A me-me quilt finished

Ok, I finished the quilting on this one.  It's a me-me quilt because I kept hearing it say.... Me! Me! Quilt me next!  I should have ignored it and did something else.

I'm not happy with the quilting.  I like the design.  Not my thread choices.  The dark side of the block has stitch in the ditch so it doesn't show.  It's the light side that bothers me.

Scrappy log cabin window quilt

The more I stitched on it, the less I liked the threads.  It was too late to do anything about it.  I was not about to pick the whole thing out and re-do all the stitch in the ditch quilting.  I keep forgetting to not use dark threads on light fabric because that's what bothers me. 

Four colors of thread make the stitching design

In my mind dark thread on light fabric will look good but when finished my eyes don't like it.  That contradiction doesn't make sense to me even though that's what happens.

Dark thread on light fabric shows all stitching flaws

Dark thread on light colors of fabric show every teeny, tiny stitching flaw.  That's what really bothers me.  Seeing all the imperfections of my stitching.   This definitely will not win a ribbon in the fair.  It will make a really good window quilt though.  A constant reminder for me to stay away from dark threads on light fabrics.  At this point all I can say is.... done is good. 

The next quilt is on the machine and waiting on me.  It's going to be difficult to quilt because it has minky fabric for the backing.  If a machine quilter is not very careful, minky can become distorted while quilting it.  I do load it with the sides with the least stretch attached to the leaders.  Still, it may have too much stretch for the cotton fabric that is to be the front of the quilt.  Luckily, the owner has chosen to have a very simple panto quilting done on it.  It should make the quilting a little easier to do and prevent distortion.

You ever see someone get excited over a light bulb before?

.
Well now you have. I couldn't wait any longer. Ooo, you gals/guys gotta see this! I HAD to show how bright it is in my studio. These photos are taken without the flash and while it's still dark outside.




It's as bright as the middle of the day.

See how dark the studio is when I turn off the lights and move into the kitchen? Oops! I gotta clean the furkid gate. A Couple of years of dirty paw prints show up much too well now.

Hey! Where did you guys come from? You see, even the dust bunnies are fully visible now.

Lots more work to do so I'm going back to it.

I got down to the end of the border designs on the current quilt before having to stop for the day. It's a coincidence that someone asked me about the stabilizing I do on quilts. I just happen to be doing a quilt with stabilizing so I could take a picture.



When I have a very large top with wide borders on it; I will do the borders first then go back to do the center design. I stabilize the center area as I go. This technique seems to tame any friendly borders before the center area is quilted. If there is any fullness it will go to the center where I can spread it out through the quilting.


.

I use this same technique of quilting the borders first when the center area is going to be a pantograph quilted. I stabilize the center area with different techniques depending on what is to be done in the center. If it's going to be a pantograph design I prefer to do a single stitch about every 6 inches across in rows about 12 inches apart. If I plan to do custom quilting in the center area then I will stitch in the ditch around the blocks. There are times when I've used pins to stabilize the center area. I have to be sure to pin horizontal so I don't stab myself as I roll the quilt.

.

Last night the weather was very cold. It got cold in the house too. I kept asking myself..... if I just got this house insulated then why is it that I don't feel warm? I even turned on a small space heater and put an extra cover on my bed. This morning I realized the battery for the thermostat needed replacing.

.

I know for certain I have a half dozen tripple A batteries somewhere in this house. I keep a stash of batteries for things like the smoke detectors, the clickers, the clock, the thermostat, etc. I just can't seem to locate where I stashed them. I'm sure they will be very easy to find when I don't need a battery. So today I will either take time away from my machine to catch a bus to get batteries... or.... pay three times the cost at the corner store.

.

It's loosing things in my house that I had hoped to stop doing this year. My intentions were to become better organized starting way back in January. I had planned to do a little organizing each month so that by this time of year.... everything in my house would have a home and be placed in its home.

.

So many life happenings and illnesses this year have kept me from doing any organizing. I never thought things would be as bad as they were for me. It's been a struggle just to keep ahead of the quilting schedule. Now it's almost January again. My one hope for the coming year is that it will be a much better year.... and that I can do the organizing at last.

