The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Nah!! Not that one. I have my own version. Here it is. First the Good.... My order from Fabric Shack came yesterday. The top pic is the Marcus Brothers shirtings for my project with Linda. I love them They are just wonderful in person and I think I will be collecting shirtings! The other pic is of one of the backgrounds I chose for my weight loss quilt. It is a Henry Glass fabric and is just as beautiful, but oh my goodness, is it SOFT! My jelly roll got just a little break from being rubbed as this Henry Glass fabric needed to be petted! I am amazed at the texture of it. I will be ordering more Henry Glass fabrics!!

Now for the Bad.... What the heck happened!!?? When I evicted the kids for being so messy, I was certain my sewing room would never get to this point again. I wonder if they snuck in here while I was not looking and trashed the place!? But wait a minute...that is my Beef-a-roo cup, and my coffee mug. And my rotery cutter and fabric are there...along with all the pattern pieces for the apron I made. Hmmmm. I guess I have been bad! This will get some serious attention today.

And finally the Ugly!.... That is ALOT of ugly!!! My sewing room closet has been overlooked for a year or more. It is loaded with home school material, all of which has another home and just needs to be moved. My stash is in there somewhere...and it may not appear this way, but there is so much wasted space. I use my Grandma's hutch as storage also. Right now, the bottom shelf holds my quilting books. Hopefully this will change soon as I work out another place for the kids library and once again I can use my bookcase. The middle shelf holds my antique quilt collection...see the pink and green??..it dates back to pre-civil war for those of you who are new to my blog. The top shelf is for....well I am not sure. It holds fabric and UFO's right now. No order at all. The only fabric sorting that has went on here is by Zachary. I found these on the floor like this. Zach told me he saw them and thought he would organize them for me. When your 6 year old son starts organizing your fabric, it is time to step up the game! (Notice TJ's playpen is still up from when he spent the night a couple of weeks ago!) So here is the plan...by Tuesday I will have "after" pics to show you for my Tackle It Tuesday post! Now I am not saying it will all be done, but I will have a system going. I am thinking of using Bonnie's Scrap Users System, though it will not be completed by Tuesday, it will all be in place. Wish me luck, and if you don't hear from me over the weekend, just know I am working, working, working, or I gave up and decided to watch the Clint Eastwood version!

Live Well Wednesday

I was not going to weigh myself this week, as I knew it would not be good. Not because I have messed up, but because I KNOW I am retaining water. Well, I could not help myself and was surprised I actually took off 1 pound. I hope next week is another 3 to compensate for the less than thrilling numbers this week. I am not complaining as I was pleased I did not see an increase. Someone commented last week that 12 pounds is a dress size. I would love to go down a dress size, but I know 12 pounds will not do that for me. I was borderline needing to go UP a size so now the size I am in fits much better. One thing that did change sizes was my fingers. I can get my ring back on again. It is not tight and slides on and off with no problem. I do not like tight rings, so I had set my marquette aside for a few months.

Another thing I notice getting better is my stomach problems. No more pain and acid. I had a comfort lunch yesterday....PB&J on toast. UGH! Though it tasted really good, afterwards my stomach was on fire and the high fructose corn syrup made me feel awful. So much for comfort! I am still feeling the effects this morning. I learned though and will not do that again!

Everyone is home today. The wind chill is 35 degrees BELOW zero F. Schools and Kyle's work are closed down. Sweet Hubby is off on Wednesdays, so we have a family day. Laundry is going, a chicken is in the pot, and the dishwasher full of clean dishes is calling my name. Hope you all have a blessed Wednesday and choose to do something to help you live well.

Post Script...A wonderful man, Eric Davis, passed away yesterday. Please keep his wife, Heather and their children in your prayers. You can leave a message of condolence here.

My Apron

Well today is much better than I anticipated. My kitchen is trashed right now, but it was used much. I have a wonderful aroma of Swiss Steak filling the house and fresh buns just out of the oven. Dinner will be good! I have spent some time on the wonderful website that Christine at Liberty Star Farm gave me....I plan to visit there often!!! I also read a story from this book.If I could only have 1 quilt book and had to get rid of all the others, THIS is the one I would keep. There are no patterns in it....no pictures, but the stories are so rich and I disappear into a time that was so wonderful. These stories were written anywhere from 1845-1940. The history is full and I think I may use it in our homeschool classes. It is no longer in print, but there are 3 "like new" copies here. I may have to get another just to have a spare!! It is a book that can become a favorite of a quilter or anyone who loves quilts....shoot anyone who loves to read at all would want this book.

