Going for the gold! Someday....

My Daughter just finished her first season on the Roudnebush Gymnastics team.

And what a year it was, up early for Saturday meets check in at 8 a.m. (she is not an early bird).

I can't tell you how many backhand spring she has done this year TNTC ( like bacteria it is Too Numerous To Count). I always joke that I am going to try it too. She had fun, won many metals and had a great time. Look out next year here we come.

Hanky Panky?

Got your attention didn't I.

Well it is not what you think, but don't stop reading.

Over many years I have come to be the proud owner of a very large number of handkerchiefs. I have many of my Grandmother's, my Aunt Ruth's and my Grandfather's handkerchiefs. My Grandparent's hankies have tucked away and out of site for many years. As I was cleaning at my Mom's, I bumped some more and I thought there should be something I could do with them...but what. Aunt Ruth's have come to me recently, so my hanky collection is growing. We all have mementos of those we love and the thought of hiding them away didn't seem right.

I have a good friend Kristy Medina who has a degree in Textiles and she has just started her own show on local cable call It's Easy Being Green, where she stresses the four R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Re-purpose. She asked me to be a guest and I knew right away that she could help me with my handkerchiefs. Check out her blog- textiles 4 you and a video clip of our show.

After a brief meeting with her to show her my hanky stash. I had some ideas... Valences, Tablecloths and Quilts... Oh My! Can I handle the pressure of getting some of these ideas in motion for the show. Well the first thing I did is to send all the hankies I might use through the wash, then I ironed them and pick out a few favorites.

My first idea was to choose 3 and turn them on point, I thought this would make a great valence.

I found one with a Red R on it and 2 that had lily of the valley on them and voila a few stitches and I have a new valence hanging in my kitchen window.

Now for Pappa's hankies what on earth can I do with these masculine plaid hankies. We'll Kristy suggested I lay them out on the floor in a pattern and take a photo of them and this is what I came up with after looking at many arrangements and an afternoon in front of my sewing machine TaDa a tablecloth! You have to be careful of how you sew the edges since the hankies edges are bound. I used and overlap method and a zigzag stitch. I am thinking of putting a border on it but haven't found the right fabric yet.

After looking at all the shapes the sizes, edges, and colors of the remaining hankies, I made a decision; I decided to find the biggest one and add 2" to each side (this came to a 20 1/2" square). While out shopping at a discount store I bought a queen size sheet for ~$6 this would be perfect for my project. I cut it into 20 1/2" squares and folded in in quarters to find the center. I chose a hanky and folded it in quarters as well. Then I pinned both centers together.

I will probably handstitch the hankies to the square.

I picked out a few of my favorites, but still have some decisions to make: how big is the quilt to be, what colors should I choose and should I add sashing?

On Friday I was a guest on Kristy's show, it went very well and it was a lot of fun.

What mementos do you have around the house you'd like to show off?

Story Box Program

Do you have a story you would like to share with your community or with the greater world?

I was able to bring this great program to the MacKay Library, The Story Box Project, was founded by Kevin Cordi an Academic Storyteller at Ohio State University.

We will be collecting your original stories, the MacKay Library. The stories can come from almost anywhere; it could be a folk tale, a fairy tale, a true story, or a childhood memory.

Here in Chelmsford we have had many ice storm stories that you could share.

If you have a story -

Write it down, type it up, or record your story then drop it off.

Click here submitt your story online.

Our Stories and the Story Box will be traveling around New England, the next stop the Amesbury Library.

Old Town Hall: What was can be again 2009

Click here to see North Town Hall: What was can be again

This is a short documentary about the North Town Hall in Chelmsford, MA.

Please join us for a breif tour, a bit of oral history of what it was, and the hopes and dreams of what it can be again.

A Must Read, Madapple by Christina Meldrum

This is a great book for older teens and adults alike.

If you like court room drama, botany, religon, and mythology you are going to love this book.

I am not going to tell you too much, because I want you to read it.

This is her first novel, I can't wait for the next.

World Storytelling Day 2009

We Celebrated World Storytelling Day, with the After School Storytelling Club

The Super Sonic Celtic Guinea Pigs of Awesomeness!

Ten storytellers ranging in age from 8 to 12 years old preformed 

Stories for All Ages

We have been working very hard and eating lots of popcorn while we explore the art of storytelling.  We spent about 8 weeks having fun learning about story.  This was the first public performance for about half of the kids who participated, the other half have been telling stories for ~ a year.  We heard everything from the "Shepherd and the Wolf" to the "Coffin That Wouldn't Stop".  Everyone did a fantastic job!  We had about 40 in the audience.  It was wonderful to have such a great turnout, of family,  friends and storytime kids.

Thank you all to a job well done!

Remember Friday March 20th is World Storytelling Day, have you told someone a story today?

We did it!

Community Center Here We Come!

Our campaign to save the old town hall was a success, they have given us till 2011 to create a viable community center.

I am currently working on collecting oral histories of our neighborhood and finding a treasure of stories. Hopefully I will be able to up load my movie when it is complete.