.

Finally..... another finished quilt. No, I didn't finish piecing the three quilts. I felt I needed to get back onto the quilting machine for a couple of days to make myself feel better. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment when piecing quilts isn't going according to plan.




Picture quilts have their own difficulty in quilting them. This one has a papery type picture so no quilting can be done on it. I did simple stitch in the ditch around the picture then a lacy design to make it stand out among the background.

Then I did a meander in the background like the customer requested. I also sewed the binding onto the front so she can sew it to the back by hand.

Here is a view from the back to show better details of the quilting.

I hear more and more from my customers and friends how the down turn of the economy has hit them hard. Their investments have dwindled down and down. No one knows how long this is going to be getting worse. I hear them say they don't know what to do.

I must admit, I've never had an investment account. I never learned how to invest. When I was growing up I was shipped from one relative to another and into foster homes or orphanages. I never spent long at these places before being shipped off to somewhere else. I wasn't a bad child, my mother had a mental illness that had me going from home to outside care then back home again when my mother was well.

No one; in all the places I lived; ever took the time to teach me anything more than to have a simple savings for rainy days. Living on credit was the one thing I learned that should be avoided like a plague! I was taught to live on cash only except for a mortgage. As long as I can remember I've been a paycheck to paycheck person. I learned to stretch a budget when things were tight and to buy wisely when we had a little extra cash.

In my family women were taught how to handle a household budget... but nothing more. Right this minute, I'm not sure that was a curse or a blessing. While my friends and customers are looking more and more stressed over the economy taking away their investments; I see it as nothing more than making do with a much tighter household budget. Over the years I've watched some of my customers go on summer long vacations in other countries or buy 500,000 dollar winter homes in other cities. I did envy their wealth and being able to buy just for the sake of buying; but, right now I'm glad I never had those things. It would be much too painful to loose it.

The economy is hurting me too; but, in a different way than my friends or customers with investment accounts. I'm not seeing my savings dwindle or loosing a vacation home; I'm seeing my household budget get stretched tighter than ever before. While other people are watching stock prices going down; I'm busy watching grocery prices, gas prices, utility prices, and quilting supply prices going up and up and up. The higher things get, the less I can afford to buy. The recent wind storm and the loss of everything in my freezer hurt me just as much as someone loosing investment money. My food was my investment.

Over the years, while other people were studying stock market reports, I was studying cookbooks and alternative living books learning how to stretch a tight budget. While they were learning how to make their money grow, I was learning how to make a city backyard garden grow. While others were investing to become wealthy, I was investing in next year's food storage. I'm no longer able to have a backyard garden. There are way too many big tree roots to dig the ground up.

I'm so glad I listened to the angels whispering in my ears to get my house energy upgraded. The increased cost of utilities combined with decreased usage means I may come out just about even on the money used from my budget. Now that's what I call a really wise investment of my money. When it comes to investing, I've been reading websites just to understand what the news people are talking about. When it comes to stretching a household budget.... I'm an expert!

Mother nature did it again. I woke up about 3 am like I always do. I fixed my coffee and sat down at the computer to type a blog entry and answer some emails. This is the quilt that's on the machine. I took the picture the night before. It was all stabelized and ready for the design in the centers. Well anyway, I'm sitting ready to do a little computer stuff...



I hear a clap of thunder and the lights go out. Yesterday morning's storm knocked the electricity out again. By the time the lights came on at about 9 am I felt it more important that I get quilting work done than sit at a computer.

A few days ago, I think it was last Saturday, I counted the number of items I need to quilt before xmas. By my calculations there was 62 left to do. I don't have them all here yet. Some are still just names on the list and some will cancel. Some will be small enough I can put them on the machine two or three together and quilt them that way.

It will be a stretch for me to get them all done on time but its very do-able providing I stay at my machine and don't go anywhere for the next few weeks. It happens this way every year. The final big xmas rush.

