They Had Me in Stitches

Last year Christian started school a week later than everyone else so all of the volunteer sign-up sheets had been filled out.  Mike and I ended up doing a handful of things for a couple of parties, but were never exactly in charge of anything.  I like it like that...I don't like to be in charge (you can imagine the consequences this has for parenting sometimes...), especially of collecting money or putting some big shindig together whether it's a party or a field day.

This year, however, we were around for the sign-up sheets.  Our names are on several lists, which is as it should be.  Do you know how much the first-graders love to have their mommies and daddies in the classroom?  Their little faces light up, radiant with joy that mom or dad has come to spend that time in the morning with their little boy or girl.  Christian's classroom has morning centers and his teacher this year loves for parents to come and help the kids out at the different learning areas.  It's a very hands-on, parent-involved, make-learning-fun environment.

So, on the sheets there are always blanks that get filled in quickly:  there are moms who love to organize the parties; there are parents who know they will be available to drive for field trips.  Then there are those spots that remain blank until the very end of the parent-teacher meeting, the spots no one particularly wants to take.  I noticed on one of the sheets that there was a spot such as this, an as-of-yet unclaimed responsibility.  It was called Friday Stitchery.

Mrs. C. also noticed this blank and brought it up to all of the parents at our meeting (before school started they had a little coffee for the parents to sign up and get familiar with the classroom and the curriculum).  We all looked at our feet, checked our nails, admired the maps and the White House poster.  I could feel my heart start to beat faster, and I knew, I just knew, that I was supposed to do that job. 

I can't say that I was initially overjoyed with this sudden and certain knowledge. 

I put my name on the list and decided I would stay after the meeting to make sure the teacher knew this was a tentative commitment (is there such a thing?).  I had a feeling, however, once you sign the sheet there is no going back.  Kind of like Mr. Anderson with that pill in The Matrix.  Well, I swallowed the pill.

I brought home the crate with all of the supplies from last year.  I looked through it, searching for instructions or any helpful info.  The teacher had made it very clear that while she loved for the kids to do the stitching, she had nothing to do with it.  Meaning her input was ZERO.  What I did know about stitchery was that each child worked on their own set of nine squares, stitching a basic outline on each one that would represent a different aspect of their school year.  For example, the outline of a triceratops for the dinosaur unit, or a Texas state flag for the unit on our state.  It was the responsibility of the Stitchery Mom to cut the fabric squares and get the designs onto the squares (think dot-to-dot, but with a needle) for the students to sew on.  In the crate I found embroidery hoops and leftover material, as well as thread from last year.  Needles were already in there.  But I saw no instructions about specifics.  How big were the squares supposed to be?  Was I supposed to use particular designs?

I called the mom who was in charge last year; we're friends.  I made her go out to dinner with me so I could pick her brain.  She told me about her experience, some of the things she did, but really what I was left with was that I could do whatever I wanted.  Oooh, the power went straight to my head!

I went ahead and bought new fabric; I was going to need 108 squares total.  (And somewhere along the way someone reminded me that there was a new student in the class which actually meant I would need 117 squares, but I think it will all turn out fine in the end.)  I got the first set of squares cut out, and then I went about the business of figuring out the design.  I thought it would be nice to start with one that reflected the Christian nature of their education, as well as one that hopefully pointed to the importance of their relationship with the Lord.  I looked up a couple of things online, and finally settled on a design that I thought was simple and meaningful.  I sent it to the parents to get opinions and everyone thought it was good.  I then began the process of marking the fabric with a water-washable pen...

I enjoyed this process.  It was therapeutic in a way, repeating that pattern over and over until all thirteen were done.  I began early in the day so it wasn't that late when I finished.  And getting to the end of the pile left me with a great feeling. 

Somehow I ended up with an extra one; it was providential, I suppose.  (Apparently, I'm crafty, but not so good with Math.)  I decided to experiment a little with the thread to see what might work the best. 

I tried doubling it, not doubling it, and also dividing the six strands in half.  I tried out different thicknesses in needles as well.  I was a little worried that if I took a square to the class that a grown-up had worked on the kids might think,"Oh, I can't do that!  That's so good."  I don't think I had anything to worry about!  (Maybe not so much on the crafty, either!)  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  The thread and needle combination that I used at first wasn't quite right.  But I finally got a combo that I thought would work well for them.

I put each of their squares in a Ziploc baggie...

and then realized that I wanted to put the squares in the embroidery hoops so that they could get started right away.  So, I did that, and got everything back in the crate, all the bags, all the thread, all the needles, and my camera!  I set it by the front door, where Christian's bag hung on the door knob, so we would be ready to go in the morning.

I have to confess, I didn't sleep very well last night.  I think there were lots of reasons (I never sleep well, actually), but I was so nervous about trying to teach all the kids what to do.  I don't remember my phone going off at all (it's my alarm)...I just remember sitting up all of a sudden, hearing Michaela upstairs, and saying out loud,"Oh no!"  I knew that I had slept right through the first day of stitchery.  I grabbed my phone and it said 7:16.  Phew!  It was all right.

I got Christian up, we all had breakfast, I even showered!  Mike stayed home with Eliana and Michaela went to Christian's class with me.  I grabbed up the crate and we arrived a couple of minutes early to class.  Mrs. C. said to us,"Well, there's the Stitchery Mom!  Christian, where is your bag?"  Well, of course we left his bag hanging on the door!  But I had the stitching stuff, darnit.  My sweet Michaela ran home and grabbed Christian's bag for him (we live very close to his school) and brought it back so he could turn in his homework.  And we all had a chuckle about my feeble mind.  I am getting older, you know.  My birthday is at the end of this month; I'll be turning the ripe old age of 35.  And believe me, I can feel it in my joints and in my bones.  I don't even want to talk about my gray hair. 

I was so grateful for the six other moms that showed up to help.  And they all thought I was amazing for having everything ready to go, for being so organized.  If everyone only knew how funny that is. 

EVERYONE, THAT IS VERY FUNNY! 

Between the moms, Michaela, and the two teachers in the class, all of the kids at least got a start.  There was a bit of pulling out of stitches, and redoing this and that line, and wrapping the thread all the way around the hoop, but overall I got the impression that things went well.  As they get used to the stitch (a backstitch) it will get easier.  At least, I hope that is true!  This is going to be a wonderful project for them, and something they will be able to take a lot of pride in.  I'm looking forward to working with them throughout the year and seeing them get closer and closer to their goal of a finished quilt.  Oh, I don't think I mentioned  that earlier.  The nine squares will be put together into a quilt that they will get to take home with them (probably after the summer); it will be pieced by a professional-someone who knows what they're doing.  I'm not that good! 

So, today we began the journey...and it was a great deal of fun!  I will say that I never knew sewing could make me sweat.

Comments

[Elaine]

Cool project. Way to go for listening to the little voice inside of you and volunteering for that job.

[J.R.]

GIrl, you are so organized! I am completely impressed! I have loved your comments on my blog. They totally warmed my heart and made me feel not so alone. I miss you. Please give the kids a huge hug. Umarmen as they say here. xoxo

[Mindee@ourfrontdoor]

I was so nervous for you when you told me about this project so I'm deLIGHTed to see how well it went! Wow! I wish I had a kid in that class because that's the only way they'd ever get to do a project like that.

[Jessica]

This is so neat. I loved reading about it! I can just imagine the finished project, even though you are just beginning. You will be awesome at this and I am proud of you! No small task, by the way!