Friday, March 31, 2017

Prom 2017 ~~ a BHS finish

Yes, it's that time, again. It also happens to be my last prom as a teacher as I plan to retire at the end of this school year. Actually, I bowed out gracefully for the most part. Some of the younger teachers agreed to help my co-cordinator but we couldn't afford to have that many teachers out of the classroom. 



That meant someone had to stay at school and help hold down the fort. I like the fort and decided to hold it down. Besides, prom is a big, really big job. My co-cordinator and friend really did not want to give it up. She's an art teacher who once asked me to consider opening a wedding consulting business together. Thankfully, we came to our senses right after the next prom. :) 



However, bowing out gracefully (or not) doesn't completely eliminate the chores. We needed ten 24" square table linens to add a bit of color on top of the gold table cloths.  



I love the look of the blue as part of the centerpieces, especially with the chairs accessories of black covers and gold bows. The tables are very elegant, which flows beautifully with the rest of the decorations.

Here are a few photos of the rest of the venue all dressed up and ready for the tuxedos, fancy dresses, and high heels. And let's not forget the nails, hair, facials, makeup and, in some cases, massages. Yes, you read it correctly. Not only do they throw after-parties, hire limos, cook breakfasts, they also get massages to relax before the big shindig! 


main backdrop for professional photographs

closeup of backdrop
above the dance floor

entry way

another area

props table
fun decorations in foyer

photo booth to take your own pics
take pictures while waiting in line









close up of table centerpieces
The teachers and students who worked to plan, clean, decorate, and clean some more are people with stamina and determination. It take a full week of building, painting, glittering, shopping and what-not. Then there are the kids. They have to be taught what to do and watched carefully so supplies are not wasted by accident. Once fabric or gossamer is cut the wrong length, well, you know how that goes. 

For the most part, however, they did a fabulous job and the entire Haas Auditorium is decorated and ready for beautiful girls on the arms of handsome young men. Plus, they learned about working toward a common goal with peers, following directions, and sticking with a project even when you're exhausted and want to give up. Some pretty good lessons for a bunch of 16-17 year olds, don't you agree?

Linking up with

Confessions of a Fabric Addict


After reading some of the comments, I decided to add the following to help everyone understand the enormity of the job. 
Putting on a prom here is like decorating for a wedding. Except it has to be done on half (a fourth?) of the budget! We live in a poor rural area, so kids can't afford to pay $250-300 for a ticket like they do in more affluent areas. We build decorations out of cardboard, foam board, gossamer, paint glitter and who knows what. That car in the foyer...started out as a piece of pink foam board for housing insulation. 

We also save everything and share/borrow decorations from other schools. One year we bought all of the decorations left from a wedding for a very low price (and helped to clean after the wedding). Another year a sister school gave us "the dancing couples"--we've call the three props that for several years now. Some of the white gossamer in these pictures was left over from last year.

It's amazing what can be done (and amassed) for a few thousand dollars when you're resourceful. But it takes lots of work and many workers: teachers to oversee and help students build props, students (who learn many skills that they are completly unaware of), adult chaperones during the dance, and teachers who are willing to take in displaced students because their regular teacher is decorating "at prom." It's a huge event because decorating takes so many hours, after-school for several days and during school for two. 

I chose to baby-sit during school so some of the younger teachers could work at the Haas. "Baby-sitting" as many as 40 kids for a couple of hours is work, but it doesn't require crawling on the floor or climbing ladders--that's a young teacher's job. Never the less, I still showed up for the after-school hours! And offered my sewing services. And was all in the business of brainstorming ideas. (See, you never really bow out completely.)

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Pin It Weekly #198

Happy Weekly! Here are a few things that I've pinned recently.

The Patchery Menagerie: The Last Bird:

I really like this art piece:

8 Nautical Map Decor Ideas by Anna Örnberg. Cover boxes..., lampshades, books, trays, building blocks and more: http://www.completely-coastal.com/2015/07/nautical-map-decor-ideas-by-anna-ornberg.html:

I have a couple of new followers: Ellzie Reidel is one. She has a Dear Jane board. All I can say is I'm not ready for Jane! 

THE MORRELL QUILT: 86" X 86"This beautiful quilt was reproduced by Di Ford, of Primarily Patchwork fame, from an original by Sarah Morrell in the 1840s.:

Sue's Dear Jane Quilt, quilted by Telene Jeffrey | Lady Jane Quilting.  100 plus hours of quilting, approx. 8000m thread.  The quilting was done on the white fabric only; she stitched in the ditch around all of the colored pieces:

this blog gives a tutorial for each block on this quilt - some of hte little blocks have up to 40 pieces!  Someday I would love to make a baby jane quilt!!

Jan Carr is another new follower. Her sewing board has well over 4,000 pins, some quilts, some sewing projects, and some 

I love how the quilting has changed this dresden plate into a sunflower:

giant rick rack in the binding - I love rick rack Tutorial

Idea for a Table Runner:

Fantastic old piece!:

That's this week's Weekly. 

Visit my Pinterest boards anytime at Fleur de Lis Quilts and Accessories--you'll find all manner of fun ideas, patterns, tutorials and QUILTS!


Sunday, March 26, 2017

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Preeti's Bird

So I have a wonderful bloggy friend. You may know her. She is the sweet Preeti of Sew Pretti Quilts. Not long ago she posted pictures and a story about a flimsy she had just finished. This quilt top has oh, 63 birds on it, but she had made 64. What to do with the extra? Mail it to a friend, of course! She's generous like that.


