First Frost 2010

The sun has already been up for a few hours, but signs of the first frost are still hiding in the shadows. DH said the temp at 6:30 was 30 degrees.

A slight haze hanging in the air, and not too easy to see the trees in the background.....

..but the reds, oranges, and yellows are nearing their peak color around these parts. Over the next 2-3 weeks, they will reach and surpass their peak, which only means winter is getting closer and closer.

Despite the temps this morning, the forecast for the week isn't a typical northern Wiscsonsin forecast for the end of September. 70's everyday and clear; so it's going to be absolutely GORGEOUS!

My plans for the day: prep for Statistics
DH's plans for the day: gather the last of the tomatoes that survived the frost; check potato plants for harvest; can whatever needs to be canned.

Linda canned spaghetti sauce, but we've gone the "lazy" way this year and simply cannd the tomato puree. We will make the sauce "fresh" as the year goes on. DH also picked a couple pails of apples last week with the girls and took care of making applesauce and the by-product of apple juice. YUM! Throw in a stick of cinnimon, warm it for a few seconds in the microwave.....mmmmmmm. I am SO thankful DH takes over with the gardening/harvesting during volleyball season!

Okay...time to get to my Statistics. I am actually quite motivated to get downstairs today after catching up on a few blogs this AM.

And the quilt was a hit---of course! ;0)

Happy Football Sunday!

Sea Glass quilted

Two hours last night and four hours this morning; Sea Glass gets finished in plenty of time for the late afternoon party.

I chose the Chinese Crescents pantograph pattern again; I wanted something simple and FAST, so this fit the bill.

I did have some issues with my MIL's borders; she is a "sew-n-snip" border person rather than a "measure-from-the-middle-n-cut-then-pin-to-the-sides" person. I ended up tucking two spots and sewing along the tuck to make it look like a diagonal seam. If you didn't know better, I think they ended up being hidden and fixed quite well. I didn't get a close up of the fix. I DO like the fabrics my MIL used for this quilt, though! FUN and BRIGHT!

I was even able to get a few hours of paper grading before we needed to head out for the party. So, tomorrow, I simply have Statistics to prep for. I won't promise anything, but maaaaaaybe I'll be able to have some time for "me" downstairs.

Happy Saturday.

Change of plans...

AGH!
Yesterday morning, I was talking the schedule out loud so that DH and I knew where everyone needed to be, who was picking up whom, etc......I'm sure you understand. It's not like we want to forget anyone like a certain someone in Florida did the other day ;0)

Anyway....we have a party we need to head to later this afternoon and I had all intentions of spending the morning doing my Statistics planning, paper grading, etc.

Suddenly-----it hit me!

Me: **gasp** Paul! That quilt you mother gave me at the beginning of volleyball season to finish up....is that for the party??
DH: ???? {grabbed phone}....'Mom...is that quilt a gift for Anita's party tomorrow?.......ah-huh......okay......Love you.'
DH: Yup.
Me: #&*@*!

SO!
Guess what I started last night INSTEAD of attending the Homecoming football game? And guess what I'm going to be doing for most of the day until we need to leave at 3:00?

So much for being a dutiful teacher today!

80's flashback

Homecoming 2010; "Decade Day" today allowed me to revisit the times of jean jackets, rolled pants, and big hair!! Admittingly so, I miss this hair style :0) But the kiddos sure had a good giggle today! Quite an extreme from my normal pony-tail!



This is my first breathing moment to try to catch up with my bloggin' buds; the Team continues to struggle and it's not easy taking loss after loss. I really don't know who's having a harder time though----me, or the girls.

Happy Wednesday

and breathe - 2 - 3 - 4....

holy buckets.....is it REALLY Saturday already???!?!!?!?

Away game Tuesday
Away game Thursday
hosted a home Volleyball tournament all day today.....

I feel very out-of-touch with all of you; I haven't checked blogs in AGES (since last Sunday.....yeah.....that's AGES for me!!!)

I WILL be a good lil' math teacher right now and log out ASAP and park myself in front of my Statistics book for the next set of hours to plan/prep for this next week of class----ONLY so that I may actually find some time in my day tomorrow to park myself in front of my sewing machine for at least an hour.....(I hope????)

Will catch up on blogs later tonight OR bright-n-early tomorrow......

psht.....ummm.....rethinking that statement! MAYBE not so bright-n-early tomorrow ;0)

Happy Saturday and happy sewing for those of you who have the luxury :0)

A bit of normalcy

Yesterday after lunch, I actually packed up the sewing for the day because I KNEW I needed to spend some time on my Statistics lessons. I can't believe how much I've relearned over these first couple of weeks; I haven't had a Stats class in quite a while, and I've never had the opportunity to teach it, so.....I'm doing my best to stay at least a week ahead of the class. I also took care of most of my other school duties yesterday and the first part of this morning.

By 2:00 this afternoon, I was ready to head back downstairs to see if I could figure out the setting triangles for my Twilight layout.
This fabric used wasn't my first choice, but I didn't have enough of the other material. Without a doubt, I'll be using the light speck fabric as one of my borders to try to lighten the overall quilt, but....yeah....I think this'll turn out just fine. THANK YOU to all of you who responded with the calculation help! I didn't realize that Bonnie's site had the magic wand I needed. Thanks Erica!

