I'm here

After type-talking my anger at all the foolishness in DC the other day; I stepped back and immersed myself into something creative.  This is the last of my fair entries for this year.  I made the portrait at the bottom of the photo first.  It somehow got distorted during the enlarging so that nothing was lining up right.  I don't have time to start all over with it.  I decided it would be faster to simply create a new portrait with only one pattern and one fabric.  That's the one at the top of the photo.

The portrait is going on the machine tomorrow and then I'll finish all the bindings and the hanging sleeves.  I received the entry tags in the mail today which means I needed to speed up in order to get everything finished. 

While being creative I've also been doing a lot of thinking.  (I know that's dangerous.)  It seems like everyone, everywhere is thinking about budgets lately.  Cutting back or going back to basics seems to be the top buzz words seen all around the internet and in every type of social media.  I'm thinking about my own budget these days too.  But, my thoughts are more about being creative while living on a tight budget.  I keep thinking of things to do and things to stock up; but, really what I need is to reevaluate all of that.  

I keep thinking about my Grandma Mama and what she would think about all the hoopla going on in DC.  Maybe I should write a post or two about my Grandma Mama to get me away from thinking about the bad economy and the idiots who seem bent on scaring us.  Just as soon as I finish the fair entry quilts I'll tell you how my Grandma Mama knew what chores to do everyday and what meals to fix...... without a single list in sight. 

Fair quilt done

I finished the quilting on this one last night.  What do you think, does everything float across the quilt?

If you would like to see some close up photos of the quilting please visit my other blog. 

High cost for lazy

I've done a few catch up projects during the heat of the day.  Took a couple of reusable grocery bags and.....

made my brother a couple of golf ball gathering bags.   He wanted something that could be hooked to his belt. 

Turned my 15 year old pocket purse into....

a newer pocket purse.  I guess it was "about time" I did something with it.  Ladybug noticed right away that it was new.

Oh yes.... I also finished a couple of customer quilts and started working on my fair entry.

The heat has me feeling like a big old slug.  Moving slowly but steady.  I look around and see lots of things I would like to do but those projects seem just too much for the heat.  I do things that won't cause me too much stress.  Which also means not much to write about in a blog post. 

One of the things I did that didn't require much movement was to take a really good look at my phone bill.  Could I make changes in it that would save me money?  Well right away I noticed the long distance.  I've been paying $8.50 a month for a .05 cents a minute plan.  It went up to .07 cents a minute.  Ok, I ask myself, is this a good plan for me?  I looked through all the bills for the last year.  I used a total of 5 minutes long distance calls over the past year.  This was a shock to me.  This comes out to about $20.40 a minute for each long distance call I made over the year.

When I was quilting full time I had to make many long distance calls to customers about their quilts.   At the time, the plan was a good deal for me.  It's not so anymore.  Time to do something about that.  I emailed my friend Kathi who told me she uses purchased phone cards for her long distance.  That sounded good to me so I told my daughter about what I planned to do.  Hmm.... what my daughter said made even more sense.

Four years ago my daughter had given me one of her old cell phones and set it up as a free part of her own cell phone plan.  I use the cell phone only when I'm out running errands as an emergency phone.  At most I use the cell phone once a month for maybe a minute or two.  The free minutes on it just don't get used.  Well.... DUH.... long distance calls are free on the cell phone.  So my daughter suggested I use the cell phone to call my customers when I need to call them.  Makes perfect sense... so why didn't I think of it?  Oh well, now I have free long distance. 

Next thing to look at was my regular phone plan.  It had things on it that I simply never used.  Call block, three way calling, call return and things like that in the plan.  I've never used any of those features.... not even once.  So why am I paying for them?  All I need is a simple basic phone line to make phone calls. 

I called the phone company and got everything switched over to a plain basic phone service with no long distance plan.  My phone bill is now about one fourth (or less) the cost of what it was before.  That's a lot of savings that can be used for something else.  I'm glad I finally took a good look at the phone bill instead of putting it off longer.  I also thought about all the wasted money I've spent over the past year because I simply didn't take the time to look over the bill.  Bummer!  That's a hugh cost for being lazy putting things off too long. 

