily over the time we were there, and was going to go up again this fall, and we decided to look for a cheaper option. Due to all the timing of start/end dates on both leases, we had to move out of our last apartment and into our new apartment on the same day! I do not recommend that as it is the most exhausting process ever.
That being said, our move went fairly smoothly, as far as moving is concerned. I have a few tips to share that helped make it "rather efficient," to quote a family member.
Tip #1 Start thinking about it early. Knowing it would be a time sensitive matter, we began mentally preparing for it all weeks before the day arrived. 4 weeks out, I was starting to make lists of things we'd need to get done and brainstorm ways to make the process go smoothly. I used a note app on my phone for my lists, so that I could add to them whenever an idea came to me or I remembered something I wanted to add. What made the list? Some items I can recall were "email new place about getting key access," "ask landlord about cleaning requirements," and "clean out craft supplies before packing." This also helped me get an early jump on reserving our U-Haul. Our move in date was the most popular moving day in our area, and it is well known that even with a reservation, we could still have ended up without a truck on the day of. I also browsed Pinterest (search "moving tips") for some good ideas.
Tip #2 Follow up on reservations/requirements. The week before we moved, I called U-Haul place to make sure our reservation was still in place. I dropped a friendly "I know it will be a busy day for you all, but I will definitely be glad to know that the truck we've rented will be ready to go when we get there" and the 2 minute call reassured me that we'd be good to go. Aside from moving truck rental, we also followed up with our new landlords regarding documents needed before we could pick up our key, and our old landlords to know what needed to be done before moving out. All the paperwork was done 2 weeks before moving day, so we didn't have to continue worrying about the fine print.
Tip #3 Packing
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| Source. This person is not great at Tetris. |
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| New Drawer Tetris- Contact Paper Level Reached. |
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| Unpacking Tetris- Knick-Knack Level! |
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| Closet Tetris: Mastery Achieved; |
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| Unpacking Tetris- Mess Level Accomplished |
Moving is my least favorite thing...ever. Packing, sorting, getting rid of stuff, renting a moving truck, finding people to help out, and cleaning out the old place is enough work- but then you have to unpack! As much as I enjoy organizing things (it just makes life easier), I do not enjoy organizing a whole house/apartment. In as few days as possible. While living among boxes and chaos. Ugh!! I have gotten in the habit of calling it "Tetris" this go around because that's what it has felt like!
A small bit of backstory: We recently moved to a new apartment. We moved for a number of reasons, but I would be lying if I didn't tell you the biggest reason was saving some money on rent. Our old place was lovely and wonderful but rent had been going up steadily over the time we were there, and was going to go up again this fall, and we decided to look for a cheaper option. Due to all the timing of start/end dates on both leases, we had to move out of our last apartment and into our new apartment on the same day! I do not recommend that as it is the most exhausting process ever.
That being said, our move went fairly smoothly, as far as moving is concerned. I have a few tips to share that helped make it "rather efficient," to quote a family member.
Tip #1 Start thinking about it early. Knowing it would be a time sensitive matter, we began mentally preparing for it all weeks before the day arrived. 4 weeks out, I was starting to make lists of things we'd need to get done and brainstorm ways to make the process go smoothly. I used a note app on my phone for my lists, so that I could add to them whenever an idea came to me or I remembered something I wanted to add. What made the list? Some items I can recall were "email new place about getting key access," "ask landlord about cleaning requirements," and "clean out craft supplies before packing." This also helped me get an early jump on reserving our U-Haul. Our move in date was the most popular moving day in our area, and it is well known that even with a reservation, we could still have ended up without a truck on the day of. I also browsed Pinterest (search "moving tips") for some good ideas.
Tip #2 Follow up on reservations/requirements. The week before we moved, I called U-Haul place to make sure our reservation was still in place. I dropped a friendly "I know it will be a busy day for you all, but I will definitely be glad to know that the truck we've rented will be ready to go when we get there" and the 2 minute call reassured me that we'd be good to go. Aside from moving truck rental, we also followed up with our new landlords regarding documents needed before we could pick up our key, and our old landlords to know what needed to be done before moving out. All the paperwork was done 2 weeks before moving day, so we didn't have to continue worrying about the fine print.
