Which material combo to use...

 How are you doing?  I've been working on some things but haven't finished anything new to show you yet.  I find myself in a quandry.  I'm not sure what fabric I want to use for the Queen's Garden Center Block.  It should finish at 16 x 16 and I am going to make the center block into a small wall hanging by itself. 

Perhaps you will help me?  Let me know what you think.  Tell me if you like any of the color combinations for the flower.  There are four flowers and they will be alike.  I tried to give you an idea of what it will look like. 

Picture A - Total different color than I anticipated.  I was going to go with the reds (see picture D).

Picture B - Don't like this combination

Picture C - This would be totally different.  I would fussy cut from it.  I might have to change the plan red under it also but I could do that.

Picture D - Should have been Picture A but they got out of order.  This was the original.  I think that the two reds are too much alike and blend in too much.

Ok.  What does everybody think?   I haven't done the center flower yet because I want it to go well with the outer flowers.  

While I was contemplating this, I baked up some pumpkin pie (crustless) and a cinnamon bake.  The pumpkin pie (or pumpkin pudding) doesn't look good in a picture so I didn't take one.  This is what my cinnamon bake looked like.

It has a thin drizzle of frosting on it too.  You can barely see that down in the lower right hand side. 

Ohhhh.  Before I leave, did I tell you my WOW moment?  I was thinking on how much I want to lose before I retire.  I'm not retiring right away but I choose 2 years as a guideline.  So I did some number crunching.  I know... I know.  ME?  Crunch numbers?  Yeah, it surprised me too.  So I figure I need to lose around 72 pounds to get to my "goal" weight.  Split that in 2 means 36 pounds in one year.  That still sounded like a lot (and it is) so I split it again and discovered that 36 pounds a year comes to 3 pounds a MONTH!  That's it.  Only 3 pounds a month!  I can do that.  The real trick is not to get too cocky and do a yo yo dieting during the month.  You know what I mean.  Lose the 3 pounds and then not be careful what I eat and gain it back and then lose it again, etc.  I think I can be strong enough not to do that.  Wish me luck.  LOL.

I hope everybody has a good night and remember that I need your opinions on the colors.  If you don't like any of them for the flower let me know that too.

Last day of long weekend

Hello everybody.  I hope you have had a great weekend.  Today is my last day in my long weekend.  As much as I love my work, and I do, I will miss being at home and being productive with crafting.  I only have a couple of pictures to show but I did manage to get the Christmas Bells block done, but before I could do the butterfly block, I decided to take a break and do the January block in Bug Off.

I decided that I was too clumsy to cut out the antennae so I embroidered them.  I enjoy doing the hand embroidery so I also decided to add some spots to the ladybug. Thank goodness that I learned how to make French Knots a long time ago.  I have to say that I like how they turned out. 

I will be taking the butterflies to work and work on them during lunch hours.  I will be doing all of them in the brown/black.  I have done that before on butterflies and like how it looks.  I will also be doing hand embroidery for the antennae.  :)

That's it for now.  Everybody have a safe and good weekend.  Funny how I didn't hear anybody complain about it being Monday today.  LOL.

 - Bonni 

Intuitive Eating

I forgot to write yesterday about intuitive eating.  I had some friends ask what that was and, as if by magic, an article about it appeared in my mailbox.  Of course it explains it better than I can.  From:

https://helloglow.co/lose-weight-without-counting-calories/

“Get in touch with your hunger and satiety signals

Meticulously measuring, weighing and counting at each meal and snack sounds like a real pain! Not to mention, it fosters a disconnected, fearful and obsessive relationship with food–one that focuses on restriction and deprivation, sucking the joy right out of eating! It’s also not sustainable in the long-term. Rather than calorie counting, I support the concept of intuitive eating.

Intuitive listening and eating is one of the most important tools for attaining and maintaining a healthy weight. For many women, being on diets their whole lives has severed their mind-body connection, so it may take some time to re-learn how to recognize when you’re hungry and full.

