Many of you may not be aware that I have gone back to teaching full time. Thus the intermittent posts here on my blog and few new additions on etsy.

 The events last week in Newtown, CT impacted me both as a mother and an educator. When I saw a posting on Facebook I knew I wanted to do this both with my kids at home as well as my students at school.

  A building has been designated to house the students from Sandy Hook Elementary School. They are in the process of transporting desks, chairs, supplies and so forth to this location. "The Snowflake Project" is a project for the Sandy Hook students who will return to school after the holidays. The idea is that students, friends and families create and decorate a snowflake. Members of the school will hang them in the hallways of the stark, new building where the Sandy Hook students will be returning. PLEASE NO WORDS! They just want a cheerful, happy, sparkly environment for the students entering the new building. Please pass on to anyone you think may want to participate. When you send your snowflakes, please include a note to tell where they are from (your school, class, town, etc) to display along with your snowflakes. You can send directly to the address below, and they will be given to the PTA. The Snowflake Project c/o Bonny Marsicano 22 Pine Tree Hill Road Newtown, CT 06470 Before mailing your snowflake, please take a moment to send a prayer, wish or happy thought to the children who will receive your snowflake. 

Martha Stewart has a nice tutorial here...
martha stewart tutorial

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

So... the oldest one came home yesterday and declared he wanted to cut his hair - the famous flow!

He has only had it cut one time at a real hair place - usually it is me and a pair of shears! I didn't think I could give him what he was looking for so we headed to Sports Clips....

I sniffed a little bit as the curls came off but it will be nice to see him without the baseball hat!

Wondering what the kids at school thought today?

heading a new direction

LQ-SVS From Kristen (gocksfrocks), originally uploaded by mamacjt.

I am obsessed with Modern Quilting - this is a mini I recently made for a swap group on flickr.

I also attended the first meeting of the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild - it was awesome!!!

In all it's glory!

, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

My awesome new soggy block pillow!

Crafty blackbirds soggy block swap on Flickr

, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

So.... I have participated in a few block swaps on Flickr but had yet to make a completed project. When I got my blocks back from the soggy block swap they seemed somehow more manageable so I laid them out in a slightly off center diamond and set to work stitching them together for a pillow topper! As I sewed it was fn to see the different places the blocks had originated....

24 states! 3 continents and 5 countries ! How cool is that.

My Baby turns 10!

My Baby turns 10!, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

where has the time gone? seems like yesterday that we were at the doctors office wondering when this baby was going to come...5 days late he made his appearance and on his dad's birthday to boot!

happy birthday Leo!

pincushion inspiration for flickr swap

pincushion inspiration for flickr swap, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

just joined my second swap on flickr - pincushions! found these for inspiration for my partner...can't wait to see what inspires the partner I get :)

mug rugs 013

mug rugs 013, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

Project Quilting.....

this week's challenge is inspired by barn quilts.

Your project must include at least one block that would make a great barn quilt.
Official barn quilts are usually 8 feet square, but you can make yours any size you choose.
The block can be manipulated and/or incorporated into a larger project, or it can stand on its own.
Both the block and the project must have a name. It is OK for the name of each to be the same, but it is not necessary.

so... I put on my thinking cap ... as usual, I could not make a regular quilt but had to "think outside the box" as Kim suggested....

I love barns and I love barn quilts but since we spend more of our near the lake I decided to put a nautical spin on my the barn quilt block in my design.

Name: Little Barn by the Beach
created in Rochester NY
size 18"x18"

I used the first letter of each of our names, K,P,L,E and the signal flags that represent each letter to create a "barn block"



I decided to make a wonky barn/house block incorporating the barn quilt on the front of the barn. I have long loved the wonky house blocks I have seen on flickr .... then I realized that I had 1 afternoon to get my project done as we were heading out of town for a long weekend! Originally I was going to make a small quit for the wall but as I played with colors and fabrics I decided this block would make a perfect pillow for my sons newly redecorated room! He is also my sailor so the signal flags are right up his alley!

I did not have my good machine with the walking foot to quilt this so the quilting was not as fancy as I might have tried but I had fun with it anyways! spikes for the grass, boards on the barn, shingles for the roof, swirls in the sky ....and best of all...he loves it!

project quilting season 3 - challenge 1

DSC_0088, originally uploaded by gock's frocks.

Project Quilting season 3 - challenge 1

"room with a view" - architectural challenge

Kristen Hallagan - Rochester, NY

so.... we were challenged this week to design a quilted entry with architectural inspiration. We were also encouraged to "think outside the box"....so, I attempted to do both!

I was inspired by this flickr photo
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/megan_evans/6663373857/in/faves-gocksfrocks/]
which got me thinking about the architectural element of lattices.... [http://www.flickr.com/photos/gocksfrocks/6691424257/in/photostream]

and.... I got thinking about the challenge to "think outside the box" which led me to design a piece that was quilted but not displayed as a traditional quilted piece might be but rather displayed in a large wooden hoop, as might be used for hand quilting.

I also wanted to incorporate some textural elements which led me to the 3D felted wool flowers that are "growing" on the lattice.

This challenge led to a little lose of sleep as I thought about how I wanted to approach it but in the end I was very pleased with what I came up with - though I think it will be quite different from most of the other entries!

enjoy!