My brother came over today and installed our new hot water heater, and I cannot wait to take a shower. We were very lucky because we were able to replace it ourselves – the unit itself (gas 50 gallon tank style) cost around $400 and we didn’t have to pay for labor. In doing some research about choosing water heaters, I came across story after story of people who spent $900 – $2,500 to replace their water heaters.
Public Service Announcement:
Go look at your water heater now. I can’t tell you anything about tankless ones, but if you have a tank style water heater, find the water shut off valve (probably a flower shaped turny thing above the tank), the electrical power or breaker that feeds it OR the gas shut off valve (depending on if you have a gas or electric model – the gas one is probably on the side near the bottom of the tank), and the drain spigot (near the bottom of the tank). See if you have any instructions on the unit. We had a tag hanging from the water shut off valve, and that saved us hundreds of dollars in service charges. The tag told us to shut off the water, shut off the electric or gas, and drain the tank using a garden hose screwed onto the drain spigot. Once we did that we no longer had to worry about leaking water, and could easily wait a day or two to replace it. Even if we’d had to pay a professional, we could have waited until a weekday, and shopped around for prices a bit. Face it, hot water is really a luxury, not a necessity. Sponge baths aren’t fun (well, I suppose they could be), but they won’t kill you. If you don’t have a tag, make one yourself and put it on the water heater so a year from now when it’s leaking water all over the floor you’ll remember what to do.
End of public service announcement. Quilting Day pics to follow.
No, this challenge has nothing to do with quilting, not directly, although we are having the monthly family and friends quilting day (aka “Stitch & Bitch”) tomorrow. The basement is all set up, and when I went into the back room I discovered water all over the floor. I traced it back to the water heater. Got Mom up, read the directions on the water heater (we’re women, we do that sort of thing), and turned off the water and the gas. I hiked out to the shed for a garden hose (snowboots required), and we’re draining the tank now. Mom’s wielding the shop vac to suck up all of the water.
My mom just took Amalthea to the vet. She won’t be coming back.
She is 20 or 21, and she’s had health problems for the past several years. We’ve battled bladder infections and failing kidneys. She barely weighs five pounds, despite all of the fluff. We’ve cooked hamburger and chicken for her (I’ve done it at 2 in the morning a couple of times because she was on the table, crying for food), opened five different cans of cat food hoping to find one she’ll eat. She hasn’t eaten much of anything for the last week, and she’s started peeing in the hallway again (we’ve been through THAT many times before, too). We decided that it’s time, but it’s the hardest damn decision. She’s alert, when she’s awake (about two hours a day). She’s affectionate. She’s comfortable when she’s asleep, thanks to the heated pad that Mom found for her just before Christmas. She can’t hear much, but the baby cats (now four years old) treat her with respect and affection.
It’s difficult to find the point where the negative outweighs the positive. I feel guilty giving up, even though the vet says we’ve gone beyond what most people do. But she’s twenty, and she’s not having a good life, and, well, we made the decision. Right or wrong.
After taking a very deep breath and questioning whether it was wise to commit to something else when I haven’t been very good at following through on my existing commitments…
I’ve been seeing these Modern Quilt Guilds pop up all over the place – not just the country, but the WORLD. I think what’s so appealing about them is the emphasis on a more youthful style of quilting. I am a traditional quilter, and I love doing traditional piecing. But I also love the idea of a fresh, young, modern style, with fabrics that are a little out there.
Since this is a VERY new guild, I’m not sure how it’s going to play out, but I welcome the opportunity to learn from another type of quilter. My family quilting group is fantastic, and I learn so much from them as well – we have a range of experience levels and styles, especially color choices – but I’d love to try something new, too.
So, does anyone else in the southeastern – south central Wisconsin area want to come play? And if you’re not in the area, check out the main Modern Quilt Guild page and find one in your area – or start one yourself.
I had to share this video of Buttercup. She has a thing about glass surfaces, and she’ll do this for minutes at a time. She especially likes the patio doors, Mom’s mirrored closet doors, and the glass topped coffee table.
Listen for her huff about five seconds from the end. I just love that!
Have you checked out the Quilting Gallery yet? I joined over a year ago when I first started blogging, and thought it was a nice little resource for finding other quilting blogs. You can search by location, or just check out the newly added blogs. Since I joined, Mishka has turned it into a full blown resource site with blogs, a chat room, a quilt shop locator, contests, sponsors, swaps, charity opportunities – everything you could dream of. There are ads, but it’s tastefully done, and extremely “quilting appropriate.”
I just entered my Icicles quilt in the Weekly Quilt Themed Contest – this week’s theme was “Winter Fun.” I figured with a name like Icicles and fabrics from a line called Let It Snow, it qualified. Voting starts tomorrow, and the winner gets a copy of the Quilter’s Cookbook. You know I’d love that! You can also enter to win a copy by leaving a comment here. Be sure to stop by and vote for your favorite quilt – you can get to it by clicking the picture at the top of the post. Don’t forget to check out the future themes – you may find one that’s perfect for something you’ve already made, or one that triggers an idea for a new quilt. The list of themes can be found here. Themes are listed through the end of the year, so pick a future theme and start working on your entry!
