Today's finished quilt. It's an inherited quilt.



It started out looking like this all over.

Now it looks like this.

A view from the back.

I worked on this while the insulation guys kept coming and going to do their work. Staying behind the machine meant I was out of their way. My house is now extremely well insulated and more energy efficient. I'm anxious to see how much better my house feels this winter and how much less it takes to heat it.

I have the 3 or 4 day quilt on the machine this morning. I plan to work through the weekend.

Ah yes, a finished quilt. The t-shirt quilt. Now the only thing left to do is the binding.

I did simple cross hatching all over it.

Things are finally getting back to normal for me. I have another quilt on the machine ready to go. I will be working as fast as I can without making myself overly tired. This recent illness seems to have robbed me of my strength. All I can do.... is all I can do.

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We had a very little mist of sleet yesterday. Also, on the news last evening, they once again reported that we will be paying about double what we paid for gas last year to heat our homes this year. Between the news and the sleet yesterday it was a reminder for me that the insulation is very important to get finished. I had rescheduled the work and the guys are due here today. They say it will take a only day or two to finish. It can't be soon enough for me.

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That will be the last of the energy upgrades..... until I save more money. Next will be to get new insulated siding for the outside and maybe new double pane windows. That's a future thing though. It will be very expensive and will take a long time to save. In the mean time, I still have some windows that need plastic put on them. I'll probably get some of that done this weekend.

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Well, I'm headed off the the studio to work for awhile.

On Monday I went back to the fairgrounds to pick up my quilts. I left home about 10 am and got back home just after 3 pm. It takes that long for me to travel there and back by city bus. 2 transfers each way. Needless to say I didn't get much done in the studio on Monday.

Yesterday I finally got this quilt finished. I think it turned out pretty nice.



Micro stippling is not something I would want to do everyday. Don't look too closely or you will see my backtracking mistakes around the design.

I think I would hate having to make all those tiny micro stitches all the time. I'm glad I was able to do line dancing on the star part.

The stippling did take up most of the fullness in the top.

There are still areas where there was so much fullness it couldn't be stitched out.

I have another vintage top on the machine and ready to start quilting today. Last evening I made phone calls to the next people on my waiting list. I had to giggle after making those calls and I also felt relieved. It seems I'm not the only one behind schedule. Some of my customers asked to be moved to January's list or February's list because they hadn't finished their tops. Some said they hadn't even started making their top yet. Moving some work to next year has actually taken some pressure off me and put me closer to getting back on schedule.

Hmm.... maybe I'll have some time for making my window quilts before winter after all? I can't see that I'll have time for making all of them but one or two is now a possibility if I quilt pantos on whole cloth. Window quilts don't have to be pieced.... just made for warmth.

A big day ahead of me so I best get started.

I know I haven't posted for a few days. Lots of life happenings that have kept me away from the computer and the quilting machine. Geeze.... I can't seem to get caught up for all the life happenings.

I had the energy audit done on my house yesterday. Thank goodness the guy didn't have any sniffles or anything! The auditor found that part of my house is insulated and the rest isn't. He says the back part of my attic has about 4 inches of insulation but the front part doesn't have any at all. The outside walls do have some insulation. He can't say how much for sure though. He recommended I get the insulation done first.

There is an open space in the attic between the front of my house and the back part. It goes from attic to basement with nothing in between. The back section of my house is an addition done 20 years ago. The space should have been connected and closed up when the construction was done but for some reason the contractor didn't finish it.

The auditor said my windows were fine and need not be replaced unless I just wanted double pane glass. I have storm windows that close pretty tightly which acts sort of like double pane. That was a relief. I was worried he would say I needed new windows. The cost of new windows is outrageous!

My furnace doesn't have adequate air intake. I need a new intake vent cut. Something the furnace contractor should have done when he installed the furnace a few years ago. The current vent is not the same size as the ductwork. Not a big deal though, just cutting the existing vent opening larger. He said I can have it changed to a drop down filter vent which will be easier for me. He also recommended that I have one more floor vent installed on the furnace. The new floor vent would be for the coldest area of the house. Geeze... I need to clean this vent already. Quilting creates lots of dust. I have to clean it about twice a month.


Both my kitchen sink and my bathroom sink are cracked. The cracks can't be seen from above but I've always had a leak in both. I always thought it was the drain pipes leaking and I kept buckets under them. He showed me it's actually cracks in the bowl part. See no cracks visible.

See where the water is flowing? Now why didn't I think to look at this before having the auditor point it out?

I need a new dryer vent to the outside. The one I have is out dated and lets cold air into the house around it. He said I might think about one of those kind that can be converted in the winter to keep the dryer heat in the house and reversed in the summer. I've never heard of those but I like the idea. I also need to clean out the dryer.... lots of lint in there that can be a fire hazard. Gosh, I should have done that before the auditor arrived. My dryer lint brush broke and I haven't replaced it yet.

All my appliances are adequate. Mid rage for energy usage. Not energy star but will do for now. I can replace those as they wear out.... hopefully in several years.

I need a new water heater. The one I have is about 30 years old. He said it's in good shape for its age though. Well duh, I do flush out the sediment every year. He said I don't need to run out and get a new one tomorrow but I should start thinking about replacing it as soon as I can with one more energy efficient.

I wish I could say I'm getting back to full time quilting but there is still a junk day coming up. The fair is starting on Thursday and I want to go there to see which of my customers won ribbons. I need to start getting estimates on insulation and shop for some sinks and shop for a new water heater. I also should start putting new plastic on the windows and do some caulking outside before the cold weather sneaks up on me.

Gee whiz, I need to work to get the money for these things and I also need to get these things done before cold weather. I'm kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. Which to do.... which to do.....

For now the studio wins.... I'll think about caulking outside after junk day stuff is carried outside and hopefully after much more quilting is finished. With just a little luck the cold weather will hold off long enough.