Posted in weather, tagged red sky on November 30, 2010| 4 Comments »
Sunday morning I was up way too early. As I headed back to bed, the sunrise was deafening! Bright red, not so wonderfully captured by my camera. Plus I refused to go outside as I’m sure it was in the 20’s at best.
That afternoon while I was downstairs sewing, JP called for me to see the sunset.
So what does a red sky in morning AND a red sky at night say? The sailors must be confused!
Posted in Quilting, tagged charm pack, LaPetite' on November 29, 2010| 6 Comments »
I have the LaPetite project done for November. This month I was only able to submit a completed top but not a quilted wallhanging. By the time the pattern arrived in mid-November, there was a ton on my plate!!
Because I wasn’t thrilled with the pattern, I chucked my original plan of fabrics I had purchased on my Madison trip in September. Instead I raided my charm stash.
At quilt guild, I’m in the charm square exchange. Each month we bring a pair of 5″ squares per person in our group following the color for the month. This is my collection. I think I’ve been in the exchange for 3 years.
To make choosing easier, I kept with the basic colors of the pattern and chose these charm squares from my stash.
I made the inner churn dash blocks first. Mostly to get the red over with! 🙂 I then redid how I’d do the other blocks as I’d rather make half-square triangles with 2 1/2″ blocks and trim them up after sewing. So my red ones are sort of wonky….
Not too bad with the center done. Looks tolerable in the picture! 🙂
I have the top done to submit to the group. I’ll work at quilting it after this week passes. 😉
I think shopping for a binding will be interesting! I like it now. 🙂
Posted in family, tagged shopping on November 28, 2010| 8 Comments »
It is always fun when Phil has a day off (so to speak…) and both kids are home. On Thursday, we watched about 4 movies in various stages of togetherness. Phil & K are the die-hards. I added a nap during one (or was that 2?) and JP checks in online often.
I grabbed the camera for this shot as Nina had just snuggled her little (ha!) head up to K at the corner of the couch. However, Nina walked away as soon as I got out the camera. Seems she isn’t the only one not in favor of pictures….
I sort of headed to bed early as K & I had early alarms set for shopping!! As the usual routine, I woke up before the alarm! Argh!! Finally at 3, I got out of bed and started the day. K also awoke early so we were about 15 mins ahead of schedule by the time we left the house at 4:15 a.m.!!
An hour drive had us at Target at 5:15. They had opened at 4 and the parking lot was packed! Once we were inside we realized why the parking lot was so full… NO ONE could leave! The check-out line snaked around the whole store midst all the main aisles. Seriously!
There really was no way to wander & browse so we just aimed for the things on my list: sheet sets for both kids –700 count damask for $30 each!! :), sweatshirts for JP for $5 each, nice shirts for JP for $10 each, and a new star for our Christmas tree. The star wasn’t on sale… does Target match a sale price within 14 days like Shopko? I’ll be checking!
We found a line on the far wall that ended at the pharmacy check-outs so planted ourselves there. A great choice we would learn. Knowing we’d be here a bit, K headed to Shoe Carnival for a deal for her feet… however, they didn’t have any! 😦 She made a stop at Old Navy and found 2 sweaters. I had only moved a bit when she returned.
Meanwhile, I snapped a pix for you.
And I studied the foods on the end-caps. Did you know they make Goldfish in S’More flavor? Have you had them????
Soon 2 young moms were in line behind me and we chatted off & on. They had an overflowing cart to share (we never got one) and were exhausted! I asked when they had started and they said 9:30… last night!! Argh! They discussed their lists and had at least 2 more stops to make yet. :yawn: They had already waited in the main lines about 1 hour and then found “our” line. I’m so glad we only got in this hidden pharmacy line!
We were in line about 40 mins and then checked out and on our way to the next stop. The crowd there was a bit unnerving to K who has more of her father’s genes in this regard. I wasn’t in a hurry and not after any electronics so all was well.
