Busy couple of days

It's been a very busy last couple of days for me. I got stuff out of the house and into the alley for junk pickup. I carried things out then rested. Carried more out then rested. Dang lazy men! Not one offered to help carry anything out.... they just watched as I struggled. I'll remember that the next time they claim to be hungry and I've cooked a really nice meal. (grrrrrrr)

I cut some fabric strips to crochet into a rug while traveling on the bus to Nashville. It was hard cutting up scraps into tiny strips for rugs. I kept thinking about how they could be used in a quilt someday. Then I thought about how much fabric stash is waiting to be made into quilts. This helped and away I went cutting lots of strips. I enjoy making rugs so this will keep me happy for awhile. Besides, I really need some new one. The ones I have are getting pretty old and dingy. Some of these strips can be used to make braided rugs too. Hmm.... maybe I can take some braiding to do on the trip.

I can't remember if I posted pictures of our guild quilts in the Nashville show or not so I'm putting them in this post. If you think it's easy to get 8 people to finish a guild challenge on time... it's not. The challenge theme was "friendship".

These are soccer friends.



This is doll friends.




This is quilting friends.



This is childhood friends.



This is adopted animal friends.

This is also childhood friends.




And so is this one.



And this one.



Of course, we are all hopeful of winning a blue ribbon this year.
I finished the binding on this one. The backing is wrapped over the front and sewn by machine.


Finished quilting this one. Now it's waiting for me to do the binding. I forgot to take a picture before starting this post. I'll take another one later.

I started the quilting on this one. A vintage quilt made from silks.

I hope you can see in the pictures that it's not supposed to be flat. It's folded and sewn to a foundation piece. The fabrics are petty delicate so I have to be careful while quilting it.

This is how the border is done.

The foundation pieces are what look like tobacco sacks. Tobacco used to come in small cloth bags and smokers rolled their own cigarettes by hand. The tobacco sacks were more commonly used in quilts during the depression and after WWII. I'm not sure this top is quite that old though. I'm thinking early 60's maybe? Possibly pulled from someone's ufo stash and finished.



I'm getting a lot of things done... just not as many quilts as usual. The thing is; if I don't do the other things; they will effect my quilting. Like carrying out junk... if it's in my way all the time I spend too much time looking for something.

There are other things that MUST get done before cold weather arrives. Caulking of holes outside. Can't caulk in cold weather. I need new plastic and quilts on all the windows. I would love to buy new energy saver window screening but it's out of my price range right now. I can do the plastic covers on the windows for a lot less; but, when will I find time for making window quilts?

Insulation must be put into the attic, walls, and under the floor. I need to keep my utility bills low enough to keep the electric bill paid. Our utility bills are expected to double before winter. In order for workmen to get to those spaces; stuff had to be moved out of the way. They need to drill holes in the walls so they have to be able to reach the walls. The attic and basement access holes inside closets must be cleared of stuff too.
I should think about calling for some electrical estimates too. I have several outlets that don't work anymore. My overhead lights in two rooms have quit working. My stove hood has long ago stopped working. I'll save the electrical work for after the insulation is finished.

I need to go get a new bathroom sink and a new water heater pretty soon. I want those installed before winter too. This means a day of hardware shopping. Probably this weekend. The hardware is my favorite place to shop. I can never just run in and out. I want to look at all the pretty stuff and dream of possibilities. Almost like looking at fabrics in a quilt shop.... the possibilities are everywhere!

All the extra things that have to be done are getting me farther behind schedule on the quilting. Which is making me feel guilty. It's also causing my bank account to grow smaller and smaller. I'm paying for things to be done on the house at the same time not getting work finished to put money back into the bank. It's a delicate financial dance that I face daily. I'm thrifty but even a thrifty person can only do so much.
So now that I'm thinking about the finances.... I'll go get a day's work finished.... I hope.