April One Monthly Goal

My goal this month was to take these t-shirts

and some denim shirts to make a top of out them for my entry for the Akron Art Prize and for the Elm Street OMG challenge. I wasn't planning on losing two weeks being exhausted from moving all of the stuff from the double wide trailer at work to a much smaller trailer using a two wheeled dolly. I had to spend some time on some family stuff so next thing you know the month was winding down.

I got to work and got half the quilt top put together. I had been thinking about how I was going to do this all month and finally decided just to jump in and do it!

I am happy with the progress and now that I am on a roll I should have the top done by the end of the week.

Time spent looking

I took another half day vacation yesterday to try and get some stuff done around the house. I spent a lot of time looking for stuff. It has been a couple of years since I have done any real home renovation work so now I have to find stuff. As I am looking for stuff I am also purging and I have plenty of that to do.

Years ago I bought all new door hardware and I did put the handles and hinges in a plastic bin along with screws and cupboard knobs. I only had two doors left that the door knobs needed the hardware replaced. I found my template for drilling the hole I needed, but I couldn't find the darn hole saw. I was looking for something else the there it was hanging on the pegboard for tools right in front of my nose!

Here is the ugly old hardware.

I removed the knob and this is how it was mounted which these holes will not work with the new hardware

Hole saw installed on the drill

The hole saw is not deep enough to go thru the whole door so I had to set up my template on one side of the door then move it to the other side to finish the cut

The new hole

I am going to paint the door before I install the new door handle but this is what the new hardware looks like, I will also be changing the hinges. I did both doors and of course this job took longer than I thought.

I also removed the closet system from the master bedroom. This was the first one I had installed in the house and I used support brackets (those four pieces at the bottom of the picture) to hold up the shelves instead of the shelf track method which is much easier to install and much stronger. Here is the shelving, pieces and parts that I removed. I can reused the two shelves and rods; I just need to get three shelf tracks, a hanging rail for the shelf track, and 5 shelf brackets. It must have taken me an hour and a half to get that darn system removed!

Here is the closet in another room showing the shelf track and the bracket support for the shelf.

I also sorted thru my paint to see what I had. I am really good about labeling my paint cans so I know where I used each paint. I know now I will need to buy a couple of gallons.

No sewing, but I got four loads of laundry done too. LOL!!

Have a great weekend!

It is all too much

Yesterday I took a half day vacation to prepare to finish painting the trim in my bedroom and for installing paintable wallpaper when it comes in a couple of days. Well one thing led into another. I need to clear out as much stuff as possible and get all the painting done so that I can get my floors refinished - living room, small foyer and two bedrooms. I started in my bedroom gathering up all the quilts. I decided to take them downstairs to the guest bedroom and pile them on the twin bed I have down there. Next thing you know I was pulling all the quilts out of the other upstairs bedroom (I have a bi-level house so it is kind of reverse with the living room and kitchen upstairs) and hauling them downstairs and sorting them into groups: quilts I made, vintage quilts, and decorative and artsy pieces.

I have too much! What on earth am I going to do with all of these? How many you may ask? Quilts I made including 13 baby quilts - 51!

Decorative/artsy pieces - 56!

Two quilts made by my Grandmother

Vintage quilts - 9 1/4. Yes, one quarter. I got this quarter of a quilt at an auction for nothing because nobody wanted it. I thought it was lovely and planned on hanging it.

And lastly are the quilts my Mom made. I didn't pull them out of the top of the closet to take a picture because I was getting tired at this point from walking up and down the stairs all afternoon. I ended up with 15,000 steps yesterday. I have five quilts, two wall hangings, and this sweet small decorative quilt Mom made from pink fabric I had hand dyed.

I have about seven quilts I made that I would gladly let go immediately. I might have to wait until fall when the call goes out for donations for blankets for winter. I have to downsize what I have. I feel overwhelmed and this doesn't include the quilts in the UFO pile! I feel like I have lost my mind!

If nothing else I will be prepared for the next ice age!

I did get the bedroom cleared out so I can paint this afternoon.

AHIQ project for this quarter

Grab button for AHIQ

I decided to kill two birds with one stone for my Ad Hoc Improv Quilt this quarter. The only guideline is that we use two different blocks in our piece. I can do that, but I am also going to use these jeans that belonged to the neighbor guy. He said they "shrank" and he couldn't fit into them anymore. LOL!! I am going to make my AHIQ out of them, then the quilt will go to his kids to give to him for his birthday. I like that there is a variety of colors of blue.

