last day of January already?

Not all of these quilts were done today, but I've been saving the pictures so I had something to post every day.  I know you love to hear the troubles of my life, but having a nice quilt to look at makes the story go down a little easier. :)  Since it is the end of the month, I figure I had better show the rest of the quilts I did so I can start February off with February's quilts.

I was hoping to get one quilt done every other day and I've passed my goal so far this month.  I still have a quilt on the machine and the day is young, so I may get that one and one more done before the day is over.  I have a killer migraine and had to sit down because I started feeling nauseous.  The pain of the headache isn't as bad as the other symptoms that go with them.  Earlier my ears were stuffed up and I was so dizzy.  I find that if I distract myself with keeping busy, I can get through the day easier than if I sit on the couch and feel sorry for myself.  Plus, at the end of the day I have something to show for the time spent.

I don't understand what people do with their time if they don't have a hobby.  How are their days spent?  Just sitting and watching TV?  Surely they must regret all of that wasted time.  Or, maybe they enjoy cleaning and keeping things spotless.  I know it takes a lot of effort to keep the dust at bay.  I've never gotten much satisfaction from organizing and making things tidy.  I know the inevitable will happen and the next thing I know, the piles will have grown back and the job will need to be done again.  Cleaning must be done, but it isn't something I look forward to on the weekends.

You would think with all of the quilts I've been cranking out lately that the piles would be getting smaller.  I'm pretty sure someone is breaking into my house at night and sneaking more quilt tops, fabric and scraps back into the piles.  I have managed to move all of the quilt tops into my son's closet and matched up 75% of them with backing fabrics.  It makes it so much quicker to grab a quilt and backing and throw it on the machine when they have already been pared.  Especially if the backing is already the right size.  I really love it when I can get two or three quilts out of the same backing fabric.  But, the closet is jammed with more than enough quilts to keep a small country warm.

40 finished quilts will be going to Middleton, Ca for the families who lost homes in the fires this summer.  Our school district union meets with theirs on a regular basis and I will give the quilts to our union president who is the mother of one of my son's friends and she will give them to another union guy who will deliver them.  It's nice to have connections.  I think that will be the last batch to go, but I never quite know if more are needed or if people are still wanting to make more.  I had a cut off date of Dec 31, but the quilts keep coming in.

I've also been giving quilts to kids at school.  One of my students had surgery because his ribcage was pushing on his heart and he had a bar inserted in his chest.  He ended up in the ICU on Friday because the doctors think his body is allergic to the bar.  You would think they would check for that before doing the procedure.  Another quilt went to a student who attempted suicide and I have another one in the works for another student who is out for the same thing.  Being a teenager is no easy task these days with social media and the bullying that goes on.  I think I also told you about the one I gave last week to the middle school boy who lost his home in a fire over the Christmas break.  I'm glad to have so many helpers so that I have lots of quilts ready to go to offer comfort.