Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: House

A Long Day

Wednesday I took the day off from work. I had 2 goals: 1 – talk to the guy about flooring and 2 – go look at crown moulding and baseboards.  The shops were in opposite directions, so the plan was to do flooring in the morning, come home and make a call, then look at moulding in the afternoon before capping off the day with a movie.

As I was getting ready to leave, my doorbell rang. It was an Amazon delivery and workers to fix the gable on the carport. I moved my car, came back inside and my brother called me.  I was late leaving for the floor place.

This is the final option – just as soon as I see the estimate.  I picked up 3 samples, brought them home and my contractor was here.  So he, my SIL and I wandered around the house with the samples and decided on this 7″ board.  The 9″ board was just too wide in my hallway.

I then hauled the samples back to the shop, and wandered over to the tile side of things.

I think this is the shower tile I’m going to go with. If I run the tile horizontally, I’ll do a 6″ band of the accent around the shower.  If I orient the tile vertically, I’ll do a 12″ band floor to ceiling behind the shower head.  I’ll like to run the accent in a band over the vanity as well.  I did not go in to pick shower stuff, but while I was there…..

We stopped for lunch at a brunch place.  That omelette was really good. Then it was off to the moulding place.  I brought a couple of samples home and will look at them closer tomorrow.  Of course at this point I realized I forgot my notebook at the flooring place, so back the other way.

Since there was an upholstery shop nearby, we stopped in. I don’t remember the background being as dark as it shows in this picture, but I suppose it’s possible.  I was looking at the flowers and leaves.

The colors of this stripe are more vivid as well.

After this we came home. I took a nap as we were going to the 7 PM showing of West Side Story – the 1961 version.  There was a 10 minute intermission!  During intermission I looked up the running time – 2 hours 33 minutes.  I could have used an intermission when I went to see No Time to Die a few weeks ago.

Now that I’ve seen the original which was not “modified from the original version to fit my TV Screen and running time” I might just have to see the Steven Spielberg version coming out in the next week or so.

Too Much Light?

There are 2 airports nearby. I might have to be concerned about aircraft trying to land on my house when I have all the lights turned on.

In Kansas City, my sewing area was lit by 2 ceiling fans over the longarm, each with a single bulb and a swing arm lamp by my sewing machine. Already I have more light since there are 3 bulbs in each fan.  All the lights in the room are LEDs.

I almost think the 5 strip lights give me enough light – at least to quilt. The light will be behind me when I’m at the sewing table.

I’m not sure of the exact angle of the lights yet, but these should be plenty if I’m cutting/pressing (under the far window) or sewing (under the near window).

I suspect these lights will only be used when friends are over quilting with me. There’s room for at least 3 sewing stations along that wall.

The design wall will be well lit.

I added a light by the back door.  I’ve bought light bulbs 3 times trying to get the right size/type.  Clearly I need to try again and get lower wattage so the neighbor doesn’t complain.  I have 2 of those fixtures for the patio which will be put up next week.

I just have a simple flat LED light in the “entryway” of the studio.

By comparison the Sunroom rather dark.

The electricians will be back next week to finish up.

Prime and Design

First a bit of quilting.

My quilt guild, Quilters By Hearts’ Desire, had their annual holiday dinner and ornament exchange on Monday.  The only requirement was that it had to be heart shaped and couldn’t be larger than 6″.  I made this after seeing similar felt and beaded ornaments at the Mississippi Quilt Association Fall Gathering.

I received these 3 crocheted hearts for my tree.

No, I did not have pizza for dinner last night.  QBHD is doing a Pizza Box Quilt.  We are to put in 2 yards each a background and focus fabric, plus at least yard of coordinating fabrics. Looking at the paper we are to attach to the box, it appears that we are to make a block to start off the swap. Since we are not meeting in December I’ll have until the January meeting to find my fabric and make the first block.

Last night the painters were here and they put up primmer specifically for “raw” sheetrock.  Paint is next.  I’ve been told they’ll be done by the end of the week and have the electricians lined up for next Monday.

Unfortunately that doesn’t mean I’ll get to move into the Quilt Studio.  I still need flooring.

The den is up next to get an overhaul.  I’m replacing the painted paneling with sheetrock and replacing the built-in cabinets which my brother and I tore out in July.

 

This is what I have designed. Now to find someone to make it.

 

Today’s Post is Brought To You….

By the Number 2 and the color Purple.

 

Two wheels. My new purple bicycle.  I didn’t think I was up to a 2 mile ride home and it didn’t fit in my car, so it was delivered this afternoon. There was just enough sun left that I was able to ride over to Ruby’s.  She pulled her tricycle out and we rode around the cul-de-sac.  Our plan is to get out and ride at lunch during the week.

Two rooms painted in White Lilac.  The color changes depending on the lighting.  Sometimes it looks more pink than “purple”.  I originally picked “Spangle”, but when I put it into the Sherwin-Williams Visualizer it was too much. The sales guy suggested this color.  There is enough of it left that I think I’ll use it in my office when I get that far.

Next week the ceiling will get painted and so will the Quilt Studio and Sunroom.  I can’t wait!

Insulation and Sheetrock

Monday and Tuesday morning, insulation was hung.

The sheet rock is up in the living room and dining room waiting for the mudding.

It’s slower in the quilt studio and sunroom as it has to go up on the ceiling first.  The round holes are my AC vents, the rectangle is the attic access for the electricians.

Speaking of electricians, my lights have arrived.  I pick them up on Friday.  Windows have been contracted for.  The installers need to come get the final measurements to sent to manufacturing.  I’ve been told it will be February or March before they are installed.  My next decision is flooring.  Paint has already been decided on.

