It's only Tuesday

I know, I said I would update on Monday. Hey, it's only Tuesday.

I got some free fabric from a wonderful lady. Two boxes worth! There were a lot of pieces that were perfect for scrap quilting. Actually, it was all good for scrap quilting. Some of the pieces were quite large. I knew I would get tired of some of them after putting them into several quilts. There had to be something else I could do. I found Little Dresses for Africa. So I started making these little dresses. They also ask for shorts for the boys. I have some denim and khaki material stowed away. I will have to get it out and use some cute "boy" material and make some shorts too. I want to do this before I mail the clothes off. Some other things I want to do is make grocery bags. Become a little more green in our day to day life.

Why is it so hard to do this protocol? I feel so much better when I follow the guidelines. It is a lifestyle change. I so enjoy potato chips and Fritos and potatoes, and bread and so many other high glycemic foods. I am doing a little better this week. I know part of my problem is Thanksgiving. Why follow the protocol when I'm gonna blow it next week? I know I'm gonna blow it, I plan on it. There is a remedy for that in the book. So I should be good and then fix it later. Diane Kress says she goes on vacation, doesn't worry about what she eats, and then does this remedy (my words) to get back into the routine. That is what I should do. I am impatiently waiting for her cookbook to come out. It will be available in January, 2011. I am sure it will be another excellent resource.

We are getting ready for turkey day and all the guests. I am supposed to be cleaning the living room. I have been sewing and posting instead. I am a bad schnitzengruben! I am so glad DH did not marry me for my domestic skills! The LR should take me a couple of minutes. We want to shampoo the carpets on Thursday (this week). That means Punkers will be locked in the bathroom. She is getting to be an old kitty, 15 in February and we are having issues. She doesn't always go in the kitty box and that gets old really quick. We now shut her in the bathroom overnite. We don't like finding "surprises" in the morning, they are usually found with bare feet, ugh! She also gets put back in the bathroom if we catch her being naughty. You would think she would hate the bathroom, but she goes in there on her own and has a shelf she sleeps on. She does a lot of sleeping. She is still very bright and lively, loves her food and attention, so her time is not up yet. We just have to make accommodations.
It does get frustrating. The potty box is in the room with her. She seldom uses it for poo. She gets in to pee. I don't really understand. She is the only one who uses that one. We want to keep the carpets relatively clean until after Thanksgiving.

We are going to go visit family in southeastern Washington during the first part of Thanksgiving week. Then home to start work on dinner for 10! this is gonna be fun! Later!

Time flies, ufda!

Oh my gosh! It has been such a long time since I posted. Life somehow gets in the way of the things we intend to do, doesn't it? I am doing this for me, so I will try to do better with my posts.

I did indeed finish the spiderweb quilt. Inspiration came from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.
I have gotten a lot of inspiration from her website. I also got DH quilt done. I need to take a picture of DH's quilt, so I will publish in a different post. I have stayed busy. I found the Snuggles Project. You can only make so many quilts for the ones you love, well not really. When they start rolling their eyes, you know you have almost reached that limit. LOL This allows me to make smaller sized quilts to experiment with design and quilting techniques. If they're not perfect, the animals don't care, they have a soft hug for their stay at the shelter. I am fortunate that our local shelter is a participant and I asked that the quilts go with them when they find their forever home. I have made several quilts for them (as you can see, I had a lot of purple) and am working on more even now. I got two boxes of fabric from a wonderful lady in Beaverton. There were a lot of black and white squares cut and sewed in twos and fours. I put them together for the black and white quilt. I really like how that one turned out. I have several projects going at the same time. I have to be disciplined to make sure I finish them. I have a bad habit of getting to the very last piece of a project and then leaving it for something else. At the moment I am working on a quilt for me (again) and in between I work on the shelter quilts. Then there are the projects that I am collecting fabric for and are still just in my head. We will see how that works out.

I moved my sewing machine out of my bedroom. I do not have a dedicated sewing room. I moved my machine to the family room. I was tired of being sequestered in my bedroom. I still do the ironing and cutting and such in my room. Since this is my hobby and I don't have to worry about time lines and being efficient, it works for me. It is about 28 steps from my cutting/ironing spot to my machine. So I am getting more steps into my life (good). My ironing/cutting spot is on the floor. so I have to get down there. That helps with flexibility (better). All of it helps to keep me out of the fridge (best)! I am working on a rag, string quilt at the moment. I am working on it one square at a time. For every string I put on the square, I have to sit on the floor to cut it in my room, get up and walk to my machine (28 steps), sit down to sew, stand up and walk back to the ironing board (another 28 steps), lower myself to the floor to iron and then repeat. When I worked on son J's quilt, I was just moving around my room and lost 10 lbs. I hope this and the Metabolism Miracle, will be even better at the weight loss.

