Day 1517: On the straight and narrow

Kathy kept kids out of the sewing room to give us quiet.  It's just too hard to concentrate with a half dozen kids chatting. Doreen kept me focused on the layouts and cutting with precise directions.  I cut out new coats for two guys who needed larger sizes and we made cut new bodices and linings for the three large coats.  We had a few close calls and made two small mistakes on color, but that's not too bad.  On Monday, we still have to cut linings for at least eight coats.  Those are difficult too because the bodices are the mirror image.

We also made great progress on Aida's cape. Ella, Jill, Kelsey, Ian, and Andrea traced the shapes on the muslin and cut 58 equilateral triangles until they ran out of fabric.  We still need to make another twenty because the cape is 12x24 feet. Next, the triangles go to the art class students who will use the batik method to imprint Egyptian designs.  It's a lot of work for an item that will only be used in one number, but it's an extraordinary opportunity for interdisciplinary learning.  Kathy also got most of the cast into their Nubian costumes and fitted another dress for Aida.

Ben, Kevin, Steve and Caryn planning how to hang the wall.

Girls with drills!

Abby and Caryn

Steve got a lot of help from Ben, Jake and Kevin B, along with stage crew members to hang the wall. All the panels had been previously constructed, but today they joined them today, added the strapping and attached them to the bar. It was a huge accomplishment.  They had to get all the panels up because on Monday, we have to clear the aud for the vocal concert on Tuesday and the stage for Wednesday.  Where on earth will we put everything?

Rehearsing with a mockup of the cape

Ella, Kelsey, Andrea, Ian and Jill cutting muslin triangles for the cape

Balancing the counterweights so the Abby and Caryn can raise and lower the wall.

I just couldn't face more word cutting today, so I spent my time studying youtube videos on how to compose a Facebook fan page for Quest.  I watched ten different videos and got a bit of valuable information from each one. The one thing that gave me pause was that the title of my book does not include the word Quest, but that's what most people will connect with.  It made me question my choice of titles again.  However, I can't confine the audience to only people who know about Quest now.  Let's hope that other schools and communities may embrace backpacking in the future.