Fair entry quilt

This is what has kept me away from the computer the last few days. 

One of two fair entries I need to have finished in two weeks.  I haven't started the other one yet.  I also have my SIL's quilt to get quilted as her fair entry. 

 

I'll post more photos when the quilting is finished.  I have a customer quilt on the machine to get done first and then I can work on my own.  I hope to start working on my other quilt entry by the weekend.

Still here

Thank you to those who offered suggestions to help with the computer problems.  For the moment I'm still able to get into my blogs.  I've started using Google Chrome but I still have problems.   Sending and receiving mail is not working right.   I'll work with this until I get more time to look into Firefox.  

On a brighter note, my Morning Glory vines were born yesterday.  Aren't they the cutest little things?  The rain helped.  Once these come up they start growing like crazy because they are classified as a flowering weed.  We all know weeds do grow very fast.  I want them to completely cover the front porch.

I have to set priorities this week no matter what I'd rather be doing.  Garden work will have to wait.  Computer work will have to wait.  Cooking will be switched to pre-made frozen stuff I put in the freezer for just this reason.  What reason?  Well, there is this quilt I said I'd have ready by Father's Day.  Normally I could have one this size finished in a couple of days.

When I was ready to put it on the machine I noticed the top is a D cup.  When will I ever learn to check on these before the owner leaves?  It's going to take some concentration and extra time to get it quilted.  Then I will bind it and put a hanging sleeve on it in time for the owner to pick up by Friday afternoon.  

I will keep photos of this one to use as a tutorial on how to handle a D cup top.  My readers may be growing tired of all the garden posts and ready for some quilting.  I sure hope my plants don't die before I get them planted.  

Uh DUH!

Sometimes I wonder about myself.  I sure do get a good laugh at myself with the odd things I do.  I got an early start in the backyard in order to beat the heat.  Just look how nice my box garden fence looks.  Nice and fairly even.  This is where I planned my cucumbers to grow and climb.  I was giving myself a pat on the back for finishing before the heat of the day started.  When suddenly, DUH, what in the world was I thinking?    The fence is in the wrong place.  So I took it all apart to move it where it should be.  All that work, looking so nice, and it was all wrong.

Ok, I finally got the fence taken apart and the posts moved.  By then it was starting to get pretty hot outside and we are in an ozone alert.  I really had to just stop.  I have a hard time breathing on days like this.   One post on the end is leaning because the fencing is... DUH... too short for the new placement.  Nothing seems to go exactly as planned for me. Giggle, giggle.  The only thing I can do is laugh; otherwise, I'd be crying all the time.   I'll move the one post tomorrow morning. 

So what difference does it make where the fence is placed?  Well, I can only reach 2 feet so the plant has to be accessible at no more than 2 feet from all sides.  You are not supposed to walk inside a box garden.  What was I thinking when I placed the fence the first time?  The boxes were originally going to be 2' x 8' with a fence on the side.  I changed my mind right before these were built and had them made into 4' x 8' for more growing space.  When I looked at my garden plans it was still drawn for the 2' width.  I didn't think about it, just did it.  I've been laughing at my dumb mistake all day. 

I did pick some cherries before I started on the garden.  I picked 2 quarts and decided to dehydrate them.  I measured out 2 cups for each tray.  This is the amount I would use in a small, one person, pie.  It's easier to do the measuring before dehydrating.  It's hard to judge how many dried cherries make 2 cups because they get so small.  I plan to vacuum pack these in 2 cup portions.  I should get at least 2 quarts a day for about a week. 

What the heck is this?  I don't have a clue.  It's brown black very dark and hairy looking.  Looks as if it's growing from the wood on the front porch.  Hmm... looks kind of like a moldy caterpillar stuck to the house. 

Here's a close up.  Any closer and it gets blurry.  I've never seen anything like it before.  I was going to spray it with bleach but decided to watch it for a few days to see if it changes.  My curiosity about it wants me to let it be for now.  I hope it doesn't turn into some poisonous something ready to bite me.