We headed to Lowe’s next around 6:25 a.m. Parking places, carts to use, and no crowds! So empty the same worker asked us 3 times how we were doing!! LOL!! We got a new Christmas tree and a few misc items as well.
And at that, it was 7 a.m. and we were done!! ha!! Except for some embroidery thread and that store didn’t open until 9 a.m. We spent time & money at Kohl’s and Hobby Lobby and then went to Panera for LUNCH at 8:20 a.m.! I was glad they had soups ready. 🙂
A bit after 9, I got my thread and we headed home. When we got home, Phil had just come in for breakfast as his hog truck was over an hour late. K went straight to bed and I tried to stay up until noon but it just wasn’t going to happen.
Naps were only slightly sufficient but another lunch and then early supper revived us enough. K headed home and made good time with not much traffic struggles.
It was so much fun to have a bit of time together. Thankfully, December gives us 3 visits with K! 🙂
Posted in cooking, family, tagged dinner, Thanksgiving on November 27, 2010| 3 Comments »
I did a lot of cooking on Wednesday to make Thursday a bit easier. On Wednesday, I baked butternut squash and made the mashed potatoes. JP had peeled the potatoes the night before so it helped give me a better start on Weds. Later in the day I made baked spinach but that was just to go with supper. I baked a fresh batch of bread.
On Thursday, we first got the turkey in the oven. Thankfully it was nearly thawed as many years I’ve dealt with a frozen bird! 😦 It was just 13# so not so much to man-handle.
K helped make our version of Panera’s Greek Salad. That is JP’s usual choice whenever he is there. K cleaned and tore up a large bowl of 3 kinds of lettuce. We had sliced red onion, kalamata olives, diced cucumbers, and feta cheese in bowls so everyone could add whichever toppings they liked best. I made a recipe for “their” dressing and it mixed up so much better than last year’s version!
K had the great idea to make croutons! She cubed some of the fresh bread from the day before and we toasted it in the oven. The turkey didn’t mind sharing the heat. The croutons turned out sooo very yummy as after toasting we then browned them up in a skillet with butter & garlic infused olive oil which we did ourselves and some herbs.
I made a pan of brocolli & cauliflower with cheese sauce.
After the turkey came out of the oven, we put in the veggies, the squash, and the potatoes to get them all warmed up. The gravy I had made last week was heating on the stove.
I only got one quick chance at a picture as everyone was hungry when it was finally ready. Phil voted (alone) to remove the candles as the table was too full.
It was a yummy meal and we’ve been enjoying the leftovers! Phil wasn’t too full for pie so had his piece of Peach Berry Pie right after lunch. My sliver was all I needed to just get a taste. K & JP enjoyed pie for an afternoon snack.
K packed a few boxes of leftovers to take home as we cleaned up the table. This morning I made turkey tettrazzini for the men from the rest of the turkey. I have 3 meals in the freezer for them. Only a bit of squash & the salad remain but will vanish in a few more meals.
Posted in pets, Quilting, sewing on November 23, 2010| 3 Comments »
And certainly nothing blog-worthy to share lately.
I made curtains for my neighbor over the weekend. I took my camera when I delivered them but she was going to have her husband help hang the rods. She called back a few hours later and LOVES the curtains.
They are for her basement windows so just my skill level. She has done a KNOCK-OUT job on the basement. I’m sure their house is 100 yrs old so you can imagine the basement style of that time. She put bright white cement paint on the walls. Then an amazing epoxy paint on the floor. Their son installed $200 worth of fluorescent lights. She has hung “vintage” laundry signs around her laundry area and put in a new tub-style sink. She has made a scrapbook corner w/ a peg-board covering a section of rough wall.
It is really stunning! I hope I get to see the curtains sometime.
It is so good to see the hope for a basement. I’m inspired and eager to get to painting the walls & floor of my own but only 34 y/o basement.
I made 2 Kindle Kovers and have them listed on my etsy site. The link is on the right side bar or click HERE.