White Lilac for the living room and dining room.

 

and Sole for the Quilt Studio and Sunroom.

House Progress and Other Stuff

When the contractors left Friday night, all of the insulation was cleaned up…

the painted wall paper removed from the dining room and the old termite damaged exposed.

The contractors came back Saturday to finish loading dumpster and I cleaned the gutters, discovering that one run is not aligned correctly (standing water under the leaves). The gutter company has been called.

Then after realizing I don’t have enough going on in my life (eyeroll), I decided I needed to dip my toes into gardening.  This is my first attempt. After posting this on Facebook, I received several comments from friends in Kansas City saying they were just pulling up their gardens for the winter.  Can you figure out what I took my color inspiration from?

Work, on the house is progressing.  Monday they pulled out the damaged window framing and re-framed it.

The studs weren’t as bad in the dining room, so they just added in new studs.

The water damaged ceiling joists and chimney surround(?) were replaced.

The AC Vent was moved in the Sunroom.

Since this was the 1st Monday, the Brandon Quilters met. In November they have an auction to support the guild.  There were a few cakes, some jelly, quilt books, and fabric to bid on.  This was one of the last lots.  They kept adding to it until someone bidded.  Not that I necessarily need 4 linen napkins with my initial on it, everyone turned and looked at me. I totally forgot that I was getting the rest of the stuff.

The woman sitting next to me got a stack of fabric for a single piece. I said this was cute and she gave it to me.  To finish the evening off, I agreed to be the Greeter for next year.

Today the insulation is scheduled to arrive and they are working on the ceiling.

 

A Busy Day

Last night I made a list of what all was happening today.

  • Foundation Inspection
  • Sheetrock Delivery
  • Dumpster Delivery
  • Sheet rock guys to start pulling down the ceiling
  • General Contractor to check on the above
  • Window guy to finalize windows, could be Saturday
  • Chiropractor appointment
  • Work – 2 calls (now 3) that I can’t move

The sheetrock was delivered at 7:45 AM

While this was happening, I locked the cats in the bedroom — well Butterscotch and Sherbert.  Gracie knew something was up and did not stick around for breakfast.  Then I moved my car to the street.

The Foundation guy showed up at exactly 8 AM as scheduled.  There is a 2/10 of an inch drop from the front door to the back corner of the dinning room, so the solution is to level the floor. Now I have to make those calls, but that’s way better than needing foundation work – No picture.

At 8:30 AM the dumpster was delivered.  While it’s here, I’m going to clean up the broken concrete and glass from the back yard.

The Sheet rock guys showed up about 9 and started dropping the ceiling in the Quilt Studio.

By 9:45 it looked like a snowstorm hit. In fact they appear to be using a snow shovel to bag up the insulation.

This was my view from my office around 11:15

With the ceiling dropped old damage which needs to be repaired has been exposed.

Once the guys went to lunch and it got quiet, Gracie came out from where she was hiding and hid under the sofa.

I was able to retrieve her and put her in my bedroom — then I remembered the hole under the sink.  I hope I have it blocked well enough to keep her from under the bathtub.

The guys are back now.  Still shoveling insulation and pulling damaged sheetrock and wall paper down in the living room and dining room.

The AC guy will be here Monday to move the vent in the Sunroom.

I’ve asked the electricians if they want to put in the ceiling outlets before the sheetrock goes up.  They’ll get back to me on Monday.

 

Finished (or Not) Friday

It’s been 2 days since I’ve worked on the wedding quilt, so today’s post is “or Not”.  I estimate I have 4 1/2 hours of quilting left.

Wednesday evening I spent playing “Quilt Tetris” with my guild’s quilts entries for the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival.  The deadline for entry is March 31st, and I needed to make sure I had gathered enough quilts to fill our assigned walls.  Last go round I shoveled photos around physically and it took me several days to figure out the layout.  This time I was able to build the layout in power point in a few hours.

Thursday I played ‘fix the sump pump’.  We’ve had multiple days of rain around here.  When I fixed breakfast, I realized the sump pump was running continuously.  “We’ve had a lot of rain, and ground water is high”.   When I fixed lunch it was still running, so I decided I really needed to check on it.  The good news is the basement was dry. The bad news is the water was high in the bucket. Looked like a fountain.

I called my brother, he had me unplug it and I noticed the electrical cord was warm.  Since he was on his way to the hardware store, he said he’d pick up a new pump and come fix it.  When he dug into it,he discovered the clamps had rotted off, so it was simply a case of reattaching the pipe.  What could have been a $200 repair cost me $8.  But then we talked landscaping — specifically the need to fix/replace the retaining wall and dealing with the water in the backyard.  Between this and dealing with side effects from 2nd vaccine, I didn’t make it into the sewing room except to show my brother the quilt.

There’s been way more “Stuff” than quilting in this post, so go check out what others are up to over at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

 

Then There Were 3

I spent the better part of the day sewing HST together until I had both side borders completed and 3 of the 4 corner blocks made.  By 5 PM I decided to walk away from the sewing machine.  The fact that I needed to do a bit of housekeeping had nothing to do with it.

My living room was a disaster.  I had setup my extra sewing machine in the room a few weeks ago while my sister was here using the quilting machine and it was time to put it away.  I also needed to move the furniture so I could do a thorough cleaning of the floor.  I thought I had short hair cats, but you couldn’t prove it to me with the amount of hair floating around. Anyway, since I was moving furniture I decided to rearrange it.

Before:

After:

There are advantages to both arrangements.  I’ll leave it this way for a while to see how it works.

I did not make it back into the sewing room after this.

Easy Breezy = 26