I got the dark denim shirt torn apart and started in on one on the lighter ones.

Look at this pretty snap that was on the darker shirt

I made a batch of French butter cookies for the construction guys moving the temporary fence for the site work.

Onward!

Still ripping

I got in a rhythm finally with ripping apart that denim shirt. There are as many of four rows of stitching for one seam! I only have a couple more seams to go and it will finally be in pieces.

Meanwhile, I was thinking two shirts would not be enough fabric for the sashing for the R.E.M. quilt so I dug around and found two more denim shirts. They are lighter in color which I think will add more interest. More ripping to come!

8th finish for 2017

Don't get too excited - it is just the doll quilt that I got done. The finished size is 16" x 19". Most of the fabric in the top are turn of the century. The cream with the brown and a couple of the shirting prints are from probably the 80's as well as the binding. The fabric between the four patches is turn of the century. I used warm and natural for the batting and hand quilted it. This piece is for a doll quilt swap sponsored by Humble Quilts. I will get this in the mail today.

Saturday I walked to a restaurant to have brunch with an x-cousin by marriage, then I stopped at the grocery store and the library. The library was having a book sale and I got this brand new $35.00 cookbook for a buck!

After I walked home I saw a sign for an estate sale just down the hill from my house. I checked it out and scored this nice patio furniture. It belonged to the fellow's grandmother and was in excellent condition for being 40 or 50 years old. There are four chairs and a table. The chairs fold up and the table breaks down in to two pieces for easy storage. It is all wood and I only paid $65.00 for it. The top folds in half and is heavy. There is even a hole for an umbrella.

In the mail I received this cute bag from Margaret Cooter of Margaret-cooter.blogspot.com.

Sunday I did the grocery shopping. Small whole fryers 99 cents a pound. I bought two of those and threw them in a pot to make broth and have meat for soup. I also heated up milk and processed it on the electric blanket for yogurt. It was a good batch!

I put together my colander and bowl to drain the yogurt which I leave in the fridge overnight.

Here is what I ended up with.

One crazy week

I have been swamped at work and with meetings. I haven't been able to focus on sewing after work, but I am working on that. I have to get focused now! Too much to do to wander aimlessly!
I did work a bit last evening on tearing apart another denim shirt. Gosh, it is sewn together well!

The guys were here this morning to pull out the old double wide trailer. This was my home away from home for more than 3 years.

I still had to get rid of the trash that was in the old trailer and the dumpster guy made it easy for me. All I had to do is drag the bags to the landing for the steps and swing the bags in.

Yesterday I had to go on a road trip and deliver some paperwork to the architect's office. I ended up behind this Jeep. I would think it would be hard to make a left hand turn! LOL!!

I am making myself a list for the weekend to help me focus. Let's see if it helps and I get a lot done. Have a good productive weekend!

More gifts!

I received this cute zippered pouch from Brenda of Scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com. Look - she even quilted my name on the back! I was the winner in a giveway she was having. Lucky me!

Now are next segment of What was I thinking. I was cleaning out the garage this past weekend for a couple of hours and came across a bunch of keys that I had saved from the demolition and other keys from past projects that were for the trailers. What on earth was I thinking I was going to do with these? I have no idea, but I sure have a lot of them!

Sewing - what sewing? LOL!!

Saturday I got my hair cut and stopped at the grocery store and Home Depot on the way home. I got picked up by a family member and we were off! Had lunch and ended up spending time in downtown Akron. I got home about 5:30 and I was dragging partly because it was so hot - 80! - but I needed to get the cheesecake made for Easter. So I made the cheesecake, did the dishes, and called it a night.

Sunday I was up early and made a pecan pie - homemade crust too - to take along to my brother's house with the cheesecake. I forgot to take pictures of both. Duh. I was then off to my brother's for Easter. There was lots of good food and presents! Yes, Easter presents! I received this beautiful handmade tissue box cover which was made by my SIL's uncle

Then I got these sweets from my SIL's cousin

Lastly from my brother, SIL, and son I got this big 8" chocolate bunny!

I did get a little sewing done Sunday morning. I cut the pieces for one of the covers for Michael and got them quilted. There is flannel on the back and batting inbetween.

While I was at my brother's house I got a couple more sewing projects for the band. I need to alter a cover that is too big and make a shade for the merchandise trunk to keep the sun off the t-shirts. Once I got home - about 6:30 - I needed to get a walk in and call my brother who lives in Texas so not a lot of sewing happened. I do feel better and not as tired so I will try to get back at the sewing machine this week. I miss it!