Start each meal by rating your hunger on a scale of 0 to 10. Zero is full and 10 is ravenous. Remove all distractions, such as your phone, computer, and TV, and take a few deep breaths with the meal in front of you. Eat slowly, chewing each bite thoroughly, and noticing the tastes, textures and aromas of the food. When you’re halfway through the meal, rate your hunger again on a scale of 0 to 10. Aim to stop eating at 80% full.

Once you’ve gotten reacquainted with your body’s satiety signals, you’ll end up consuming the exact number of calories your body needs.

Pay attention to meal timing

We hear a lot about what we should be eating but minimal attention is given to when. Eating according to your body’s natural rhythms is crucial for weight loss. Your digestive fire is at its peak between 10am and 2pm so eating a big, healthy lunch during that time is most efficient for digestion and assimilation of nutrients.

Our bodies love routine so aim to eat at roughly the same times every day, i.e., breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm and dinner at 6pm. As the digestive fire is weak in the evening, try to stop eating by 7pm ideally, or 8pm at the latest. Fasting for at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast helps burn fat. Fasting promotes the secretion of Human Growth Hormone, optimizes muscle building and normalizes insulin sensitivity.”

Did that help you any?  I know that I have to usually stop eating and drinking around 7 p.m.  Of course *I* thought it was to cut down on the bathroom trips in the middle of the night or early morning.  Who knew?!  LOL

Have a great day!

The Start of a 3 day weekend

This will be a lovely weekend.  It is cold (boo), my car isn't fixed yet (no money for new battery), BUT it is already productive.  I have finished TWO, yes you read that right--TWO blocks for my block of the month stitching.  One is redwork and the other was the Cake one.  Here they are.

Now I need to figure out what to work on next.  I am thinking that I might work on the Apple Blossom Quilt from Connie Sue's Sketchbook.  I believe there are 100 blocks in that but I doubt I will do them all.  There is a butterfly one out and Christmas bells.  The blocks are 6 inches.

Of course I could also start on the bug one from Angie's Bits n Pieces.

Then there is The Quilt Pattern Magazine one.  The tulip block is the first one and I need to make 4 of them.  

After I work on things I'll post pictures.  Speaking of pictures, my friend Sue sent me a 2018 Calendar AND a quilt pattern.  Aren't they great?  That makes two 2018 calendars that I received this year from friends.  Sue's and my cousin in Alaska had also sent me one.  I love calendar's.  This means I can put the calendars at home (I already have my work calendars) and perhaps use them for crafting!  

Yes I could start looking for fabric for that quilt pattern.

I could also start to look for fabric for the Queens Garden center block.

So many possibilities and so little time!  I guess I had better stop typing and get started on going through all my fabric.  That will be fun...until I have to put it all back.  LOL. 

Have a great and safe weekend everybody!

It's cold outside!!

My car hasn't started yet.  Part of that is due to cold and partly because I don't have the money to get it looked into.  That's ok.  I'm dealing with the situation.  What does one do when that happens?  You try to keep your mind busy and that means crafting.

I don't have a lot to show you but I have been a bit productive.  I have finished all my test patterns that I signed up for (YAY) and you'll get to see them eventually.  Then I organized my BOMs for next year.  So my goal of only keeping to 2 isn't working out so well.  That will have to be changed.  For right now, I will be happy if I get two of the BOM blocks done each month. 

Here is the picture of my redwork block for January.    It is from needleknowledge.com and all the blocks are there. 

I also, just this morning, picked out the material and traced my fusible for the 2018 Tea Party BOM.  It's a cake on top of a stand.  Sounds simple to do right?  Not so.  I wasn't happy with my first 10 choices.  Here is my final, I think, material that I will use for this block.

The stand will be a light gray (going for a silver stand idea here) and the blue will be the cake.  I am think that the pattern on the blue will give the idea that the cake is decorated.  Then the white on white dotted fabric on the top for the icing.  When I get home I will iron my fabric and put the fusible on.

