The spring semester ended on May 12 with final grades due May 15. Teaching two sections of Art Appreciation while also working a full-time librarian job really kicked my butt, but I’m so glad I did it. I LOVED teaching the class, and I can’t wait to do it again in the fall. I am also teaching Art History I in the fall, and I have already put a draft of my syllabus together and have started working on course materials for that class.

I have so many ideas about what to do! I am trying to incorporate active learning activities into the course, which is completely different from the way I learned art history in college, which was the then-typical “art in the dark” lecture classes. But, now I am developing in-class discussions, writing assignments, group activities, and more. So, I am keeping busy this summer.

But, I am also making sure I get plenty of downtime, and I have been stitching this “Fear Not” pattern from Little House Needleworks:

I was gifted this pattern a year or so ago along with all of the variegated threads by a very kind lady I met through Instagram.

Here is my progress so far:

It has been a nice, low-stress stitch. I’ve been working on it while I binge-watch Supernatural on Netflix. I’ve started with the first season. We’ll see how far I get.

I haven’t done a “Friday Finds” in a awhile, so here are a few things worth sharing this week:

• You can buy embroidery floss in cones from the DMC website now. You’ll never need to run out of 310 or Blanc ever again.
• The National Parks quilt exhibit opened up near me this past weekend. The quilts are on display in four locations around Will County in the SW Chicago area. They will only be around until July 3, so I better plan my little driving trip soon!
• The New York Times Book Review has a complete guide to summer reading with its “73 Books to Read While the Sun Is Out and the Days Are Long.”
• Karen Barbe shows us how she frames her embroidery in hoops. I usually add a piece of backing felt or fabric, too.
• I love this idea so much: “Backpack-Sized Archiving Kit Empowers Community Historians to Record Local Narratives.” There are so many inexpensive tools out there now that oral history projects do not have to be big, complicated undertakings. This makes it easy for anyone to get started.

Video of the Week

This brought a smile to my face.

Have a great weekend, and happy stitching!