Quilters and crafters are a giving bunch, and this tragedy in Haiti has us all wanting to do something to help. In almost all cases, sending “stuff” will not benefit the people affected by this earthquake; instead, we are encouraged to send money. So how can we put our passion for crafting to use and still contribute? Try one of the options below:
Craft Hope has organized an Etsy shop and will sell your donations, with the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. Check out the Craft Hope website for details, and go to the Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy store to buy something.
Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio is auctioning three Neighborhood quilts, with the proceeds being donated to the American Red Cross. She’s even going to match the donations! Check out the quilts (and bid on them!) here.
Indie Fixx is doing a silent auction of donated items over several days, and will send the proceeds to the Red Cross. They are no longer accepting donations, but you can learn more here. To bid, click the link at the right of that page – each day’s auction will have a new link.
There is a group making heart quilts for the children of Haiti. They have a person in Haiti who can distribute the quilts. Check out Hearts 4 Haiti if you’d like to participate.
Even before the earthquake, there was an organization using quilting to help the women of Haiti. The Peace Quilt Project trains and organizes women in communities around Haiti who then produce incredible art quilts for sale. The women earn a wage plus a portion of the sale price of the quilts. PeaceQuilts sells the quilts, accepts monetary donations, and accepts donations of quilting supplies. Right now they are putting together a relief/rebuilding fund, so check out the website and see how to help.
If you’d rather make a donation directly to a charity but you’re concerned about finding a reputable one that will use your money appropriately, there’s an excellent website called Charity Navigator that has a list of charities helping Haiti with an explanation of what they’re doing with the money. It also gives suggestions for how you can help. The website is a great resource for any charitable decisions, not just Haiti relief.
If you know of other craft related programs that are organizing funds to help the people of Haiti, please post them in the comments.
So now that I’m back to the blog, I noticed a new link to it from some people looking for heart blocks. Hmmm… Valentine’s Day is coming up! I happen to have foundations for paper pieced heart blocks on the right side of the page (scroll way down!). I thought I’d upload the photos so the links weren’t just descriptions, to make it easier to see. And, to make it even easier, I included the blocks at the bottom of this post. Click on a block for a PDF of the foundation for a 6″ finished heart. If you’ve never foundation pieced before, give it a try – it’s much easier than you might think. Here’s a tutorial for my favorite foundation piecing method, which uses freezer paper. The best part is, you can reuse your foundations several time (as many as 10, depending on the complexity of the block and how much you iron it). You can buy freezer paper in 8 1/2 x 11 sheets that will go through your printer – check your local craft or quilting store, or go online. You can also trace the block onto freezer paper, or use a “regular” paper piecing method where you tear out the paper after sewing through it. If you want blocks larger than 6″, you can enlarge the foundations with a copier. As long as you enlarge them CONSISTENTLY (use the same copier, same settings), it doesn’t matter what size they actually are, just that they are the same. If you want accurate 6″ finished blocks, be sure to check your settings when you print the block. In the Page Scaling box, make sure it says NONE, not Fit to Printable Area or Shrink to Printable Area.
Well, I just completely abandoned the blog here, didn’t I?! I don’t know if it was the holidays or just general busy-ness, but I need to do some catching up. Most of that will happen – you guessed it – later. More importantly, I’ve added several new basket blocks to the sidebar. Here are the new blocks:
Block 6
Block 7
Block 8
And to make up for my lateness, here’s NEXT month’s block:
Block 9
Also (you gotta love EQ6), here are some possible settings. Some have the patches and blocks outlined in black, but a couple don’t because the black lines made it difficult to see the pattern.
(The last three are all the same layout, but the color placement makes them look quite different.)
Okay, gotta go – hopefully I’ll be back in less than three months!
Wow, I’ve been busy the last week or so! I’ve been sewing away on the Christmas Cactus quilt, having set a goal of 4 blocks a night. It sounds like more than it really is. I have all of my squares and half square triangles cut and stacked, and I divided the pattern into 100 nine patches. There are four of each one, so I lay out four blocks then chain piece them. It takes about an hour to do four blocks. I’m on block 17 (that’s 68 completed blocks) – only 8 (32 blocks) to go! Midway through I started questioning my fabric choices, particularly the light and dark greens. I’m afraid there isn’t enough contrast between them, so the pattern won’t be as clear. I mentioned it to my mom and she volunteered to make the quilt using just five fabrics – white, light green, dark green, red and pink. I’m making it with 2″ cut squares and she’s using 3″ cut squares, so hers will finish at a bed size while mine will be a large wall hanging. She’s catching up quickly, partly because – yes – I’ve started another project. I’m such a starter! This one is made from 30’s repros and is a simple nine patch alternating with snowball blocks, on point. It was inspired by this quilt. I’m using a greenish turquoise fabric for the background fabric. I’ve cut about half of the strips and the blocks should go together quickly. You may ask why I’ve started another quilt (besides the whole “I’m a starter” thing). Well, the current show at work is ending, and they asked if they could use my Sister’s Choice quilt for the next show. I said yes, but then volunteered to make another quilt that would be more appropriate for the time period. The show is A Wonderful Life (a musical based on the movie It’s a Wonderful Life), and it spans about 20 years from the mid 20’s to the mid 40’s. That just screams feedsacks to me. There’s no definite go ahead, but the show starts in ten days, so I’d rather get started and have it turned down, than have it accepted and try to finish it in five days.
The blocks and quilt patterns below are free for your personal use. They are all in PDF format, so you can save them on your PC for future reference. Enjoy!