I did try a Kitchen Hack the other day.  It was how to make poached eggs in your microwave.  Since it is only me, and I love poached eggs, I wanted to try it.  It turned out pretty good.  I will make them again.

To make them, you take a large cup, add 1/2 cup water, put your egg in (do not break egg open or anything), put a cover on it (they used a saucer) and cook in microwave for 1 minute.

The other kitchen hack that I read was sheet pan eggs. For those people who entertain and need to cook a lot of eggs fast, this might be it.  You spray a sheet pan with cooking spray, gently break open your eggs (they did 12 at a time), and cook in oven for approximately 5 minutes.  Then you carefully cut between the eggs with a spatula and serve.  I didn't save that hint since it is only me and if I want to cook 12 eggs at a time I'll cook them in muffin tins even though they wouldn't be sunny side up. 

Break time is over but before I stop for the day, I want to leave you with two thoughts.  The first one is a quote from Thomas Fuller.  "Health is not valued till Sickness comes." - Thomas Fuller (1654-1734).  Comp., Gnomologia:  Adages and Proverbs, 2478, 1732.   That is so true, especially up here in frigid Illinois. 

Frigid Illinois (and I know there are a lot colder states and countries right now so I am not complaining too much) brings me to my other thought.

Enjoy your day!

Welcome 2018!

The first post for 2018!  That's exciting (for me at least)!

I managed to finish correcting my mistake on the illusion quilt top.  The top is finished at least.  It might be a bit before I get it quilted.

I haven't made up my mind yet on how to quilt it nor what to use for the backing material.  I am thinking of straight quilting lines (not stitch in the ditch though).  Any opinions on how you think it will look if I do narrow lines on the white L and dark gray L portions of it?  I thought that might make the colorful rectangles stand out more.  Maybe outline the colorful rectangles with just one row of stitching.  For all you quilters out there, what do you think?

Usually a new start to the year means a new start to many things.  A lot of people make resolutions.  I'm not sure on that because I never keep them.  I do have some goals that I would like to see accomplished in 2018.  They are:

Do more crafting (like duh!)
Be there for my friends when they need me (that's another duh!)
Lose more weight
Be more positive
Post in this blog on a more regular basis
Cut back on the Block of the Month programs so that I might actually finish some of them
Pay it forward when I can

There are three of those goals that I have already started to work on.  Obviously "be there for my friends when they need me" is an ongoing thing.  The second goal that I'm putting more thought into is to be more positive.  I like to think I'm pretty positive anyway but sometimes you have to make a conscious effort to be positive.  It's easy to be positive when nothing goes wrong but harder when faced with negativity of any kind.  I have a book called Quotationary that I love.  I will be using that for finding positive quotes or perhaps just quotes that make me think.  Today's quote is from St. Augustine.

"When large numbers of people share their joy in common, the happiness of each is greater because each adds fuel to the other's flame." - St. Augustine (354-430)

Negativity also  is like that.  It can be fueled by others so let's all try to make 2018 a more positive year!

The other thing that is a work in process is how many Block of the Month programs I start...but never finish.

This year the list already consists of:

A Year in the Garden by Jenny of Elefantz Designs

Gnome for the Holidays by Fat Cat Patterns

Simple but Elegant BOM by The Quilt Pattern Magazine

Bug OFF! - Angie Padilla's 2018 Free BOM

Redwork BOM - not from this year but from another year so I already have all 12 blocks for that and just need to start to work on them.

I had a couple more that I was interested in (like the Civil War Antebellum BOM) but will not actively work on them.  I still might collect them for whenever I have time.  Perhaps I should just start a UFO BOM.  I could put BOM patterns directly into that knowing that I'll never have time for them all but I still like them.  LOL!

It's time for me to finish this post for now.  I have to work on another block for a test pattern that is due by the end of the month and then start to work on those 2018 BOMs.  Some of them are already out now.

Welcome to 2018 everybody!  I hope you have a safe and great year.  Thank you for taking the time to read what I post and I look forward to writing more in 2018.