Sewing, cleaning, and plumbing

It was one busy weekend! First the sewing which was last on the things I accomplished this weekend. I got the t-shirt top trimmed

the batting cut and the backing sewn together. I got started on pressing the backing, but it was getting late last night so I stopped.

Earlier I had dug thru my red and yellow scraps to find pieces big enough to use for making more hourglass blocks for the AHIQ challenge for this quarter. I didn't have many red scraps that would work so I had to cut yardage. I did find a lot of yellow scraps big enough though which fits with my goal this year of trying to use up as many of my scraps as I can. I have the pieces matched up and ready to turn into hourglass blocks.

I was up early Saturday to get ready for the father and son plumbers. Since I plan on selling my house when I retire I want to make sure that all systems are in tip top shape. I have some annoying issues with my plumbing that need to be fixed. Here is a shot of the area where the majority of the plumbing is located. I missed getting the drain lines top of the wall in the picture where the sink drain line is located. It was incorrectly sloped and hung down way below the ceiling.

Here is the after - much neater. They redid the drain lines for the kitchen sink, the upstairs bathroom sinks, and the laundry tub. The upstairs bathroom sinks didn't drain correctly. There was a galvanized drain pipe that they removed because is was corroded and plugged up. The kitchen drain line was also very close to being plugged.

Under the kitchen sink before

and after. They added a vent which will help the sink drain better.

I couldn't use my hose bib in the front. I had to use a pliers to get it to stop dripping and ended up mangling the handle so I hadn't use it for years.

In order to get to it they had to cut a hole in the studio wall.

I already had an access panel so that now covers up the hole and gives access in case the hose bib ever needs replaced again. In this picture only the access panel frame is shown.

The new hose bib

I have a markerboard that I keep my to do lists

and it feels good to cross some of the plumbing items off the list

Right now the plumbers as scheduled to come back on Saturday to finish fixing the tub faucet and reset the toilet which is loose. I am not sure when they will be changing out the water heater. It will be wonderful to have all the plumbing in 100% tip top shape!

I am still fighting this cold, but it's getting better. I didn't get a change to cook much including trying out my new Le Creuset pan by making eggs. I will have to have eggs for dinner one night this week.

Going to be busy

This weekend is going to be crazy busy. Saturday I have a father and son duo of plumbers coming to resolve all the annoying quirks I have with my plumbing. Much has to do with my drain lines that have been creatively piped over the years by different family members and friends. Since I will be selling the house whenever I retire, it is a good time to invest and get all the issues I have fixed. Right now I don't have any problems with the way things function, but if a family would buy the place (it's a four bedroom house) problems will occur. I have a hose bib that I can't use so it will be replaced, the bathtub faucet isn't installed correctly, my master bath sinks don't drain correctly, and the kitchen sink drain line doesn't have a vent on it for starters. I also need a new hot water heater. The one I have now works fine for me, BUT it is more than 17 years old and the plumbers both laughed when they recognized how old it was. The are going to do all the other stuff first and then come back another time to do the water heater.

I would like to get the t-shirt quilt pin basted this weekend. The backing has been washed and is waiting for me to iron it.

I would also like to have a few minutes to try out my new Le Creuset pan. The first thing I am going to try is eggs. Eggs stick horribly to my stainless steel fry pan so I am hoping with the enamel finish on this pan the eggs won't stick. I laid a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper in the pan so you could get a sense of the size. I have never owned a piece of Le Creuset so I am interested in how it performs and if it lives up to all the hype.

Have a great weekend!

It is time ...

join in with the AHIQ group and get my quilt started with the theme being hourglass blocks. I have been so busy with other things that I have not spent time playing with the group and it is about time I do! I want to use scraps since that is a goal to use as many scraps as I can in 2020 so I pulled out my yellow and red bins

I found a piece of each color and roughly cut 10.5 " - 11" squares for no particular reason.

I layered the squares

free cut them corner to corner

then shuffled them into two blocks

I think cut free cutting was a bit too straight! Maybe I need to partake in a beverage or two in order to loosen up a bit! LOL!!! Anyway, these gray fabrics are going to be added in some way. I have a few ideas in my head.

Next - the backing

Thank you all for your well wishes! I am feeling so much better! I talked to several people that were sitting at the same table as I was with the guy that was spreading his germs at the company meeting we all attended. Out of the five people that were sitting at the table with the guy who was coughing and sneezing, four of us got sick! I told the guys at the trailer this morning, that the germ spreader ought to be banned from the job trailer until he is well. From what I heard the germ spreader is still sick.

I did get the backing fabric for the t-shirt quilt tossed in the washer. The woman who commissioned the t-shirt quilt picked this fabric. I think it will look good.

I got my sewing machine back last Friday. It is still sitting in the foyer. I haven't had the energy to carry it down to the studio. My other machine is working ok for now so I will just continue to use it.

T-shirt top progress

I felt horrible Monday morning; I ached all over. I made myself get up and take a couple of Excedrin. After it kicked in I was feeling better. I did some work on the computer and watched the Grammys that I had taped. By noon I decided to sew. I now have the top all sewn together! I still need to trim the top and bottom. I was pushing it to get that last seam sewn, but I just wanted to get this top sewn together.

I had sewn this top together in sections.

I will have to get the backing fabric washed tonight.

Thanks for all you good wishes that my cold goes away. I slept really good last night and will be back at work today. The coughing has subsided - thank goodness! I think I have turned the corner!

Where have I been?

I have been under the weather since Friday. This cold is a whopper! I thought I was feeling better on Saturday so I managed to get a lot of the t-Shirt quilt sewn together. The section on the left is done except for straightening the bottom and top. I will do that once I get the right side sewn together.

I was wrong about thinking this cold was not going to hang around long. I was tired on Sunday and Sunday night I tried to go to bed early and ended up coughing and blowing my nose for two straight hours which was totally exhausting. I just wanted to go to sleep. I was aching all over so bad this morning I texted in sick. I just don't want to give this to someone else so I just use another sick day. Let's hope the Excedrin I took when I got up will kick in and make me feel a bit better.

Doing some hand quilting

Yesterday I had some time at lunch and after work to get a few more stitches in this DWR quilt. I need to get this done so I can give it back to the owner.

It was kind of hard to quilt with my hands being so dry. I am now making an effort to make sure I used my Mango butter goat milk cream from Rose of Sharon Acres more often to get some moisture back into my hands.