I have to say however, the highlight of my day was a visit from TJ. You know how cute it is when your little boys slip on Daddy's shoes, or the little girls want to wear Mommy's high heels?? Well my grandson wants to wear Grandma's apron!!! These pics are not great, but HAVE to be shared. He was playing ball at the stairway and then he decided he wanted to sit in Grandma's chair at the 'puter". "Come ober here, Gramma" "Ober" was not a typo...it is Tj's new favorite word..."Look ober there!" I LOVE it!!! I had the apron on when he arrived, and when I took it off, he brought it to me to put on him. His Daddy was none too pleased! Mom thought it was cute though!! My day became bright!

Tackle It Tuesday...NOT!

Girly Comments & Graphics


It is more like menopause! I am not going to tackle anything today but the basics. Laundry, general cleaning, and home school.
I question myself on the "Face of Trauma" posts. Why am I always so tired after I write one?? I feel like I am walking through mud.
Oooooh... I dislike a sour post!!! Let's put an upswing on this one shall we!? Have you seen all the wonderful 4 Season Swap quilts? They are gorgeous!! I have an afternoon's worth of work to do yet and pray I get it done in time...it needs to be mailed this week! I finished Amy's apron and am getting to work on the PIF gifts just as soon as my swap piece is sent off.
Ok...that is about as "up" as it is gonna get! Have a blessed day!!!!

(I found the cool graphics site from Mama Bear's blog!)

Jelly Roll Mail

My mailman had to get out of his warm little truck yesterday, in temps that registered 12 below F. I did feel a little sorry for him until I saw what he had for me. It was my prize from Debi's 100th (112th) post giveaway! Now for those of you who are not quilter's, a jelly roll is a cake or donut. To a quilter, a jelly roll is SO much more. I like the quilty kind better....and that is saying ALOT!! The jelly roll (2 1/2 inch strips of a coordinating fabric line, rolled into a what would appear to be a slice of jelly roll) came in this wonderful tin. I will have lots of uses for it in the future. Also, coordinating "Essentials" Egyptian Cotton Satin Thread to go with the jelly roll. Will I become a thread snob too?? We will see. Just look at the rich colors in the jelly roll....I think this would have been my first pick of jelly rolls. Debi has great taste in fabric and we are both huge lovers of Thimbleberries fabrics! This Moda line is gorgeous. It is called Fresh Air by Chez Moi.Not the best pics, but there are pumpkins, purples, browns, fuchsias, teals, and golds. Mmmmm. There was also a pattern included.

I plan to use the jelly roll with this pattern. When? When I get another jelly roll to replace this one! I am now obsessed. I HAVE to have a jelly roll at all times. I have not stopped playing with it since it arrived. A new quirk I did not have yesterday. Add it to my list...I play with jelly rolls.

Thank you Debi. What an unbelievably generous giveaway!!!! I am very grateful and look forward to another 112 posts from you!

I also ordered the background fabric for my weight loss quilt. There will be 2. Here they are. Both are Henry Glass Classic Shirtings. Thank you for the links to all the shirting fabrics. I was able to order several 1/4 yard cuts for my project with Linda.

I figured out exactly what I am going to do with my weight loss quilt. I will share it as soon as I get the first step done and can show you. I was very confused and in turn confused most of you. Thank you for all your help. Today I plan to do some housework and work on an apron. My 4 Seasons piece is close to done, but will need some attention this weekend. I have some homeschool planning to do and some stress relief to figure out. I am going through "Rachel and TJ" withdrawls. Rachel has been feeling "yuk" (morning sickness) and it has been so cold here. I have seen so much of Bud (my son) since he has been driving Kyle to and from work. I will miss seeing him everyday. Kyle's transportation starts Monday....they will be here at 7:15 AM!!!! Nuff said! Hope your weekend is peaceful and productive.

Tagged

Charlene tagged me. This is getting tough. This time the theme is six inconsequential things.

The Rules:
Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So here we go:

1. I shed. Yep. My hair sheds...either menopause or stress. I can not get rid of either so I live with it. The shorter my hair, the less I shed.