I will make phone calls to get as many items here as possible. I will put together a large batting order and call to get it sent on the way. Usually the freezer is stocked up and the cabinets have plenty of staples. This year the power outage has emptied the freezer. I'll have to let my daughter get some meat and other frozen foods for me. She usually does all my shopping for me from September through December and doesn't mind. My xmas shopping is done. I'm waiting for the wrapping paper to show up in the stores. I failed to get any at last years after xmas sales. My daughter will get that for me.

I've run out of time for any possiblity of doing my window quilts. Those will just have to wait until after all the xmas work is finished. Hopefully, the new insulation will be enough to keep my bills low for now. Whenever it gets done? I still have to wait for the insulation company to get to me. They have a number of other homes ahead of mine. I don't mind the wait because the price is right for my budget and the company has a good reputation. They promised it would be before really cold weather gets here.

Over the next few weeks I will drink plenty of orange juice; I'll stay away from anyone known to be sick; I'll tell my neighbors I will see them in the spring; and I'll grow semi-silent on the email lists. The hours of work will be from early morning till late evening. Ahhh.... the things we do for the love of quilting.

I didn't get the current quilt finished. I had several interruptions and a mental block about what to quilt on it. But anyway, this is what got finished on the energy up grades. The new vent above the doors. It couldn't be centered above the door because of the wall studs. The place where I used to change the filter is now closed up.







These are the new filter vents. I now have to keep a stock of two different size filters instead of one size as before. Those have been put on my shopping list. It couldn't be made into only one size because of the wall studs again.

To change the filters now will require me to get the step ladder from storage, change them, and return the ladder to storage. I'm not sure that's a good idea for a senior citizen getting older. At what point will it be too dangerous for me to climb a ladder? Hopefully not for several more years!

Today I will take measurements and make up the list of the hardware I need for my window quilts. I'll keep the list handy just in case I get the opportunity to go to the hardware store unexpectedly. If I have all the necessary stuff here and ready to use; I can install each window quilt as I get the chance to make it. I really want to make pretty artistic ones. For now though, its more important the quilts are functional than artistic.



I saw on tv all the madness of the gas prices yesterday here in Kentucky. For heaven's sake.... raising prices based on anticipation is just wrong! To raise gas prices a dollar or more a gallon overnight.... and the hurricane hadn't even made it to shore yet.... is just plain crazy. I thought it very interesting that within an hour after the Govenor's news conference (and his intention to prosecute price gougers) that the price of gas suddenly dropped all over town. I sure hope the Governor follows through on his promise to prosecute those who gouged the price! If he doesn't follow through on this then I sure won't vote for him in the next election.



Why does the price of gas concern me when I don't have a car? Well, it will effect my customers of course. Which means it will effect me too. In fact, I'll get a double whammy over the price of gas. Some customers will not get their quilts done because of their tighter budget. At the same time I'll be concerned with my own budget problems.

My utilitiy costs have gone up already... in anticipation again.... of the expected cost of heating this winter. I received my new utility equal payment amount a couple of days ago. My increase was about 150 dollars more a month than before. If I remember right, LG&E is due to get another increase next month too. I'm not sure if that raise is already figured in my payment plan or not. For me to be paying over 300 a month for utilities for a small house like this is a big strain on my income.



The changes I've made to make my home more energy efficient are.... as much for my customers as they are for me. It's going to be a delicate balancing act for me to control my operating costs so I don't have to pass it along to my customers.

Oops! I just noticed the time. I have to get my day started.

I finished the quilt. The last two blocks didn't take long. The next one is on the machine and ready to stabilize.



I did a combination of line dancing and custom design. The braids got line dancing.

The outside border got a leaf and curl type design.

I did a combination of line dancing and custom design on all the blocks.

The inside border got a pebble design. The sashing got a leaf design.

Another view of some of the designs.

Just as I got started on the next quilt yesterday; the furnace guy called to ask if he could come by and do some measurements. He plans to start working today and wanted to be sure he had everything he needed to do the work. It's probably going to take him 2 or 3 days to finish. The insulation guys decided to wait until the furnace guys finish their work so they are not tripping over each other or mixing up the tools. They will probably start the insulation on Monday.

There's going to be a new air intake vent put here.

This air intake vent will be replaced with a larger one with a drop down filter system. That will make it easier for me to change the filter.

