Didn't we have a nice conversation about jelly rolls and sources for patterns and books to instruct us how to use them? Thank you so much to everyone who chimed in to mention their favorites.
As far as I am concerned, I am flabbergasted that I neglected to mention Kim Brackett and her amazing books that offer extraordinary patterns for using 2 1/2" strips. I own two of Kim's books and have made at least three quilts from them. Her designs are innovative and interesting and come with extremely clear instructions. I love Kim's books and am embarrassed they didn't come to mind first!
I also own a Moda book called "On A Roll", which I admit I haven't used, but upon further examination has wonderful designs by well known Moda designers who use 2 1/2" strips to make beautiful quilt designs.
This is a new pattern I got recently, and it does call for a jelly roll. I bought yardage, not a jelly roll, so it remains to be seen if I will be making the entire quilt as shown. I may shorten it up considerably and make a table runner out of it. It would be striking at Christmas with a nice floral arrangement in the center section.
The Pattern Basket patterns are excellent for using pre-cuts. Layer cakes seem to be the pre-cut of choice for many of the patterns, but so many of them do work with jelly rolls. I did order several for immediate download, but my printer is on the fritz, so I could not print them out to show you. Check out the website for yourself.
This has been a week and a half, and it is only Tuesday as I write this. We are getting started with the year's homeschooling materials and routine. To be honest, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. Everything is new and different. We stopped by the charter school which is monitoring Eva's homeschool progress for the year and came home with a Chromebook (which isn't working) and about 80 pounds of textbooks and teacher manuals.
Eva has to be pre-tested to assess her math level. We just stuck our toe in and did less than five minutes of the pre-test and had to stop. Eva knows her addition and subtraction and is pretty good with multiplication and division, but this assessment was a speed test! Eva had about six seconds to come up with her answer to each simple addition problem and completely froze up when she had to respond. I felt so sorry for her! She was a total deer in the headlights. "8 plus 3"? "Uhhh..." It was a disaster.
We stopped the test and I made flashcards and we worked on speed answers. We will see how it goes!
Anyway, things are kind of hectic around here, and there is definitely no sewing happening.
Thanks for all your wonderful participation in the comments! You all are carrying the blog for me right now!
I was going to mention Kim Brackett as her books are great for 2-1/2" piecing although I don't buy jelly rolls just for her quilts. I have made 6 versions of Nova which is about my favorite, the best of which was with William Morris fabric. I think I've made about 30 quilts from her books.
Not sure about school and our youngsters, but my two professional children seem to have their hands full with one child. They also have a nanny who was a gradeschool teacher and is filling the role with the school work and office work as well. But you know Mom and Dad are working at home too, and have calls and conferences for which they can't be interrupted in their respective offices. It's a lot going on. I think we are in for small charter schools administered out of all those expensive schools we have built over the years, but carried out at home. I'm sure you and Eva will be a good team.
Posted by: Stephani in N. TX | August 12, 2020 at 06:28 AM
Yesterday, I had started to write that I've made lots of quilts with jelly rolls, but as I looked around my place, I found that I've been using layer cakes much more lately. Some are patterns specifically calling for a layer cake and some are patterns where I've adapted a layer cake to work. I like that the 10" square can be cut into 4 charm squares, although I have yet to do it!
Villa Rosa designs have lots of patterns for simple quilts made with precuts, including jelly rolls.
I'm sure that once Eva gets over the anxiety of snap answers, she'll do fine and you'll get into a routine for getting the schoolwork done. How lucky she is that you're doing this with her.
Posted by: Donna | August 12, 2020 at 06:39 AM
You have your hands full and then some right now. Take good care of yourself! I think once you get the routine in place it will get easier for both of you! Crazy times and hopefully it will calm down soon.
Mary
Posted by: Mary Kastner | August 12, 2020 at 07:06 AM
Flash cards are tried & true to gain confidence in skills of all sorts. Great solution to the speed test dilemma! That's frustrating to come home with a Chrome that doesn't work right off the bat. You will both get your rhythm & a routine soon. Eva is so lucky to have a grandma who will stick with her through this strange time! Stay well!
Posted by: Jan | August 12, 2020 at 07:16 AM
let the school nightmares for adults begin !! so sorry to learn that even with homeschooling there isn't consideration given to kiddos who don't test well under pressure. god bless the kiddos with anxiety or learning disabilities. why does it have to be so difficult to provide an education?!?
Posted by: kit | August 12, 2020 at 09:03 AM
I homeschooled my daughter, and she froze with timed tests as well. It was the pressure of being timed. So we practiced timed test without the timer. She got comfortable with the style of a timed test (available free online). Then we did the tests with the timer set much longer than she needed, and when she completed with lots of time left over, she felt successful. Eventually we did the real test and she did great!
Posted by: Julie Stellingwerff | August 12, 2020 at 09:30 AM
My only advice about Eva and homeschooling is too remind yourself and her that it is all going to be okay. Be gentle with yourself. Change is hard but it eventually leads to wonderful new things.
Many hugs to you both.
Posted by: Ina | August 12, 2020 at 09:37 AM
I sympathise with what you and poor Eva are going through with homeschooling but you can be sure it will work out and be ok. In Scotland our schools went back today with a little anxiety from teachers,parents and pupils alike.
Posted by: Lesley Duncan | August 12, 2020 at 10:04 AM
I think practice will definitely help her and you might want to try some relaxation techniques too. See if she's just anxious about the timing or is it all tests. Lots of kids get nervous at the mention of an quiz or test (including me), even if she knows the answer. Giving her some breathing or relaxing exercises to do will help her throughout her academic career. I can't believe they're even timing her! They stopped doing that in our district.
Posted by: Anita | August 13, 2020 at 10:12 AM