Despite all the DUH moments with my garden, I'm loving it.  I get pretty sore from using muscles I forgot I had.  I believe it's all good for me.  I get exercise and I'm outdoors instead of spending hours and hours at a quilting machine.  Fresh air.... even early morning ozone filled fresh air... is good for me.  After the initial hard work of creating my box gardens the work won't be so difficult anymore.  I can enjoy just planting and watching it grow.  Then, of course, eating all those fresh foods. 

I know there are readers who come to this blog for quilting tips and I'm sorry I've not posted many of those lately.  I'll be doing more of those later.  For now, I want to see to my health first.  Spring and summer are times for being outdoors.  Quilting is for colder days.  Ok, my internet time is up.  I've set myself a limit of time each day.  Work does not get done if I'm sitting at a computer for hours and hours.

Busy busy

With all the years I've been using computers a person would think I could figure things out.  Well, my problem has always been that just when I had things figured out enough to use it, there would be something totally new come out and I'd have to start learning all over again.  I could never keep up with the faster and faster changes.  Technology left me behind years ago.  I still use technology when I can but if it's too complicated I leave it alone.

I do much better with stuff that requires less mental activity and more of the physical.  Like picking cherries.  My tree is not as loaded as it was last year.  I believe the cold, wet spring caused a lot of the blooms to not fruit.  I also had the tree topped out right about the time it was ready to blossom.  It might have had some shock from that.  Well, I'll pick all it gives me and put them in the freezer for now.  When I've got enough to fill the dehydrator I'll dry them. 

I got a new security light on the back of my house.  This replaces the old light.  I hated the old light because it had no on/off switch.  It came on at dusk and went off at dawn.  That wouldn't have been so bad except the bulb in it was a thousand watt bulb.  It would be using 1000 watts an hour every night and it would be so bright it was like daylight.... especially coming through the bedroom window.  Imagine one of the overhead lights you see on poles around the city shining three feet away from your bedroom window and you couldn't turn it off.  The first electric bill nearly scared me to death.  Imagine getting an electric bill that is normally charging for about 900 watts a month to suddenly charging for 360,000 watts.  It took me over a year to pay off that one month's bill.  I took that big bulb out years ago and haven't used this light since.  I like this new one so much better.  I can turn it on/off when ever I want... from inside the house. 

My garden boxes did look like this.

Now they look like this.  They are still not the way I want them.  I can do a little at a time.  It's gonna take A LOT of dirt to fill those boxes up to the top.

So far, I've gone through 50 bags of dirt.  I'll probably need another 200 or so before these are done.  But.... it doesn't have to all be done at once.  I can add some every now and then until filled.  I don't have to plant anything if I don't want to this year.  I can simply get them ready for next year.  I can start seedlings indoors to have ready to plant when it's time.

Some of the dirt I've gone through was put into the front box.  The only thing to be planted here this year is my morning glory vines.  The vines should be coming up any day now.  I need shade for the porch.  I can't plant shrubs or trees for shade because of the water, gas, and sewer lines located along this side. 

I have one more garden box to be filled along this side of the house too.  I won't be planting anything in it this year either.  It will be enough if I clean up the weeds growing in it and prepare it for next spring.  Nothing has to be done "right now", my new slower paced life says some things can wait till tomorrow or next year.

I've been cleaning out weeds from my fence.  When the house next door was built they put up her privacy fence right next to my chain link one.  No room for me to get between to clean up the weeds.  I cut what I can from my side. 

Those darned ivy vines have taken over my yard.  It was a lot of work cutting them because they spread under ground.  I cut down below the surface trying to get as many roots as I could.  I'll spray with a weed killer as soon as I can buy it.   

What's really weird.... and lazy on the part of the contractor.....  is that they put her privacy fence on the other side of the trees which are actually on her property.  The trees are between her fence and mine.  This left me with the ugly problem of dealing with the trees.   As you can see, the trees are lifting up my fence because of the roots.  There is nothing I can do but deal with the weeds and trees the best I'm able.