I haven't updated my Stash Report in about a month...

Obviously, I haven't used much lately, but I did purchase this set of fabrics with a pattern in mind called In Flight. I need to make a quilt for DH's boss's daughter for Christmas, and I thought maybe this'll be up her alley. I hope to also finish up Judy's June Mystery quilt and perhaps I'll have her choose between the two.

So, Stash Report: September 6 - 12
Used/week:
1.438 yards
Purchased/week:
12 yards

Used/year
181.735 yards
Purchased/year:
185 yards

Net used:
-3.266 yards -- Back in the red. No big deal to me.


Yeah...Judy's June Mystery......I was doing SO WELL being on time with that too! But then my Bernina went hay-wire and I never really was able to get back to it once the Bernina came back home due to other projects calling my name. Oh well.....it'll see time again soon!

And we have some new additions to our family.....

It's hard to see here because Mama is protecting the little buggers.......but......
...last week, Caitlyn and Cassie came-a-runnin' in from gathering eggs yelling "We have a chick! We have a chick!" This brooding hen has been sitting on eggs since the middle of July. I kept an eye on her quite a bit at the beginning of August to see if any of the eggs would hatch (21 days incubation). Well, I kinda forgot about her since I've been secluded to my interior dwellings due to my allergies, and since then, she's been "collecting" a few more eggs---obviously! Over the following days last week, three eggs ended up hatching (a fourth would have, but DH wanted to test out one of the eggs JUST prior to the first egg hatching---wonderful timing, huh?) But anyway....three new members joining the Skattebo Ranch ;0)

I'm a bit pooped---just cuz. The laundry is JUST about finished; supper is calling my name to be made (trying a new recipe tonight of Pork meatballs in a homemade BBQ sauce); girls will need a bath tonight; and the Packers are on the boob-tube. So, I think I'll get supper going and then pick up my Stats book again to see if I can figure out the next chapter.

Yes, it felt good to get on the machine at least a LITTLE bit this weekend, but I'm okay needing to take this time away. By the time Volleyball season is over, I'll be 100% raring to go again to complete some of these quilts in time for Christmas.

Happy Sunday Football everyone! :0)

A little calculation help???

I'll admit; I don't feel like sitting and doing the math NOR looking around to find how to do these calculations because I want to keep sewing away downstairs with a few other projects that have been laying around in partial-completion-status. So.....

I don't have enough material to make any more of the Twilight blocks, therefore, I layed the 13 that I have out on-point. The blocks are 12.5" (12" finished).

Question 1: How large do I need to cut the setting triangles at the edges of this on-point setting? ie: what size square to cut to then cut on the diagonal to make the triangles?

Question 2: And what about the 4 corner triangles as well?

Not that it'll affect the calculations, but I plan to use sashing and corner stones to connect the blocks and then come up with something for the borders.

I TRULY TRULY TRULY appreciate any assistance here!

I feel some quilting coming on....

?????


Maybe????

This weekend is pretty free schedule-wise. I need a couple handfuls of hours to work on my Statistics plans for the next week, grading papers that have collected over the past two days.....and I bet the tomatoes are going to need some attention....

BUT.....

MAYBE I'll be able to sneak in a few hours on the machine if I feel any bit as motivated as I do right now.

Just arrived home from the football game. It's nice having so many Saturdays open this Vball season as compared to years in the past to be able to make some home football games without feeling stressed and tired due to the early Sat. morning bus rides. AND, the school pride that our student body is showing is SO REFRESHING!!! It's been too many years since we've had such positive school pride!

THESE are the days I like remembering when the going gets tough and the stress is weighing down with a few tons of pressure!

One week down...life resumes its hecticity

The first day of school has come and gone.

This is actually a pic from the 2nd day of school that DH took. He was busy the morning of the first day of school, reducing the population of our pigs, so this was his first "school" morning to enjoy. {{notice the rain jacket? Gloomy 2nd and 3rd days of school.}}

Three days down, and already right back into the swing of things. I spent 7 hours yesterday working on lessons and problems that will be coming up this next week in my Statistics class. I need to wrap up the lessons today, and then I'll be able to put my books away for the rest of the weekend.

Volleyball is keeping me away (as expected), but it's rewarding in its own way. These young ladies are my Captains this year and showing wonderful leadership.

And the garden?....

That's DH's job now. My allergies and busy life are keeping me away from it, but I try to help out when I can in the house with the "storing" part.
Corn has been the latest harvest; two full wheelbarrows of cobs, plus (in DH's words), 'easily another wheelbarrow left on the stalks out there.' Friday night was a "shucking-party" in the garage. And last night, after DH spent much of the day blanching the cobs and cutting the corn from them, I helped him fill 34 bags with 3 cups of kernals in each.

I SURE do like this 3-day weekend. It's nice thinking that it's actually more like a "Saturday morning" right now and that I have two more full days ahead of me to get things done that have been lingering.