Anticipation

I realised last week that I've never posted about the fact that I have a teaching job for this year. In October last year amongst the rush of exams and assignments, I had an interview and was offered a job at the school I went to for my second teaching placement. I was really pleased to have gotten a job at that school because I'd enjoyed my time there immensely and was impressed by the facilities and the supportive staff. My contract has been signed, my teacher registration finalised as of last week, and in about eight days I'll be introducing myself to my first class of year three children. I'm really excited and scared stiff at the same time. It's finally almost here - what I studied for so hard last year!

Last week I spent most days in my classroom (I love saying "my classroom"), setting up wall displays and deciding where the furniture will go. I thought the reading corner looked a little tired and needed jazzing up a bit, so I made some new floor-cushion covers with denim and some bright fabric from my stash.



Much nicer I think! This week's jobs are to finalise my planning so I'll be well-prepared on my first day and have no excuse to be nervous.

Triangle quilt

Remember this?


And this?


Well, it's finally, finally finished...


I explained the origins of this quilt here. The short version is that I bought some quilt pieces in an online auction and then decided to sew my first quilt without a pattern or a plan. Despite the wonky triangles and the uneven quilting, I'm pretty pleased with it, and the handmade-ness just adds to the character I reckon. It's been sitting waiting for me to find the perfect binding fabric for about (*ahem*) 6 months, but over the Christmas break I decided it needed to be finished right then and there, and so had to settle for the beige spot fabric I had in my stash. The binding is machine and hand-stitched and I used this great tutorial to create the mitred corners.



I had been considering using a vintage sheet to back it, but then I found a cute light blue floral on sale at Spotlight and thought it would work well with the rest of the fabrics. The white cotton is left over from our wedding eight years ago - we got married in a forest clearing in Rotorua, and I walked down an "aisle" of white cotton fabric. Now the cotton is in my craft stash to be used in special projects.



The finished size is around 1.2 by 1.4 metres. Perfect for keeping your legs warm while watching TV. And it's come in handy in the cold snap we've had over the last week or so in Wellington.

First harvest

Kale, spinach, baby beetroot and baby carrots from our vege garden.