My hope is that I can clean up enough of the ugly ivy vines so grass will grow again.  I would like to have a nice area for my furkid and me to sit and enjoy nice weather when we have it. 

Ok, I think this is about three or four days of posts rolled into one.  My fingers are crossed, hoping this post shows up and I don't have to type it again. 

Busy Thursday

Wednesday night was spent at my daughter's house because of the storms.  All the news of bad tornadoes had me spooked along with a lot of other people.  I decided it best to be on the safe side and not stay home.  There is truly no safe place in my house if a tornado were to come through.

 Ladybug and I had a slumber party in the basement.  Mommie had to work the next day so she went into another room to sleep.  I started reading a book to Ladybug and within 10 minutes she was sound asleep.

When I came home Thursday morning it suddenly got very active around here.  The guy came to fix the flower box around the porch.  Yippie!  He then leveled the garden boxes in the back yard.  The boxes were lower at on end and I was afraid rain would wash out the dirt over time.   Now I can start filling up the boxes and start planting.  

I managed to do a little weeding in the garden boxes on the side of the house while he worked in the back.  Another storm came through and we quit for the day. 

My brother and SIL are cleaning out their own house so they brought back the baby crib they had borrowed from me.  Their great grand daughter is now too big for it.  I will store it at my daughter's house for whoever needs a crib next.  She has a storage shed not being used. 

While they were here we decided to go to the thrift store.  It was 25 percent off day.  I was tempted to purchase several things but in the end I bought only these for myself.   I'm proud of myself for not bringing home more stuff when I'm working so hard to get stuff out of here.   These will be used when I make charity quilts.

I did make one other purchase at the thrift store but it's not for me.  My neighbor mentioned that she would like to learn latch hooking.  She thought it would be neat to do and easy.  It would be something for her to do on lunch break at work.  I'm going to teach her how it's done and  show her the way to create her own design on the canvas.  The canvas in this kit is high school theme and I don't think she will want it in her house.  There might not be enough yarn in the bags to do the whole thing so I'll teach her how to make her own with some of the scrap yarns I plan to get rid of.

It's slowly changing around here.  My house is still ragged looking and still full of stuff.  I can do only so much at a time.  Some things cost money and some require only my time.  I work at it steadily but there's no rush.  I'm not trying to win a contest in how fast to turn around one's life.  Being rushed is what got me into this mess in the first place.  Being rushed is how the house started looking so bad.  Being rushed is how my house got filled with so much stuff. 

There was a time when I was under constant pressure to.... do more.... be perfect..... have more.... be more.... and the list goes on.  I lived by my "to do" list.  Each year, or maybe it was each month, the daily to do list got longer and longer.  After awhile the things to do became less about doing them well and more about just moving on to the next item of the list. 

There was a time when I would spend all the time needed doing a great job on a quilt, or making a rug, or fixing dinner, or sewing an outfit, or making cardboard furniture, or cleaning a room.  My life back then had some stress but the stress was manageable.  As I took on more and more to do's the stress became more of a daily feeling.  The stress became a part of me as I learned to live with it.  I kept telling myself I just needed to work faster and more efficiently. 

I kept telling myself I just needed to be more organized so I could get more done.  I figured out ways to organize so I could do more in a shorter time.  True, the new organizing did speed things up.  BUT, did I use the extra time to enjoy myself?  Heck no, I filled up the extra time with more to do's. 

Well anyway, this is getting to be a pretty winded post, my point is that.....  Life is much more important than a to do list.  I'm reminded of something my Grandma Mama said when I was a first time Mother.  She said "Cleaning and dusting can wait until tomorrow because children grow up we learn to our sorrow."   I should have listened to her advice.

Making progress

I've talked about this many times.  I say things like:  My house is fast becoming a hoarder house.  I feel as if I'm living in a garage rather than a house.  If I had company where would they sit?  If a grandchild or great grandchild wanted to spend a few days with me where would they sleep?  The craft stuff has taken up all the space of my life so that it becomes a cocoon around me. 

