Just Stringin’ Along

This week’s post is going to be short and sweet. Well, short anyway… I’m feeling more grumpy than sweet. The time change was not kind to me this week. I hate leaping forward an hour! Fingers crossed that the House agrees with the Senate and will make Daylight Savings Time permanent next year. Anyway, after a nice and busy birthday on Pi Day, I was dead tired. And that, coupled with the time change, made me sleep in late on Tuesday like a slug, so I missed my WW meeting (formerly Weight Watchers). Then on Wednesday I had my annual physical and had to fast until the afternoon appointment for the usual blood draw. I had a couple fish tacos finally about 2:30. I have been alternately ravenously hungry and tired at the oddest times since then. My body doesn’t know when to eat or sleep. 

Plus, it’s been noisy and hectic here. Our family contractor Jeff, who re-did our basement wall after last summer’s storms and floods, is working here for a week or two. We are finally remodeling the gutted laundry room. I’ll do a before-and-after post on that. Jeff is also doing lots of handyman stuff for us, like fixing leaky faucets, (and replacing the master bathroom one) and tightening all our towel racks - just little things that are difficult for Bruce to do with only one arm. And impossible for me to do with no brain  desire to learn. We’re also remodeling the linen closet in the hallway. Again, I’ll do a before-and-after on that. This house was built in 1963, and I swear, the men who designed this home must’ve had their heads up their a**es. The linen closet has little depth (12” shelves? Seriously?), but the wasted hall space is as big as a bedroom. We already expanded one of the hall closets back in ‘09. So the linen closet will be bumped out about 4-6 inches and new shelving and doors installed. It will require moving a wall and light switch, but the new “wall” will be doors that open out instead of slide on a track. Probably a pricey solution to having a nice place to store quilts (and other linens too, I guess, LOL), but expense be damned!

In the sewing room, I’ve been only sewing strings. Truly, that’s it. It’s all I was up for mentally or physically.  I have yet to put the binding on my SAHRR quilt (“Swimmingly”), and there are four little quilts that are basted and ready to be quilted. Just like they all were one week ago. *sigh*. But these are the yellow strings I sewed this week after I had already finished last week’s yellow and blue strings quilt.

Lest you think I’ve been totally shiftless this week, I should add that I have cut blocks and fabrics and assembled six quilt kits for Quilts for Kids members to sew up. 

The first 3 kits used solid-colored string blocks with a feature fabric (1 yard) and strips for two borders. The other three kits were Zipper block kits with solid fabric borders. I also have another 120 multi-colored string blocks sewn and 3 sets of 15 solid-colored string blocks (and counting…) to assemble into more kits. In the last two weeks I’ve managed to pare down my strings from two bulging 18-gallon plastic bins to one large tote bag and a shoebox. And I hope to sew more strings the rest of this month. Since our chapter is so short on donated fabric, we’re resorting to using strings to “make” fabric and cleaning out our stash in the process. Waste not, want not. 

Over the next week Bruce and I have two families visiting us (one is Bruce’s daughter Emily and family who are coming from Idaho), and eye doctor appointments on Thursday for new eyeglasses. But on Monday we get to head up to Bountiful to have lunch and spend some much needed catch-up time with our dear friend Terri, widow of Bruce’s lifelong best friend and “brother” Mike. We are both looking forward to that. Terri (and her family) have always been like family to us. The three of us could spend hours talking (and have many times!) Love you, Terri!

So later this morning Bruce’s other daughter Stacy and family are coming over. We’re taking them all out to lunch because I don’t cook for crowds anymore. Then we’ll come back to the house to play. Our driveway/tarmac is *the* place to ride scooters and doodle with sidewalk chalk.

Have a great week, friends. I’ll be back early in the week to link up to the finished quilt linky for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). Today I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday. And the smart money says I’ll probably collapse for a nap around 3 pm….