I’m working on a few more quilting projects as well as getting food planned and purchased for Thanksgiving. And on one morning, Phil & I got caught up on the bookkeeping and no one died in the effort! 😉 I usually do the week’s worth of checks on Monday morning but for a few months, I’ve let the credit card bills go unrecorded since they are such a hassle. Phil helped with the sorting and I got it all input to the computer.
Just so you don’t feel bored since I don’t have loads of pictures today —
Our mail today consitested of a Chevrolet magazine (boring!! We have a Chevy, GMC, Dodge, & Ford here. Not partial to anyone!), a Harry & David catalog, and this collection….
‘Tis the season to be shopping, I guess. They all hit the trash. Along with the 3 we got yesterday. And the ?? we got last week.
Here was Nina a few weeks ago —
“See what I dug?”
It is THIS deep!
Posted in quilt guild, tagged quilt guild, round robin on November 18, 2010| 2 Comments »
Our guild doesn’t meet in December so we have a Christmas potluck for our November meeting. I arrived purposely late for the potluck after eating at home. After the potluck, we played “Left, Center, Right” with 2 1/2″ strips of fabric. We had each taken 6 strips of suggested Christmas prints. Each round was played with 3 strips and all 3 groups chose to play both rounds. It was fun and a new thing to do while getting to know some others in the group.
Nearing the end of round 1 at my table. Most of us were out along with our neighbors but Susan, Sandy, & Shirley were still in. In the end, Susan’s neighbor, Judy, won the nice pile in the center!! 🙂
At noon on Monday, I finished my round robin border for the month. Whew!! I’m usually an early person but this one slipped by and I didn’t start it until last week. Then I was gone for most of 3 days!
I did paper-piecing ~ my way! ~ and here are some trimmings.
The corners are small – finished at 2″
But that is all you get to see! 🙂 The quilt belongs to another member that I doubt sees my blog but just trying to follow the rules. 😉
This November border was Quilter’s Choice but not squares from the month before or appliqué from next month. It was sort of like Yahoo!! – no rules but Ack! – no guidelines!! 🙂 I wish I could take a peek at the others each month. I don’t go in a group to guild so don’t get the fun of sharing in the car like others do.
I’ll need advice for my next Round Robin quilt. Thankfully it isn’t due until January but…. it is appliqué, and I’m not sure of what design to use. Gorgeous quilt tho!!
As always, if you want to see more of the Round Robin, let me know privately. 🙂
Posted in fibromyalgia, tagged fibromyalgia, guaifenesin on November 17, 2010| 2 Comments »
Monday, November 15th, was my 5th year anniversary of reversing my fibromyalgia with guaifenesin. HERE is the website with info.
I plan to write up a progress report every year. And every year I’m too busy. What does that say? 🙂
If you read very far back in my blog, you know I don’t let much grass grow under me. I have so much to do and seriously there aren’t enough hours in a day. 🙂 A far, far, cry from my life 5 yrs ago.
That was sad. I was in my early 40’s and we were looking to buy a wheelchair for me. We had borrowed one for our little vacation of sorts that summer of 2005 so I could at least go with the others. But it was old and not my size and just cumbersome. I had to use the store wheelchair at Target & such places. The kids would argue over who got to push me. Now, that is a sad place to be!
But my legs were like cement and they didn’t move. I had fatigue that required 2 naps a day and I slept all night as well. If I did awaken during the night, it was too hard to get up and move to the living room couch so Phil got me a small TV for the bedroom that I could watch during the night. I wasn’t able to walk through the grocery store so most of the time K got our groceries after her job in that town. She had usually planned the meals and made the grocery list too as even those jobs had become too difficult for me.
The guaifenesin treatment is a slow process and one that the patient has to take responsiblitly for following. There are rules to follow and if you don’t want to watch the ingredients in products you use on your skin or brush your teeth with then you set yourself up for failure right away.