Another outlet vent will be put here with additional ductwork from the furnace to the vent. This will warm up the bedrooms quite a bit. When the work is finished my furnace will be 90 percent effecient. Yea!

My furkids will be happy with the new vent too. This is usually their sleeping spot next to a closed door. I think they chose this spot because warm air would come from under the door. They are so short that they are very close to the cold floor and stay cold all the time.

A different dryer vent will replace this one. Geeze, I need to check behind there more often. Look at the spider webs.... yuck! This vent is the old kind that is open on the outside. It lets cold air come back inside when the dryer isn't being used. It's going to be changed to one that closes when not in use.

I wanted to get back on the quilting machine but realized I needed to move several things out of the way before tomorrow. So while I was doing all the moving around, some things found their way outside ready for the next junk day. This is gone. I decided to get rid of it. It was pretty but I need something quite a bit larger for better storage. Eight inch shelves are just not enough.

In all the moving things around; I also had in mind that I must replace the plastic on the windows before cold weather. I bought these boxes of window plastic back last spring. They were on the discount table marked 50 percent off. The day that I saw them there was also an additional 75 percent off the marked down price. I think that made the price about 30 cents each if I remember right. I bought all the boxes that were there. What I don't use this year can be saved for next year. Yes, I do know it says patio door but size can be changed with sissors. I'll make it fit.

I'm getting the energy efficient work finished just in time. My utility bill came yesterday. I'm on the equal payment plan. I normally use much less in the summer than in the winter so my payments are usually low for about 6 months. Why they don't make the payments the same year round puzzles me. My new payment has been adjusted for winter..... it went up over a hundred dollars. Well we did get warning the utilities would be much, much higher this winter due to the increase in cost for oil and gas over the last year. It was on the news several days in a row.

Now that hurricane Ike is messing with the gulf oil refinery and drilling sites, I'm sure it will be an excuse for prices to sky rocket again. My sons, the guardian angels, must have been looking over my shoulder telling me to get these things done.... and showing me how to rework my budget for it all.

When the kids were little the utilites always got turned off during the summer because I didn't earn enough to pay it all. I would get the bill paid just in time for winter each year. The utilities were off so long one time that my daughter thought it was magic when I could finally turn on the lights again. She didn't remember seeing electric lights in "our" house before. Maybe that's why my guardian angels pushed me to do this work. Without electricity I can't quilt. Without quilting income I can't pay the electric bill.

My friend Marilyn came by and picked up some boxes of scrap batting. Gosh it was good to see her again.... hi Marilyn. I kept 2 boxes to use for my window quilts and incase a customer's batting comes up short. Speaking of window quilts. I really need to start making those. But, I'm not sure when I can. The xmas quilts are arriving regularly and must get finished. I may end up just getting some sheets from the thrift store and quickly panto quilting those as a temporary fix until the rush is over. They can be donated later.

Well, I guess it's time for me to get started working again.

No finished quilt today. I got down to the last two blocks last night when I had to call it a day. Tuesday was spent at the hospital with my brother again. This time the kidney stone would not go away. He had to have the iv drip of medication to break it apart.

Yesterday the plumber was here to put in my new water heater and bathroom sink and toilet. He did a few other touch up plumbing things too. A new energy efficient heater should help keep my gas bill low.


It says it's a total performance. We shall see.

Well naturally; when one thing is changed it brings forth other things that must be done too. The doors that I have can no longer be used to close this closet. KY State code says the doors must be louvered instead of solid. Something about the air requirements for the appliances. So I guess another shopping trip at the hardware store is in my future. Distance future because I need to save up the money.

The insulation guys will be here tomorrow which means I must spend part of today moving things around so they can get to the access places for the attic and basement. I sure do hate moving things around. Things get lost when I start moving stuff.

I have a couple of VIP tops with short deadlines that must get finished in the next few days. It seems that the hurrier I go.... the more the work piles up on me. I seem to get more interruptions when I'm extremely busy. No telling when I will get around to working on window quilts. I really should have them finished and installed before cold weather gets here; but, when I will actually have the time to make them.

Well, I'm procrastinating. It's really time to get started with the work. Later.....