2. I write with my finger. It is a quirk. I am a doodler and if there is no pen in my hand I tend to doodle with my finger. Most of the time I do not know I am doing it. It is more prominent during times of high stress and while watching TV.

3. I am a "speed finger speller". Sign language is a second language and I can finger spell both right and left handed VERY fast. Another stress related talent.

4. I grind my teeth at night. (hmmmm, is there a theme here?)

5. I say "hell" alot. I did not realize this until Zachary started saying it. BAD BAD habit. I am trying to quit.

6. I have a very stressful life. Thank God for all the blessings He throws my way on a regular basis or I would be bald, with no teeth, finger writing and finger spelling the word "hell" all day long.

So I need to tag 6 people: Here goes:

Corin (she loves to be tagged)

Sue

Angie

Steph

Amanda

Katie

Help...I am Confused

Here is my 10 pound yard of fabric....the fabric purchased in celebration of 10 pounds of fat coming off my body. Not a great pic, but it is a Robert Kaufman print. The background is a dark brown with green and cream flowers. Very mid 1800's. It is the first of 7, hopefully! I have a dilemma though. While chatting with Linda, I talked out what my plan was regarding these yards and the future quilt they will create. She confused me more....sorry Linda. First thing she did was tell me I should buy a yard for every 5 pound loss...leave it to Linda to get more fabric in there. LOL I decided I could not do that as that would be 14 yards of fabric. I could do 1/2 yards for every 5 pounds to increase the fabric selections, but I think 10 pounds is a milestone that deserves it's own recognition. So back to where I started. Here is where I get confused...it is not a far jump...what do I do with this??? I could make a block with this fabric (or more than one...maybe 10...1 for each pound) they could be small or 1 larger one. I will need 1 background fabric for everything. Ok, so the next 10 pounds gets another yard of whatever jumps off the bolt at me screaming "I'm gorgeous!! Buy me NOW". Then I make blocks out of that fabric and the same background. OR...I buy a yard every 10 pounds, save it all and put in all in a quilt with one over all design. I can buy whatever I love at that moment and not care about matching it up, or buy fabrics that all go together to create a quilt that looks like it was "meant to be".....WHAT WOULD YOU DO??? Any other suggestions will be appreciated. Try not to talk me into more that 1 yard per 10 pounds...I know for you quilters that will be difficult! I just want the fabrics to mean something.

Also, does anyone know where to get good "shirting" fabrics online? Linda and I are both looking for them. They are cream colored backgrounds with small scale designs used for background fabrics. Not cream on cream. They have a definite civil war era look to them. Marcus Brothers has a line called "19th Century Backgrounds II". You can click on the link to see them all, but here is one of them to give you an idea of what I am looking for. I can get these at my LQS, but if they can be bought online for less....well you know.

Here is a peek at another fabric I bought. It is a Thimbleberries...not for my weight loss journey quilt. I will reveal the purpose later. This is just a little portion of the fabric. I appreciate your help with these things that confuse me. Here is something else that confused me this morning. My Zachary dressed himself. It is in the teens (Fahrenheit) here. Check out those Spiderman slippers with the socks!!

Live Well Wednesday

I have had to do some tweaking on my weight loss program. Yes, I understand it is a lifestyle change, but mostly I am in this to lose weight. The actual life style change will come into play for me when the weight is off. It should be an easy transition if I remember to continue to a certain degree with what I did to lose the weight. After feeling sick and my brain being in a fog for a couple of weeks, I went off the program the Cevene Clinic put me on and did what I KNOW works for my body. I feel I am insulin resistant to a certain degree and once I went back to a low carb (good carbs are there) way of eating, I feel much better. My weight was to a point that I may have needed to go on blood pressure medication if I did nothing. This is not just about looking good, it is about me being borderline high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, and lots of pain in my arms and legs from carrying the extra weight. I am small framed and 5' 5" tall so the extra pounds cause problems for my body. I watched Oprah the other day and there were women who need to lose 300 pounds. My heart goes out to them. I do not know how their bones and organs handle it. Anyway....I dropped 3 pounds this week! I am thrilled. I have hit 10 pounds and plan to visit the fabric store. I am going to buy a yard of fabric every time I hit 10 pounds. I will make a "weight loss journey quilt" at the end. There should be PLENTY of fabric, so it will be big! Along with changing my eating this week, I also added some walking back in.I have several Leslie Sansone DVD's, but this is my favorite. It has a total of 6 miles in it. I have a treadmill, but this workout does more than a treadmill. I do 1.5 miles in the morning and 1 mile in the afternoon. I will increase these. I like this DVD because you can do 6 miles if you do all the segments. Her miles are nothing like a walk in the neighborhood or a walk on the treadmill. She incorporates arms, and leg movements that target certain muscle groups. Not an easy workout. Charlotte and Zach usually do the mile in the afternoon with me. It is quite entertaining. The walks go from 4.0 to 5.0 MPH...that is pretty fast, so the workouts do not take long...30 minutes including warm up and cool down.

