Pegasus Quilt Wall Hanging

This pegasus quilt wall hanging is in memory of my father, Stephen A. Chinderle, or as most people knew him by his nickname...SAC. It's hard to believe he has been gone 6 years today. I often wonder what he would ask me to sew him if he were still alive since I didn't sew back then. So, my wonderings led me to this project in his memory.

A few months before my father passed away, he asked my grandmother to make 30 of these ceramic pegasus figurines for the friends he worked with at Mobil Oil Corporation, actually now ExxonMobil. Unfortunately, he died before my grandmother could give them to him. You can imagine how heartbreaking this felt to look at all of these figurines and wonder exactly what my dad wanted to do with them.

Of course, he wanted one in his daughter's sewing room! ;-) My dad loved the pegasus image and the color red. I know he would have asked me to make something with those two elements.

So, here it is! A perfect (well maybe not totally perfect) pegasus quilt wall hanging! I had a great time reminiscing about my father while I sewed this together. I was reliving and appreciating the good times!

And I was smiling while working on my free-motion quilting!

Thank goodness for Skype! My family and friends who live back home helped design the format for the back. I'm positive that was my dad's touch. On a side note, this was the perfect application of a math standard (communicate mathematical ideas using multiple representations and language) as my family was forced to describe where and how to move the half-square triangles without touching them!

All in all, I'll probably always feel like my dad was taken from us too soon, but then again, I'll always appreciate the 23 years of life we did get to spend together.  I know he's smiling down from Heaven!

"Flow Zone" Block of the Month: April

It's time for April's Block of the Month! This month was Karen's choice, and she has selected the...

*Double Monkey Wrench*

Karen has introduced a new element to the fun...half-square triangles! Yay!

Click here for the block instructions.

I can't wait to see the photos of your magnificent blocks in the Flickr group. Don't forget that you can comment on the photos, too!

Also, the group is going to have its 1st happy hour! We will meet at JT's in Cedar Park on April 24th at 5:00. Hope you can make it!

Here's my finished April block:

Fabric Bookmarks

I love a good bookmark. I also love that I had a perfect reason to make some this month! :-) 

The LISD math team was published in the ATPE (Association of Texas Professional Educators) News magazine! This quarterly magazine goes out to 110,000 educators across the state of Texas. You can imagine the grin on my face when I saw our article.  In fact, I knew this 2-page feature had to be sent to my mother and two grandmothers. 

Thank you, Carol and Doug Rogers, for making sure that I had multiple copies for my loved ones.

Of course, these magazines are now equipped with a 'Bettina Danger Bookmark' so everyone can quickly turn to page eight!

And yes, the bookmark is complete with a Bettina Danger logo affixed to the side for good luck!

Don't you think a handmade bookmark is a sweet way to feature something special?!

Next time you send or gift a book, magazine or journal...don't forget the bookmark!

Free-Motion Quilting at QuiltCon

A few weeks ago, I attended QuiltCon, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild, at the Austin Convention Center. I could only attend on Saturday but that's better than nothing, right?! On another note, I wish I had more photos to share of the QuiltCon event, but I washed my cell phone yesterday with my jeans. Opps! That's what happens when you procrastinate on getting a blog post up. 

Regardless, I attended Elizabeth Hartman's 'Free-Motion Quilting on a Home Machine' class and here are some photos of the sample swatches that I quilted as I transferred my learning:

I still can't stop reflecting on what a wonderful learning experience I had that day. Elizabeth is amazing. She gave several mini-lessons throughout the workshop, gave the students time to practice and apply new learning after the mini-lessons, walked around giving individual descriptive feedback, and recognized that everyone was at varying levels of understanding in regards to the topic. Differentiation was addressed by her simply giving permission to spend more time on designs that we felt we needed to practice on more. All of that, and she didn't even have a handout! See, who needs a worksheet! ;-) In all seriousness, learning how to sew has become an incredible model of learning in my eyes. Even at this workshop, my intrinsic motivation was high as I left the class with my performance of understanding...

Eventually, I'm going to have to do something fun with this practice piece!

Lastly, I was unable to attend the lectures at QuiltCon, but then I discovered that you can watch some of them on Craftsy for FREE! Now you can enjoy these amazing lectures snuggling next to your kitty and eating popcorn! *Purespringbreakawesomeness* Seriously, check 'em out!

Now, I am off to put one of these free-motion designs to use! Happy SXSW and Spring Break everyone! If you are downtown on Saturday, Henry (Henry + The Invisibles) is playing at the Tiniest Bar in Texas and Wuwufest on 7th and Onion. Hope to see you out and about! :)