I  finished the grading on the above stack of Torture Implements papers.  (But don’t they look nice, all lined up?  You would think I liked to work in rectangles and squares in my time away from the classroom, or something.) So after entering their grades, I turned on the computer and found this:

I smiled.  A great big smile. Wowsers!  100 followers officially here.  Welcome everyone!

I guess that means my blog has now grown up a bit, and can stand up straight on the playground of blogs.  This means I won’t get picked last for softball or kickball and that maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to clap the chalkboard erasers after school. Wait.  Wrong era.  No erasers anymore, right? And probably no chalkboards, either.

But I’m still smiling.

So that gave me energy to do a few leftover quilting tasks.  (Sometimes grading really gets in the way of my life.  How do Sherri and all the other teachers do it?)

I ironed the backing for Summer Treat.  As I was working on this, it struck me on how lucky I am to be working with all this beauty.  I had Harvesting the Wind on the pinwall,  and was ironing the giant cirles of the backing on my fancy-schmancy ironing board cover.  I stepped back and took a shot just to remind myself that when I’m parsing logical fallacies, comma splices and MLA format, I really do have this vivid other life that feeds me.

Pinned Summer Treat on the bed while listening to the presidential campaign debate analysis on NPR.  Nothing like keeping your mind busy while your hands are busy, too.  I plan to work on this quilt, plus a few other things this weekend, when my church has a world-wide conference.  They broadcast this conference twice a year, in April and October, and it’s so nice to quilt and listen and refresh that side of me that needs to think Deep Thoughts occasionally.

Next I dragged out my Polaroid Blocks to finish off.  I’d made 50 and sent off to the swap, and received quite a few interesting and wonderful blocks in return and they’d been sidelined in my studio.

I wanted to work on this partly because Krista of KristaStitched had sent me a few blocks, including a gingham one to remind me of our summer Gingham Giveaway, which truthfully feels like it was a millenium ago.  Or at least a million papers ago. (Am I done complaining about grading?  Not until December 8th, sorry, for that’s when the semester ends, but I’ll try to contain myself.)

She also sent me these two little treats: a scrubbie (but I’m using it for a mug rug) and a sweet teensy little granny square pincushion.  I pinned it up on my wall for my gigantor pins I use (like corsage or hat pins) when I am monkeying around with fabrics.  Thank you, Krista!

One of the steps in Polaroid Blocks is trimming up–we receive them “untrimmed” and so I stood at the table and trimmed up 140+ blocks this evening, while listening to more debate analysis.  It’s been interesting to teach the rhetoric of political speech in my Critical Thinking class this semester.  I’ve had to pay attention a lot more, and be more “critical” in the classic sense about what is said in the campaign.   Five more weeks, everybody.

Here are the blocks in stacks of ten, plus a few pulled out to the side for a Halloween tote bag.  The tilted stack is a few short of ten.  Tomorrow night I plan to work on bordering them for my quilt (I’ve sort of thought up a design.  Sort of).  I’m taking them over to Simone’s where we are having Quilt Night.  One of her daughters likes to look at these, so I’m hoping she’ll help me pair them up by fours, which is what I need for my plan.  A nine-year old brain can often do somersaults around my old brain.

Before I head over there, I’m printing off all the names of those who have entered my black and white giveaway.  So you have until Friday, 5:30 p.m. West Coast time, to enter your name if you haven’t already; click *here* and leave a comment. I’m making two stacks: one with everyone’s name and another one with followers (both here and on Google Reader, if you mentioned it).  I’ll announce the winners Saturday morning, after I rub the sleep out of my eyes and get back to the real world.

But I’ll still be smiling!