When I rearranged my work schedule a few years ago to get a nice chunk of days off every other week (4.5, including a weekend), what I had in mind most — besides the ability to more easily go on long weekend jaunts — was the ability to really dig into a project. The past weekend was exactly that & then some. I would like another!!

I started dabbling with the next step of my big quilt on Friday afternoon, having finally figured out how to make the brain-bender irregular triangle blocks that I wanted/that would fit. I thought I had it figured out… there was a minute when I was seriously considering an alternative design. But I persevered.

I heeded an earlier learned lesson & stopped to sew together a few of those blocks before I got carried away cutting everything. I’m determined not to pull or buy any more fabric for this quilt top, and I needed to make an adjustment or I’d have cut half of those smaller triangles wrong! Whew.

It was a gorgeous day, so once I knew I was on the right path, I got outside. We had evening beverages out back, watching birds, the sky, the leaves, etc. And then, it was time for baseball! I’m not normally a fan (though I watched an entire world series when I was in high school — when it was in August instead of October — for no particular reason), but when the Milwaukee Brewers are in the World Series… I’m there. And they won Game 1 in a best of 7 series!

There were other things on my to-do list for the weekend, too, such as doing our semi-annual screen/storm window switcheroo, which also involves washing windows. We did that on Saturday morning (having postponed it on Friday).

Ta-da! That’s one of the upstairs/Airbnb bedroom windows & I have to crawl out a big porch window onto the roof of the back porch to access that part of the house. It’s great because no ladder is involved. But it was the first time I tried doing that since my hip was replaced, and I was nearly stranded — one foot in & one foot out — but finally wiggled through! It was a little easier getting back inside. It was easier the next day, too, when I went upstairs to get the Airbnb ready for upcoming guests & retrieved a pair of gloves that Rusty left on the porch roof!

And I installed the new fridge that Davy & Ginny helped me buy. That involved unboxing & a bit of rearranging in pretty tight quarters. The tiny little fridge it replaced was sent with Rusty & a few things got tossed which helped. A lot more needs to get tossed/dealt with, but I’m on the track.

A coworker who also does sound at a local theatre (his wife does lights) offered me tickets to a show on Saturday, so Ali & I took the kids to Magic Rocks! We were in the third row, had a great view, and the show was fun! Leon Etienne, the illusionist, was very straightforward & entertaining, and he kept things moving.

The kids all had a great time (though the tween grumbled a little… mostly for show). Ginny has already learned a couple of tricks!

Then Game 2 of the World Series, and the Brewers win again!!

On Sunday, I spent part of the day squaring up & cutting, then pinning, sewing & trimming triangles into rectangles.

First one side, then the other.

So many pins! So many fabric scraps (I keep all but the tiniest)!

The Packers lost (boo), and the Brewers were headed to Tampa Bay (no game).

On Monday, other than going to vote early (YAY!) & making a quick stop at the hardware store, I sewed all day long! I finished up all the blocks for this border, laid everything out on a big sheet on the floor to get the arrangement/orientation just right, made some pinwheels for the corners, and sewed it all up.

It went a lot quicker than I thought it would. Then I threw it on the bed to reassess the plan.

The plan/goal is to have a substantial drop — in the end, it’ll reach the wood part of the bed frame. It’s currently the same size as the quilt that’s on the bed (the one I made last year) and it’s just not wide enough for comfortable sleeping. Someone’s always a bit short (usually me)! Right after these photos, I sewed another strip of the narrow striped border fabric all around. That’ll be it for borders at the top of the quilt, besides binding, or there’ll be way too much fabric up there — the triangle border on that end might even be too much.

The Brewers won Game 3! And what a game — 10-1!! The fifth inning was crazy — they scored 8 runs! So fun to watch.

On Tuesday, I started gathering all the leftover fabrics from making the blocks, along with the aforementioned scraps, to start cutting for the next border, which will be a 4″ wide band of scrappy flying geese. That will echo one of the improvised scrappy blocks within the quilt — one of my favorites.

Kate & I prepped the Airbnb for guests arriving Thursday — an unusual day for arrivals, but the Packers had a short week & have a Thursday Night Football home game. Ann came up to do yard work at her house, then came over to ours for dinner & overnight. It was nice to catch up, as she & Brian had been in Europe from mid-September to mid-October.

We all stayed up late to watch the Brewers — because if they won, they’d win the Series in a sweep! Alas, the Rays pulled off a win in Game 4.

Wednesday, I was back to work, and then we prepped Ann’s house for the same variety of guests. We had supper in the living room because baseball! And because the signal on the kitchen TV was horrible. Also, we were delayed a bit, so I was able to pause and then fast-forward through commercial breaks to catch up.

They did it!! The Brewers won their first-ever World Series Championship!!

Finally, more sports talk. Remember when I asked you to vote for Menasha High School in T-Mobile’s Friday Night Lights competition? Their football stadium was badly damaged by a tornado at the end of July, so they could really use the help. They WON their division! A big push at the end helped them go from second to a very solid first place. Now they’re one of four schools in the final, and I’m asking that you do it again. You can vote once per day from now through November 8th. You’ll be asked once again to enter your mobile number, consent to the rules, and agree to receiving a one-time text for verification. Thank you!!