Because we have started summer vacation, I am on a very minimum teaching schedule. I sort of leave it up to the kids to decide if they want to do English or take the month and a half off. Most of the kids (and parents) opt for taking the summer off (so that means I haven't seen some kids since the beginning of June) but I had two girls that said they wanted to come.
These two don't actually SAY anything. They are two of the students from one class that I disbanded because I got so little reaction and participation out of any of them. The two girls (and a boy) came back in tears and said they really wanted to continue English (I couldn't believe my ears!) and they've been coming for another year now. Not much better in the participation department but I've decided not to force them and maybe I can influence them positively anyway. Talk about dead-pan. These two girls never smile, never take the initiative in ANYTHING! I don't even think they LIKE me!
But they said they wanted to come on Thursday so I told their parents that was fine but we wouldn't be working in the book (and leaving the boy behind... he can't come). Instead we would be sewing.
I racked my brain trying to think of a good sewing activity and in the end we never did sewing, we did "collaging"! I got out my bright fabric and my Happy Villages book and directed them on cutting fabric shapes, placing them on batting and then adding decorative roofs, doors, windows and stairways. Most of the work was done in silence and they declined any snacks I offered them but they actually worked away about three hours.
Friday morning I machine quilted the collages for the girls. I figured that since I was still very unsure of my freehand quilting skills, that I couldn't just put a couple of pre-teenage girls who have never used a sewing machine in front of a quilting foot and say "Go".Actually the next step is to put binding on these. So far the girls haven't done any sewing on our sewing activity. But while they might be able to sew binding on with the sewing machine, how about hand stitching the mitered corners? And the hand sewing itself is a long boring job... And these girls aren't going to chat with me while they do it... The book calls for putting the collages on felt and hiding the raw edges with rick rack but I can't find felt this large.
What would you do? Piece together some squares of felt? Pink the edges and leave it? Teach the girls the fundamentals of sewing on binding (three more hours of silent handwork?) Do it for them and start another project? Maybe piecing?I've got til Thursday to decide my next step...
15 comments:
try cutting a large mat to frame them out of bristol/poster board, and then mounting them?
oh how awkward!!! I have no problem with working alongside in silence for hours with one of your friends, but I think this three hours would unnerve me... I wouldn't make a good teacher: I'd pinch them to see if they could react, opposite of WOULDN'T! lol! or restore to letting out a howl just to break the silence!
Oy. Well, how about a knife-edge binding? There are no mitered corners. You can do a strip for each side. I'll see if I can find the link for the tutorial. I tried it and was VERY pleased with the result. It would involve the sewing machine, but it's a lot faster - and the hand-stitching on the back is faster and easier too, since there are no mitered corners, just folded under.
On some level, Tanya, I think they DO like you. Or they wouldn't have said they wanted to keep coming. But the lack of reaction would drive me out of my mind.
Found it. Here's the tute:
http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/knife-edge-binding/
Let me know if the link doesn't work.
I think I'd cut a binding, sew it on the front side and let them hand stitch to the back however they are able with your encouragement. A little help with the mitered corner would go a long way if it was me. ;-)
LGP from Canada
I think the girls do like you, as Allie said, or they wouldn't continue coming to you. Think I would pink the edges, be done with it, and get on to the next project....blessings, Pat
How about something simple and easy. A pillow of some kind. You probably have some fabric around you could use for the back. Idea...
http://cottagemagpie.com/projects/accessories/pillows/how-to-sew-pillow-cover/
Forget about the trim. The round corners are easy. Straight machine sewing. They could use the "pillow" to hold their pajamas or something and then you wouldn't need to mess with a pillow insert. Maybe with your supervision they could machine sew a section or two of the edge? Maybe they don't speak because they are afraid of making a mistake when speaking? Or it is just a cultural thing? I agree that they really do like you, but the not speaking thing is spooky.
I want to be your student , please .... I want to learn , is so beautiful !!
Que paciencia ...can´t believe being to many hours , with people that not talk ...you go to paradise ...
directly .
Hugs from Chile , Vero
I reckon that the girls will be so pleased with their collages when they see them that they'll be keen to finish them well. You've already got some great suggestions here. In order to get them talking could you perhaps whisper instructions to each of them in turn and get them to tell the other girl what they have to do? You could explain in English and they could then translate into Japanese to tell the other girl if that was easier, but it would at least get them talking a bit. Does that make sense?
The collages are so impressive, I think they should be nicely finished, maybe with an added fabric border; the knife edge binding sounds like a good idea. Then they could put a hanging sleeve on the back, cos I bet they'll want to display them. No idea about the 'no talking' - are they just super-polite and respectful?
Hey Tanya,
They did a great job and you have worked wonders with them...they have to love you or they wouldn't want to come back. My choice of a binding would be fusing. Check out Laura Wasilowski's website. I took her class and this is very simple to do and looks lovely on small wallhangings. You just fuse some Wonder Under to the back of your binding fabric and then using a wavy or scallop blade rotary cutter to cut the binding strips. Lay the binding rightside facing down and cut from the back to prevent the sticky side adhereing to your mat. Cur exact lenth of sides first and iron to front sides first and wrap to the back and press well. You now do the top and bottom in same manner. Now, all you have to do is sew a fancy stich around the binding and viola....it is finished and looks very nice.
Have a great time with these young ladies..
Liz
I like the idea of the fusible binding. I think it would be easy enough for young beginners to complete and fun enough to hold their interest.
Here is a website they could view:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Fusible-Quilt-Binding/
They did a fantastic job on their villages!
It is challenging to teach introverted and/or anxious students, but I know you are 100% right when you said that you can influence their life in a positive way! They will always remember you and your loving influence... and they will always have these pieces of fabric art as a souvenir of their lessons with you!
Maybe while they are doing the bindings, they can make up little stories/sentences about who lives in each of the collage houses, how many people, how they are related, what they do for work, etc.
I like the idea of the fusible binding. I think it would be easy enough for young beginners to complete and fun enough to hold their interest.
Here is a website they could view:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Fusible-Quilt-Binding/
They did a fantastic job on their villages!
It is challenging to teach introverted and/or anxious students, but I know you are 100% right when you said that you can influence their life in a positive way! They will always remember you and your loving influence... and they will always have these pieces of fabric art as a souvenir of their lessons with you!
Maybe while they are doing the bindings, they can make up little stories/sentences about who lives in each of the collage houses, how many people, how they are related, what they do for work, etc.
I would go for a simple finishing technique like "pillowcasing" the front to a backing or mounting the collage on posterboard. I don't think the objective here should be to create new quilters, but rather, to use the project as a vehicle to foster language in some way. I LOVE Cathy Quilter's suggestion to have them tell a story about their creations. How are their writing skills? Perhaps they could be guest bloggers and describe how they made their collages. I promise we would leave them all sorts of positive comments which they could translate.
The girls did a great job on their collages. If the girls didn't like you I doubt that they would have wanted to come back to your classes. Perhaps they are just super shy. You may be encouraging future fiber artists here!
I have this book and want to make a quilt from it one day!
Since they're all ready quilted .. birthing is out of the picture unless you did some kind of tacking but maybe you can bring the back to the front??
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