Fabric vs. School

August is always a whirlwind as we report back to school, but this one especially so.  Due to a summer project of asbestos removal from my school, everything from my classroom was boxed up by the last day.  A healthy 49 boxes plus classroom furniture.  I think I was avoiding thinking about the fact that it would all need to be unpacked in August.

Construction completed, our school opened two days before teachers were to report back for an in-service week.  I attended all in-service activities and spent an extra 43 hours setting up my room.  Not a healthy state of mind to walk into a classroom of kids so utterly exhausted.  In that depleted state, I embraced the first cold germ to enter my room and endured a head cold that first week as well.

Needless to say, that was the one week of the year that I did not touch a single fabric project.  Survival mode!

During that first miserable week, ray of sunshine.  I walked into my room after an afternoon meeting to find that one of my sweet freshmen from last year left a small package on my desk, filled with sweet gifts of stickers and tea bags and a request to be my pen pal this year since she was no longer in my class.  

That's the thing about this teaching gig.  It is filled with heartwarming and wonderful moments like this.

So I decided I was going to stitch her a little zippered bag.

I meandered through Pinterest to find some heart blocks.  None really fit the image in my head, so I modified a bit.  

Same with the zipper.  I looked at a variety of patterns and then smooshed the ideas into one.  Not the easiest process, and I definitely realize that I need to follow a pattern before I take on another zipper challenge.

But...good enough!  The dark fabric was quite forgiving.

Note to self:  if I try this again, add an extra border to the sides so the heart will stand out more clearly. 

But, I was happy with the end results.  Perfect size for a bag of Skittles!  And, it gave me a chance to reconnect with my sewing machine even though the busy school schedule is heading towards all consuming.  

I have resorted to lunch time EEP stitching with my Patchwork of the Crosses blocks to keep my head in the crafty game.  More to come on that endeavor.