I got the first three rows of the lightning quilt sewn together. It is a slow and steady process to get the angles right on either side, but I am very much enjoying watching this one come together. Those nine patches have been hanging out fermenting in a baggie for SO long. So glad to find a use for them. I have several more baggies to deal with, but all in good time.
I did actually empty one more baggie yesterday, converting ginormous hexies, to tiny ones for the diamond quilt. Kurt and I watched Batman Begins together after pizza night and I trimmed so many blocks that I wore a blister on my scissor finger. Ouch! It was amazing how many different fabrics I had stashed in there. Some were of questionable quality and got tossed, but the rest will make great additions to my little diamond collection.
I think this will be a calm week. Sydney is allowed to return to sports again after her mono episode. We went to watch the game as a family last Friday, but by Wednesday she will be back on the field again. Midterm exams were last week at school which means that we start a new marking period today. That means just nine more weeks of this wild and weird school year. We are down six teachers so far who just won't be back. I can't say that I blame them after the year we have all had, but it is going to be sad to see them all go. Two of them had previously planned to retire, the rest have made other plans based on the trials of pandemic education.
I'm guessing that there will be folks changing careers or retiring from many high-stress jobs after this. Health care workers, grocery store workers, and teachers for sure. I don't know about Florida, but SD has a long history of poor pay and lack of respect for teachers - and this year hasn't helped their situation. However I firmly believe our local schools could be a shining example of how to keep our kids in school and also keep sickness at a minimum. Ironically our big Covid outbreaks have NOT been in our SD schools.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great setting for those blocks, Angela!!
ReplyDeleteI really love the red with your scrappy nine patches! Looks like you're making great progress with that quilt. I think being a teacher has been especially tough this past year - kudos to you for getting through it!
ReplyDeleteThe red sashing looks great with your scrappy nine patches. Thanks for sticking with the teaching in this crazy year. Online school made my daughter change her mind about a career in teaching...she just doesn't zoom well.
ReplyDeleteWhat? No hint of next month's color!!! haha
ReplyDeleteMy 39 year old son went back to school at 32 to get his masters in teacher and second BA in physics. He has been teaching Physics, AP Bio and remedial science for 4 years. He loved his first two years (honeymoon?) but now he is sooo burned out and frustrated. He says if he didn't think there was an end in sight he'd quit.
thank you to all teachers who hang in there.
PS. Really liking how the lightning quilt is coming along.
I can understand the teachers retiring - between the pandemic and being with students in general I think the burn out rate is high. My brother was a high school band teacher for years and retired at 55 about 2 years before the pandemic - he said he would have kept teaching but the students caused a lot of stress - had to always have a second person present if you had to talk to a girl in the office as you needed a witness, and if you disciplined someone he felt like it wouldn't be surprising if they would try to cause trouble for you (like stabbing your tires on your car in the parking lot) - he finally just had it and went to farming full time - (already had the farm)
ReplyDeleteI think there is likely to be a teacher shortage (and nurses also) in the near future. I read an article last week that said college students are deciding against teaching careers. Combined with early retirements this doesn't sound promising. So thank you Angela, for persevering and keeping a mostly positive attitude. It hasn't been easy.
ReplyDeleteI like the red you chose for lightning. It’s coming along really well. I can’t imagine the stress teachers are under these days. I was an elementary media specialist and retired early (basically). I can’t imagine what my job would have been like during the pandemic. Keep up the good work. Do you do any “fiddling” with your pics before posting? My Photo program on my Apple allows me to play with lighting and other things. I generally lighten them because they come out so dark on the blog. Your pic looks great considering the low light when you took it. Hope you can squeeze in some quilting this week.
ReplyDeletegood choice for your strips - it looks great
ReplyDeleteI love your streak of lightning quilt with the red background. It reminds me of an old quilt I kept visiting in an antique mall. It finally disappeared after a couple of years and removed all temptation, although I did photograph it hoping to maybe reproduce it someday. I’m glad you have been able to hang in there with school despite all the challenges. In my former life, I was a school psych, and I can’t even imagine what that would be like these days. I do hope better days are ahead for teachers, students, and others working in education.
ReplyDeleteThe red is perfect for your 9-patches! Excellent choice.
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