Tip #3 Packing
- Go room to room. Start with lesser used rooms (i.e. guest room) as early as you can. For example, I was done crafting and with school stuff until after moving, so it was easy to start packing that a week ahead of time.
- Have a "done packing by this date" goal. Stick to it! Choose a room or part of a room (i.e. bookshelves, closet) to pack each day. Breaking it down makes it seem more "doable."
- Pack everything so you can easily carry it out. Don't just make piles! Use boxes, but also use things you already have: bags, purses, baskets, organizing crates, etc. You can get free boxes from many sources, so search that in your area before you buy boxes. On moving day, all we had to do was pick up and move our stuff, instead of gathering last minute items, odds and ends, etc. This was amazing because from start of loading the truck to emptying the last of our belongings, we were done in 4 hours!
- Label your boxes! It makes unpacking a lot less messy and chaotic. It's a pain to remember when you're "in the zone" packing but it really is extremely helpful.
- For fragile objects, use what you have to pack it securely. No need to buy bubble wrap when you can collect these for free- 4 weeks supply of plastic bags from grocery trips, 2 weeks worth of the Sunday newspaper, blankets, pillows, towels, etc. For every box of dishes, I put a blanket in the bottom of the box, wrapped dishes in newspaper or plastic bags, and then packed in the empty space with more blankets or towels. Nothing was broken during the move or the week of sitting in the boxes. Victory!
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| Source |
- For closet items, my favorite moving tip is this one -->
Cover your clothes in garbage bags and easily move them without having to pack them all. It makes unpacking pretty easy too! - Try to enjoy the packing- put on some good music, have a glass of wine, reward yourself with ice cream or a walk out in nice weather (which is great after being stuck inside)- whatever makes you feel better about having to pack.
Tip #4 Moving Day Arrives! Start early! We picked up our moving truck as early as we could- 7am. This assured the truck was still there (hadn't been taken by someone else) and also helped with our "out and in in one day" timeline. We started moving stuff into the truck by 7:30. If you're not using a moving truck, ignore all the truck related stuff.
- If you're moving into an apartment, check to see if you can pick up the key the afternoon before moving day. So you don't have to wait for the rental office to open, and can go in the night before and make sure it is good to go to move in (clean, do a walk through, etc).
- If you have help/friends, make sure to have water/sports drink/coffee aplenty. Also have enough for yourself. Hydration is important!
- Make sure you eat breakfast before you start. Have some snacks handy (make sure they are not packed!).
- Load the big items first, then pack around them in the truck. Tetris 101.
- When you unload the truck, move things into the room they'll most likely go when you unpack. This is why labeling is important! It prevents you having to move stuff around or search to find things once you're moved in.
- Take a few minutes to eat lunch. It will avoid "hangriness" later on. Well worth it.
- Keep the coffee/water flowing! Energy abounds!
As far as the rest of the moving process, well. It doesn't really need a lot of explaining. Cleaning the old place was cleaning, just when we were super tired. And unpacking has been playing Tetris, trying to get everything to fit just right! The only tip I have here is to get everything you want to put in a particular space together, and then start filling the space. You'll be able to easily see what you have left, and what space you have left, and you can adjust as you go, instead of after you've already hoped you were done.
That's what I've been busy doing instead of blogging! But overall, everything really did go smoothly. Except the washer and dryer, but that's a story for another day. They're hooked up and working fine now, so that is what matters.
Any tips to add? This was by far the largest move I've ever made, "stuff"-wise. We have a 2 bedroom place and it took two 17-foot truckloads. We didn't load the truck very full the first time, hoping to avoid breaking all the dishes we had packed, but because everything was ready to go and we were only moving a mile down the road, making a 2nd trip wasn't all that bad!
Any tips to add? This was by far the largest move I've ever made, "stuff"-wise. We have a 2 bedroom place and it took two 17-foot truckloads. We didn't load the truck very full the first time, hoping to avoid breaking all the dishes we had packed, but because everything was ready to go and we were only moving a mile down the road, making a 2nd trip wasn't all that bad!
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