I've also shown several times how desperately I want all the STUFF gone so there is room for what really matters in life.  Time after time, I've cleaned it all up, gotten rid of some, and more or less organized packed it tightly enough the house looked somewhat presentable.

When I announced my retirement from full time machine quilting career in order to have more time with family and friends (to have a simpler life); I once again went on a mission to clear out the STUFF that is preventing me from being happy.  I haven't forgotten it, I've just been a little side tracked lately. 

During the thunderstorms (and flooding issues) we've had for the last few weeks; I've actually done quite a bit of clearing out STUFF.  I stay away from electrical things during a storm which means no internet and no quilting.  I used the down time for sorting and purging.  Here is one room as it was before.  I took the photos when the sun was shining because there's no light in there.  Its a catch all room for groceries that were not yet put away.

It was a dropping spot for the cardboard brought to me by a friend who gets really good cardboard boxes for making cardboard furniture.  I needed to cut it into storable size.  Hmm... enlarge the photo to see the detail I added on the cardboard cabinet base.  It's upside down because Ladybug used it to play grocery store with me.  She thought it made a great cash register.  What an imagination she has.

There is some recently canned orange jam that I couldn't fit into the kitchen cabinets and some bags of clothing scraps left over from the last two memory quilts.

More clothing scraps and more food.  There is my dehydrating machine that really should be stored in the kitchen..... but where to put it?

I kept telling myself all that food should really be put away.  Well.... what am I waiting for?  My next life?  Anita, put it away already!

So that's exactly what I did.  While the thunder storms were raging, I cleaned and sorted and put stuff away.  Cleaning kept my mind off the dangers but I also had the radio on to hear an alert if it came.  The room is once again cleared out and ready for me to start painting. 

The cardboard cabinet is waiting for me to finish it.  I'm undecided whether to make it into a bookshelf or put drawers in it.  Then again, I may change it completely.  But.... I promised myself I would not start working on any craft item until the house is visitor friendly.  A nice reward for all my hard work will be to sit and craft without feeling closed in by stuff or feeling guilty about quilting that should be finished.

After taking this photo, the rest of the food was moved to the kitchen.  The dehydrator is moved to the closet for now.  I'll put it in the kitchen when I get to that area of organizing and purging.... again.

The doors you see in this room were stored here many, many months ago when the new floors were installed.  They are the doors to all the closets of my house.  The floor guys never came back to install them.  I plan to paint the doors before I call the floor company.   I'm sure they are responsible to put the doors back up but after all this time there might be a charge involved.

It may not seem like a lot done but it was for me. 

I'm really an organized person by nature.  I actually like having a minimalist house.  I love everything having it's own place and everything being in it's place.  What happened?  Well, a major part of the problems was that I got busy running my machine quilting business.  Too busy to be normal.  I let the customers decide what my day involved.... which was always according to their deadlines.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciated having the customers.  They meant no harm asking me to complete work for deadlines.  I could have said no but I was afraid of letting go of the money earned. 

Gradually, over time, there was more and more quilting and less and less of life.  This was my fault.  As I said before, I could have said no.  There are several other things that contributed to my house being overwhelmed with STUFF.  All that is water over the bridge now.  The flood of work has passed as any flood eventually ends.  My life is on a more relaxed path.  I may post about some of the other contributing factors as I continue my journey. 

We are expecting more storms in this area later this evening.  The major weather system that has caused many tornadoes out west is now headed for our area.  I'm going to get off the internet and see how much work I can get finished before this evening.  I have my emergency stuff ready. 

Blessing or curse

You can't fix what's broken until you understand what's broken. 

Before I can prevent myself from becoming a full fledged hoarder, like you see on those tv shows, I need to understand why I've started accumulating so much stuff over the last few years.  I need to understand what's broken.  I'm going to document my backward journey to a simpler life in a series of blog posts so I can refer back to these posts now and then.  When I see myself slipping back into hoarding tendencies; reading the posts may help me remember.  Senior memory is not as good as it once was ya know.   My journey won't be fast and it won't be slow.... just steady.  Or at least that's my hope.

