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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Monday, October 29, 2012

Fabric Scraps to Keep the House Warm

I save all my fabric scraps and clothes that are too worn out and too stained to give to someone else. So that often means that I have a large stash of fabric that is useable for something. One thing that I have discovered to keeping this old house slightly warm in the winter is to cover the windows. But drapes are expensive and I want something a little prettier than just an old blanket over the window. Although I have plenty of windows covered by old blankets, I still want something that looks nicer. If I have to suffer the dark of having the windows covered it might as well be by something nice. So, back to all those scraps and old clothes...use them to make window coverings for the winter. Just cut them into squares and in the same general idea of making a quilt sew them together and then sew them to a backing. The backing can be the old blanket that you used to use or you can use all those worn out blue jeans and make your own backing. The stitching doesn't have to be as nice as it would with a normal quilt, but these window blankets will look infinitely more charming than the old thrift store blanket. You can place grommets in the top and then use rope, twine, or shower curtain rings to hang them. Add to the rustic charm by hanging them from a "rod" made from a thin sturdy branch. They can then be opened during the day on the south side of the house and closed at night to keep in the warmth and block the chill coming through the windows. If you have some really bad leaky windows then you can put bubble wrap on the windows themselves to add an extra layer of insulation. Of course, don't forget to go around and caulk around those windows. We have to do this every single winter because this house moves so much. We even have to sometimes re-caulk what was caulked the year before because the movement of the house has widened the crack that was filled. If you have a house that moves don't forget to check and caulk around baseboards as well. With ours being on a crawlspace, the cold air loves to blow under those baseboards that are no longer tight because the floor has moved. I will do a picture tutorial sometime later about the window quilts, but really it isn't all that hard. If I can manage it then so can you. Blessings, Kat

2 comments:

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

Yep, been working on window quilts for our living room windows I plan on using a psring tetion rod run through them on our windows. Now to find the time to get them done, they've been a work in progress for 2-3 yrs now*sigh*

Blessings for your day,
Kelle

Kat said...

Don't feel bad Kelle, ours have been a work in progress too. One room at a time. We have a lot of windows in this house! Blessings, Kat