My mention that her top reminded me of my mom, who was a birder, was the impetus for the sweet mail. How sweet can a girl be? Apparently very. 



And there's more! Preeti included the left-over backing fabric. The cutest feathers ever a bird could want. I decided to take her idea and fly with it. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.) So tonight's Sunday Quilt Inspiration is birds. 


Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) sighted by stream in bushes by road on June 23, 2016: Sweet! A tiny blue bird perched on the very top of a small branch. Bird watching when older:

Silver Breasted Broadbill -- It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.:

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)                              …:

Lilac breasted roller, what a fabulous little guy. I will have to try to paint him.: Black naped Monarch - Thattekad. Kerala. India:

The Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae), also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Gould's finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird.:

Hope this beautiful guy comes back to my backyard in Oklahoma City.  Last summer I watched a male and female bring four babies to my feeder.: Have you heard ever seen the SONG"Collide by Howie Day"?   I have decorated this video and I will share song that is more famous, It I get response to you.  I need some SUGGESTION AND OPINION what is the quality of my work.  Your best opinion can help me to go ahead. You can check out.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV6G0s5lZJI:

From of the looks of these pretty little flyers, I like birds in blue and yellow colorings. However, these were just quickly grabbed, mostly based on the fact that the photos are more bird than background.  Now for a few bird quilts.

Grace and Favour: clothesline quilt - what a great use for orphan blocks!:

Doxstars Flight Drunkards Path Orange Peel Quilt by the bored zombie:

Free Bird Quilt Patterns | Quilting / Free Bird Quilt Patterns - Bing Images:

The Quilting Bee Quilt Shop, Ontario:

"The Birds" | Flickr - Photo Sharing!  I think this may just be the most adorable thing I have seen in awhile!!!!:

Bird Art Quilts.  Thread sketching over quilted improv pieced background, painted in with NeoColor II crayons:

Okay, I actually did one very small creative-ish thing over the holidays, which involved messing around with my passel o' vintage fabric scraps and my Cintiq. I used this cutesy birdie art on some ...: Love Birds Quilt - I haven't found a link or source for the pattern to this (yet) but I love the border edge.:

Birds and birdhouse quilt--I absolutely love it!!:

joe tulips quilts: birds.... instructions for bird block:

Birds of a Feather quilt pattern by JoAnn Hoffman for Accuquilt:

What a great way to use up scraps.

Anyone have a pattern for this baby quilt?  I keep coming across the image, but cannot locate a pattern for it.:

And there you are: some birds, some birds on quilts, and a bird from a friend. You can find these bird quilts and another 150 on my "bird, quilts" Pinterest board.  Thanks so very much, Preeti, for the block, the inspiration, and the reminder of my sweet momma. BTW, I've named the bird you sent Ellen, after my mom. As soon as it's finished, I'll share the block I plan -- hope? -- to make this week. 
 #fleurdelisquiltsonpinterest

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Hats Off, Hats On

Last weekend I decided to attempt a cloche hat. I've wanted one for quite a while despite the fact that I really don't look good in hats. I like hats. I have even been known to wear them. But wear them well? No, actually.
Exhibit A
There will be no Exhibit B.

The hat almost works. It's a little big, but it covers my head. I just don't like it as much as I thought I would. Mostly it's hot. 

I guess I'll have to wait until this business of the middle-aged heat wave finally passes. I had hoped 57 would be the magic number but apparently I have to get "upper" in age. 




Ah, I digress. Apologies. The cloche is my dream hat. Not the straw hats that I must wear in the Louisiana summer. Cloche hats are cute, sexy, and fun. Straws are utilitarian, sun fighers, blah if you will. 



I mean, who doesn't love a straw hat when the rays are hitting the part in your hair at 100 degrees? Ever had a sunburn on your head? The part-in-your-hair part of your head blisters. When the heat is that bad, the tops of your ears melt. Nothing short of a straw hat the size of a tree can handle that job. 


Preferably a well-worn, beaten up old straw hat. One with a string so you don't lose it when you pass out. Because in the South, passing out is the only thing you're allowed. God forbid that you whine a little (or a lot). 

Inside band and label
When the temps are 105 degrees, you are most likely sizzling on metal stadium seats. Trees don't grow in those kind of places; they have more sense than that. 



Southerners? Oh no, we don't have the sense of a tree. We go to little league games, Nascar races, football and soccer games and all manner of sit-on-a-hot-metal-seat events. Hats come in handy at those places. Hats and umbrellas. And sunscreen. Don't forget the sunscreen. Oh, and water. A towel to put on the seat. Yeah, that towel is pretty important to the hiney-end; no one wants a cooked hiney. 


Years ago (okay, many years) our boys were teenagers. They are athletes. As parents of three boys, we've bleachered every sport. In wind and rain, in sweltering sun and, once, in a November ice storm. The ice storm was bad. The August sun shining in my eyes at three in the afternoon--the bleachers absorbing heat all day long--was the absolute worst. 

Thank my lucky stars, I'd remembered my entire ensemble: a big red straw hat, a reflective silver umbrella, water, sunscreen and towel. I was the only momma in the stands. (Really. It was a scrimmage and some distance from home.) I did pass out (it's a requirement, remember?) during which time, my ears and eyelids melted Soon after, the seat of my pants burst into flames. Yep, I got a little hot but a big red hat saved my life. Too bad it couldn't save my toosh.