October '05  Winter Heating Bills

You know, they’re predicting the price of heating our homes is going to go up considerably this winter.  You’ve already seen what it costs to gas up our vehicles – YIKES!  Fortunately I have decided I have an alternative heating source right here in my home, and I’m betting every single one of you do too.  Follow my thinking on this… I figure I have about eleventy-hundred UFOs in my sewing room.  Well, if I start hand quilting them I can curl up under a bundle of batting and fabric every night in my living room.  I can do the smaller ones now while it’s just slightly chilly, and save the larger sizes for colder nights.  If it’s a really big quilt, it can cover one or more of my family members at the same time.  We can sit real close together on the couch (of course they’ll have a draft every so often when I have to re-position my quilting hoop and they’ll have to dodge my elbows when I pull my needle through.)  Then, as winter winds down, I can go back to the smaller quilts until next year.  Some of you may be asking what about the spousal unit?  Won’t he be shivering?  Actually, my male family members, as well as some of yours, are cold-blooded and don’t require a heat source.  These are two people that can sleep in their skivvies in the middle of winter without more than a light blanket and the windows open….I think they’re both part reptile. Wait, let’s not go there.  Too much information?? Anyway, take an inventory of your UFOs and do your part for conserving energy and saving money.  Stock up on quilting thread and needles, make sure you have good lighting, and keep a supply of white mice on hand for your reptilian family members to snack on.