But if you choose to be salicylate-free and follow the dosing step-ups as directed on the website, you will get better. It is so amazing! I only write occasionally about my Fibromyalgia because it doesn’t affect much of my life anymore. But if you click on the Fibromyalgia category on the right side bar, you’ll find a few other blog posts on it.
Now I do all the care for the house & meals, tho anyone is welcome to do a load of laundry or dishes! 😉 But I also live such an active life. I’m a busy quilter and looking to expand those levels in the new year. I am happy to be able to attend church weekly and my weekly Bible Study. I drive to visit my parents in Ohio and make the trip solo most times. I do water aerobics twice a week and aim to do a Jillian Michael’s workout here at home 4 days a week. (that doesn’t always happen because I have too many other jobs calling for me)
My hardest thing is the eating. About 40% of those with Fibromyalgia are hypoglycemic and I am one of them. I follow the HG eating plan that Dr. Paul St. Amand has written and tested. I keep mostly to the strict side but can have some of the vegetables on the liberal side. I also have a piece of sugar-free whole grain bread occasionally for a treat. When I cheat on the eating plan (including eating chicken at a restaurant as they soak it in sugar solution…. dumb!), I get an upset stomach, a headache follows a bit later, and the next day I’m fatigued and sluggish. It is impossible for me to find a safe meal out to eat and I miss that. I’m sick of cooking but I have to do it. There aren’t short-cuts and I have other things I’d rather be doing than spending time in my kitchen.
I’m so thankful that I decided to try the guai 5 years ago when I read about it. I had tried so many other “cures” and come up dry and poorer every time. This works!
I now help others get started on the guai protocol. I’ve learned that just because someone has FM and asks about it doesn’t mean they are going to follow it. I offer information and help and more help if they ask. I help because I have my life back. I had to do this alone and learn it myself midst the fog. I’m very willing to help others get started.
My sadness with the FM is knowing others that are diagnosed with the disease and know about the treatment and how much I’ve improved and still refuse to look into it. Why? Do you like the pain? Is there attention there? Don’t you want your mind back? Your energy? Your strength? You can have it back with guai. It takes time but it works. You didn’t get this sick overnight and you won’t be better overnight. But for me, my 42 years of building up are nearly clear in just 5 years. What a blessing!
I’ve come to the point of being thankful that my disease is fibromyalgia. I have been able to reverse it and get my life back! That doesn’t happen with so many of the similar diseases I was tested for in the early days.
I don’t have fancy pictures to go with this post so thanks for reading along if you’ve come this far.
Here…
This is me ending my ride on the slip & slide! In the mud!
Five years ago I couldn’t have gone to my family reunion in Ohio with such ease. I couldn’t have walked up this hill. I couldn’t have done the slip & slide back down & been able to walk the next day! It was a 100′ slip & slide. Obviously, we all went farther. It was fun! 🙂
Posted in Quilting, tagged quilted, silk, table runner on November 15, 2010| 3 Comments »
Mrs. So & So’s etsy site is expanding! Today marks the beginning of having quilted items on my etsy site.
And the beginning is a big deal but a small deal! I’m thrilled with the shift in focus and pray that it pans out and fills the holes for a bit. However, I’ve only listed one item for today. 😉
Since my first table runner met with great reviews (and frankly, I loved it!!), I made another one to sell. (No, I didn’t rip MIL’s table runner from her fingers! LOL! That would be impossible – thankfully she loves my stuff. 🙂 )
A third one has journeyed to Ohio and hopefully is well-loved there, too.
This is from hand-dyed silk/cotton blend with 100% wool batting and 100% cotton backing. It is machine washable so you can use it! 🙂
Let me know if you’d like this. If you are local, I can save you the shipping fees and commence business directly with you.
I’ll be adding other items this week and next if all goes as planned. Thanks for marking Mrs. So & So as one of your favorites on etsy!