One reason I accumulate so much stuff comes from seeing the "potential" of many things.  It can be a blessing to know how to reuse items because it saves money in my budget.  It can be a curse because it creates a tendency for hoarding. 

Let me give you some examples that I found around my house yesterday.  Here's one.  Orange peels.  You may see something that should go into a compost pile or in the trash.  I see their potential for keeping stray cats from using my garden for a potty.  If these were Clementine oranges then the peels would be turned into Clementine powder to use as flavoring for cakes or cookies or ice cream.

Here's one of the oddities I save because I see it's potential.  It's a cassette tape I found in my yard just the way you see it.  I picked it up thinking it should be thrown away before the wind blew it all over the place.  Just as I was putting it in the trash I saw it as plarn (plastic yarn) instead of trash.  So I rescued it.  Plarn can be knitted, woven, braided, or crocheted into many useful things.

I saved these yardsticks I get from the fair.  I've been saving for several years because I need 22 and I get only a couple each year.   Why so many yardsticks? 

These are to be used inside my window quilts as the risers.  They can be cut to just the right size for each window.  I could also use the yardsticks for curtain rods.  Why not just buy some yardsticks?  Well, money of course.  Buying is using money, these are free.

Another oddity I rescue.  Thread tails.  When machine quilting I pull up the bobbin thread to start which creates a thread tail.  This thread tail is cut and saved.  Why am I saving thread tails?  My hope was to eventually create the fabric for a coat for myself.  It would be placed between two layers of water soluable stabilizer, stitched heavily to make the fabric, then cut into pieces for a coat of many colors. 

Want another oddity?  Here's one.  Soda bottles.  What on earth could these be used for? 

Cut the bottom out like this.  Drill a whole in the cap.  Place upside down in the garden next to the plants for slow watering containers.  I will pour some water in them each morning and the water will slowly drip out to the plants.   This saves water because I won't be watering anything but the plant.  Not the area around it.  Saving water means I can keep the water bill low. 

You see these?  These were given to me by a customer.  She got them from a florist.  I'm not sure what the florist uses them for but they would eventually be thrown away.  What will I use these for?

Thread cone covers to tame my quilting threads.

As you can see, I have a lot of thread cones.  I also have several drawers full of threads.

Speaking of thread cones.  I save the empties too.  What will I do with empty thread cones?

There is a lot of potential for thread cones.  As risers for multiple trays in the freezer when I flash freeze food.  As the base for pretty curtain tie backs.  You know what I'm talking about?  The rope thingies used to hold curtains open.  Hmm.... tie backs made from plarn or thread tails maybe?  The cones could also become the knobs for cardboard furniture. 

Cardboard.  You know how I do love using cardboard for other things.  Ok, here's one box that is not to be cut up.   It's a shoe box.

It became a portable light box.  Oops, I noticed this box has some really cool micro sized flutes.  Micro fluted cardboard is hard to find.  I may have to find another shoe box for the light table. 

Many quilters know about dryer sheets.  These make great foundations for string quilts or as a stabilizer for embroidery.  I see other potential for them as well.  I'm thinking maybe these could be dyed and used in art or possibly woven into a very soft rug. 

Another example of cardboard rescued from the trash.  At first I was only rescuing it to cut the recipe off to save.  Then I saw the potential. 

I used a part of it for making a quilting template.  I needed a square so I cut one.  Then added a bit of tape to use as a handle.  I never know when I'm going to need a template so I save boxes.

This is the template being used on the quilt currently on the machine.

Here is a weird oddity I've saved.  These are buttons that hold objects in a package as a deterrent for thieves.  I plan to use them as a base to make handles for cardboard furniture doors.

This is the plastic sheet that comes inside of packages of bacon.  These make great quilting stencils.  Draw a design on with permanent marker, stitch along the lines with a domestic machine, no thread, then use powdered chalk to pounce the design on the quilt.   

Some things I've saved for many years because of an idea; but, the idea doesn't get made.  For example this laundry starch.  I bought it when my daughter was very young.  I planned to make silly putty and paint and slime for her to play with.  If I'm lucky, I might manage to finally make those things for Ladybug.

To be continued......