Another thing I have done, since I am very visual...who is not visual??...is to pick an outfit that is my first goal. I hung it in my office/sewingroom where I can see it everyday. The pants are 2 sizes smaller than what I wear now. They look bigger in the pic...in person the whole thing looks much smaller. And what about size?? In America a woman's dress size is 8, 10, 12, 14, 16...so on. Even though there are numbers missing, going from a 16 to a 12 is 2 dress sizes, not 4. So all together I want to lose 5 dress sizes...not 10 like my doctor said. Clothing size is more important than weight. Anything 12 and under for a woman is considered healthy (according to my Internal Medicine doc) depending on her frame. I want to be in a size 8/10. I was in a 12 at my son's wedding and still looked fat...I did not "feel" fat, but in reality I was. Another healthy gauge is your waist measurements...no one ever got heart disease from a fat butt. It is your belly fat that causes health problems. A woman's waist should not be over 35 inches. 35 inches does not mean she is not overweight, it just means over 35" you are at high risk for weight related health problems.

I was informed by Tammy that today is National Pie Day. Well, doesn't that just go along with today's theme??? I am to share a pie recipe. I was going to do quiche, but changed my mind. All I do is throw eggs, meat, veggies, and cheese in a pie shell and bake it. Hopefully someone else will have a wonderful quiche recipe.

My pie recipe has a very low carb filling and can be eaten as a dessert, minus the crust of course. It is not recommended for low calorie, low fat dieters. I am sure it would use up ALOT of WW points! Here is the recipe, as simple as it is.

BEST EVER DESSERT PIE

1 graham cracker or pastry pie crust

16 oz. heavy whipping cream

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 small box sugar free instant pudding (any flavor)

6 oz water

Beat 8 oz of heavy whipping cream until thick. Set aside

In a large bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining 8 oz of whipping cream and mix. Add 6 oz. water and mix until consistency of whipped cream. Add pudding mix and blend. Add whipped cream that was set aside and mix on high speed. Fill pie crust and top with dessert topping or cool whip. Refrigerate.

I do not put it in a pie crust, but eat it in a small dessert dish. This serving contains about 5 carbs. Perfect for a chocolate fix, but it is wonderful made with butterscotch too. It is very rich, so you do not need a large amount. ENJOY!!!!

Tackle It Tuesday

I have several tackle's today. First I need to deep clean the kids rooms. Though they did a really nice job on their rooms a couple of weeks ago, a deep clean was not done. This entails de-cobwebbing, washing light switches and finger printed walls, light fixtures being wiped down, toys organized (seasonally we go through and throw out old toys), desk drawers cleaned out, dresser drawers straightened, furniture polished, corners and edges vacuumed, and wood work washed down. I also cover any scratches on the doors, which in the kids rooms, are many!!! Another tackle is actually a joy to do, it is just a tackle to sit down and DO it!! Now that it is in the hoop I should have no trouble getting it done on time. The deadline for the 4 Season Swap's to get mailed is Jan. 30th! I was going for a snowflake effect here...not sure I got it, but I like the look any way. I rarely quilt with color. I prefer ecru or white, but I decided to use a light blue on this one. I think I like it. This will be a hard one to give up, like the fall swap piece I did. I still miss that one. I could make another one, but after all that double crosshatching...I don't think so.
We got many inches of snow since yesterday morning, so I have also been tackling the drive way. I did not need to do my aerobics this morning... Total, I think we got 10 inches or so. Schools are closed today, though Kyle had work....I am doing a happy dance, as he just came off a 4 day weekend. He did go an hour late, but he went!! He LOVES his job.
Well I am off to tackle the other half of the driveway and get the kids organized to help in their rooms. Check out 5 Minutes For Mom to see more Tackle it jobs!!

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark" --Charles Spurgeon