Do you save your half square triangles ~ HST?

Whenever I sew half-square triangles, my frugal, obsessive compulsive nature can't bear to throw the tiny little pieces of triangle way.  There are a 1,001 things you can do with them; here are a few HST ideas on Pinterest.  Fabric is too expensive to throw away. 

It is time consuming to mark and sew both sides of your half square triangle.  I tried eye-balling them as I was sewing, but it was too difficult to sew in a straight line.  I finally drew a soft pencil line with a mechanical pencil.  It made sewing much easier.

If you're speed quilting, you probably won't want to mess with it (I'LL TAKE YOUR SCRAPS!!!) but if you have the time, go ahead and stitch the other side of your square, and you'll have a sweet little "saw-tooth" ready for a border or other scrappy blocks. 

These are my sewn, saved, tiny half square triangles on the left.  The triangles on the right are often garbage, tossed away.  What??  Look at all that expensive batik!  No way.  I'll use that up, thank you very much. 

Do you throw away the triangles or do you try to keep them and use them?

What other things can we do with our scraps.

Looking forward to hearing your scrap wisdom.

I hope you'll follow my blog.

Quilting is more fun when done with friends.

Be blessed and Be a blessing.



Read Aloud Tips for Busy Boys

For those of you who are homeschooling a free spirted, auditory learning boy

who can't sit still and loves art...

I highly recommend collecting Dover coloring books. 

We bought the good, expensive and WONDERFUL Prisma Colored Pencils.  He colors the beautiful illustrations in Dovers coloring books while I read.  Often, I'll have him color something appropriate for the subject matter we are studying. 

This has worked really well for us. 

He's a boy!  While we are reading aloud, I think it helps him to keep his hands busy

 with legos, crayons, cars, etc.  

Our rule is he can play with his things while I read,

but no sound effects.  :) 

I stop and let him narrate what I just read to make sure he is paying attention and he always is. 

He can sit and listen to me read for 6 hours straight (longer if my voice didn’t give out). I'm choosing my battles.  He will love reading again.  We cherish our sweet time on our down sofa with our two cats accompanying us as we read the world's great literature. He's only going to let me read to him for so long, so I'm soaking up all the time he'll give me right now.

The Read Aloud Handbook  is a helpful resource for families who read a loud. 

Does your night stand look like this, stacked high with books?
This photo always makes me laugh at myself.

What's your favorite read aloud book?

Looking forward to hearing from you?
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Texas, where even the cows are friendly

I sure do get to missin' Texas a lot. Both my sisters are there along with my little niece and nephew. My brother is there. My mama is there and my sweet mother-in-law is there. Our mothers are getting older and I don't like being away from them. Seems like we don't get home as much as we wanted. 

See, how can you not love a state where even the cows leave a friendly little sign

for all the nice people who drive by?

Is that a piece of litter I see in the right hand corner of the picture?  

Uh-oh Who messed with Texas???

This was taken around Tioga, TX a few miles from "home".  You know who is from Tioga, don't ya?  Gene Autry, of course.  :)   

I'm excited to hear your thoughts. The comment section is a friendly place. Really.  :)  

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Cats Love Homeschooling

Over the years, I've seen many photos of homeschoolers 

with their animals. 

We had a meaningful, hands-on Biology lesson 

when our cat Cassidy gave birth to 5 kittens. 

All the kittens like school.

Here is Katy meeting Mr. Darcy for the first time. 

 She's in love, like the rest of us.

(You can get Pride and Prejudice free for your Kindle)

Here is Moo, the narcoleptic, resting in the safe arms of a Math student.

Katy likes to help Daddy work.

What animals homeschool with you?
Cats make the most comfortable reading buddies.
It's like peas and carrots.  The two just belong together, right?

Share your story of homeschooling with your pets in the "amiable" comments section below.
We love to throw around amiable a lot.
It's such a pretty Jane Austen sort of word.  LOL

I would love for you to follow my blog.  We hope to grow.

Be blessed and Be a blessing. 

Moved to a New House

We just moved two weeks ago. This is our school room. School starts next Thursday. Guess I better hurry, huh? I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I tried to make it my sewing room, but got busted by my family. I'll have to stash my stash some where else. One thing I was really excited to find, after being packed away for a year, was our insect collection. Nothing was damaged and I never thought I would be so happy to see bugs! Now....where to put it????

You envy my mess, don't you?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts. The comment section is a friendly place. Really.  :)  

OH! And please follow our blog.  We want to grow!  

Cutting out a quilt

Pooh the Narcissist, won't allow me to cut out my new quilt. I push (gently remove) him off the table and he jumps right back up there to attack the ruler, fabric and rotary cutter. I think he wants to be a helper? It's driving me nuts, but he's so funny.  (quietly screams under breath)

Pooh loves Moda and I love Black Bird Designs. Together, Pooh and I make a great quilting team.  I love this sampler fabric.  I wish I had bought tons of it over the years.  It's an all time favorite, a classic. Something you can go back and visit again and again and know you'll feel the cotton between your fingers with a smile on your face.  

Do you sew with an animal partner?  Which animal makes the best pet for a sewing room? 

A cat or a dog?  

I'm excited to hear your thoughts. The comment section is a friendly place. Really.  :)  

OH! And please follow our blog.  We want to grow!  

Be Blessed.