Posted in family, long-arm machine, Quilting, tagged jamie wallen, quilt design on November 13, 2010| 8 Comments »
Today I attended a machine quilting class by Jamie Wallen. This is so how I think… free-form free-motion quilting. We worked with markers/pens & sketch pads and I’m in awe of what I learned. Just stunning!! I hope to make some samples soon and will show you.
These are shots from Jamie’s samples —
I learned how to do all this!!! 🙂
But in all the free-motion work I’ve done, I’ve never tried feathers. I love feathers. Just never taken the time. I’m so glad I waited to be taught correctly. 🙂
Here are some of the drawings I did. The only guidelines we had were the square outlines for the 2 on the right. Of course, I need to practice more but I can’t wait to graduate to thread in my machine. 🙂
He also taught a lot about the machines. There were several machines represented there (I was the only one w/o a long-arm) and he gave so much information on care and adjustments.
At the class, a lady diagonally across from me said at lunch that I looked familiar. I told her where I’m from which is far from where I was for this class. Then she asked if I had kids. Yes, but we homeschooled them (I was thinking she knew us from area sports or ? ) . She asked where they were born and when I said 1 town and then the other town in HRMs, she nodded.
So… my High Risk doctor during my pregnancy with JP is her boss, she is the Physician’s Assistant. I said my son is 18 years old! She remembers me! I’m picking my brain still to remember! Mostly I had the Residents for my doctors and their nurses. I told a bit of my story with JP and my time at the hospital. Then she asked how he is. I was so thrilled to say he is fine and bright and a bean pole!! 🙂 I’m going to dig up some pictures to show her at class tomorrow.
I got home at 6:15 tonight to be greeted by wonderful news that a SL mom had her baby today and named her nearly after our Miss K. Middle name is Joy for the new baby. 🙂 That gives me tears…..
I’m more confirmed in my machine choice for several reasons I learned today. That makes me happy! And I’m more anxious for the day to come.
What a wonderful day!! Must get a good night’s sleep!
Posted in long-arm machine, Quilting, tagged long arm, Quilting on November 11, 2010| 6 Comments »
So as part of my long-arm “research”, one dealer offered for me to come and quilt a quilt on her machine. No charge!! 🙂 I’m leaning most heavily with this dealer anyway. So last Tuesday was the scheduled day.
I was supposed to be SO excited!! However, that was dampened a bit by the hacking and with stops at 2 banks, I ended up being about 20 minutes late. I had called her ahead to let her know. That was OK, her kindergarten daughter had a wardrobe malfunction so she had to deliver clean clothes to school. 😉
Stephanie helped me load the quilt on the machine and that was easier than I expected. She brought several stencils for me to choose from and I was going to do some freehand work too. She suggested some stencils to get the feel of following a pattern which was a good idea. I thought my day was only going to be using a pantograph so this custom work was great! Right up my alley. 🙂
Above you can see the flower/star stencil in chalk near the middle but to the left side. I did a vine/leaf pattern in the borders. On the quilt where I didn’t have a flower/star, I did meandering to fill in the area. I left the gold “roads” unquilted.
I was done with my first area and Stephanie was busy so I started to do a loop design in the small black border until she came back to help me advance the quilt. This was so much fun!! (you can click on the pictures to see them larger. )
You see here that my quilt (36″ x 60″) was little for the big machine but gave me some experience. The poles are 12′ long so the machine takes up quite a bit of room.
Here is my finished quilt —
Yes, the border nearly matches my carpet… :p
The pattern is from one of M’Liss Rae Hawley’s books on FQ Quilts and is called “Road to Ireland”. I named my quilt, “Road to Quilting”. Hopefully this is the gateway to a new venture.
Just a peek at the back… I know the backing doesn’t match… 
But it is flannel & cozy.
I’m pretty proud of my first quilt on a long-arm. Stephanie was surprised I brought a “nice” top to quilt and she said I did a good job. Honesty or sales-tactic, I don’t know. It was a BLAST and went much better than I expected. I awoke Wednesday morning wishing I could go back to the quilt shop to quilt another top. However, life continued at home.
and sew on... 