I tend to start sewing after I have taken son N to school. With the up and down and walking, by the time he gets home, I am tired. It's a good tired! I do try to get some house work done in there too. I am writing this in dribs and drabs in between strings.

I really believe in the Metabolism Miracle. I feel so much better when I follow the protocol. Yet, the high carb processed foods are so easy to grab and eat. Then the relentless cycle begins. Eating a lot of carbs make you want and crave even more. It is the time of year for so many of those high carb comfort foods, I am determined to find alternatives and do this! I need to get as healthy as I can for me, my family, and my future.

Breakfast, today, was not to specs ( the first phase of the Metabolism Miracle). I had cheerios and milk. At least I did use Splenda. Lunch is to specs. I had sauteed vegetables (onions, garlic, mushrooms, Mexican squash, and tomatoes over tofu Shirtake noodles with fresh marinated mozzarella balls. Tomatoes can be an iffy factor with carbs so you can use only so much. One tomato per meal. I stayed within the parameters of "free" veggies, so no carbs I need to worry about! During the first phase of MM, you are trying to give your body a rest from overreacting to carbs and releasing insulin. I know when I did this the first time months ago, I could really feel the difference. You would think that would be enough of an incentive to keep going, not to mention the weight loss, better sleep, and such. It is difficult to keep to the MM when the rest of the household can eat almost whatever they want *sigh*.

DH just got done with a two month mandatory overtime and very intense, temporary project at his work. Twelve hour days are tough. The overtime was nice, but I'm not sure it was completely worth it. Then while he was working on the lawn tractor he somehow cracked his rib. It is amazing how that can effect your entire body. He refuses to slow down. He is such a hard-working selfless person. I am very lucky that he chose me and continues to do so despite my many flaws.

Thomas is in a mood today. He is ripping around the house, in and out. He'll come running thru then u-turn to go back the way he came. I will hear one of the cat doors go ka-thunk (front of the house) then mere moments later I hear the click-clack of the back cat door and around he goes again. He is such a funny cat. He just ran up and bumped my leg. He likes to head butt your leg while you sit, anywhere. If you ignore him he just might bite to get your attention. i almost always put my hand down to pet him so I won't get those "love" bites! XD

I'm gonna try to post at least once a week, so I need to get busy and see you next week!

Midweek Mayhem

Well... not quite. Dear Hubby had a dental appointment today, so he messed up my schedule once again. I don't mind, I enjoy spending time with him. More on that later. I did get to do some sewing today. I am almost done! I machine sewed the binding to the front of the quilt. Now comes the tedious task of hand sewing the binding on the back side of the quilt. I will then get a picture of it on here so you can see the spider web design. The next quilt I am going to do, as I said, is for DH. I am going to make a laptop "sleeve" first. Gotta make pretty accessories for my new toy!

Let's talk about the veggies you can have: artichokes, artichoke hearts, aspargus, green beans, wax beans, bean sprouts, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, dill pickles, eggplant, onions and scallions, greens such as collards, kale, mustard, and turnip, kohlrabi, leeks, mushrooms, okra, peppers (red, green & yellow), radishes salad greens, summer squash, zichinni, spaghetti squash, sauerkraut, spinach, tomato (with limits), and turnips. That is a lot of food that has carbs but you don't have to count them! If you have pre-diabetes, type II diabetes, or suspect you are going down that road, I really suggest you get the Metabolism Miracle and read it. I am four weeks into step one. I can see a difference. Even better, I can feel a difference. I'll keep you posted.

We used to have a Ford Courier Truck. We did until our 23 year old totaled it. A few months back we bought another one. It is definately a project. We are so silly! We really liked our little truck. So we are attempting to recreate it, sorta. It is definatley it's own truck. It will be fun to make a close facsimile. Baby steps, we must remember, baby steps. It would be nice to have it the way we want, now. It's going to take time and money and both are in limited supply. Eventually we will have a nice little truck to do some work with. DH just won't know what will await him when he comes home after work. Craigslist is a wonderful tool and we have gotten several free things. Just think what I can do if I had a truck!

Back after a long break

It has been a long dry spell of no quilting. I finally got to sit down at my machine and sew on the most recent project yesterday. I'm almost done. I need to do a little more quilting and then put on the binding and then I'll be done. I didn't work on it at all today. I was lazy and played on the computer. I really need to get this done by Saturday. We will be in the right part of town to deliver it on Sunday.

I don't have a large dedicated space for my sewing. I have a sewing table. I just over run the bedroom when I have my sewing out. I have a portable ironing board on the floor for ironing seams. I get up and down a lot so I get my excersize. It is not the most efficient way to make a quilt. When I made my oldest son's quilt, I lost 10 lbs doing it. Then I have an armoire that I hide my material and supplies and projects in.

Speaking of losing weight. I think I am doing well. I feel better and some troublesome developments appear to be reversing. I should just go ahead and admit that I am reading and following a book called The Metabolism Miracle. This book just made so much sense to me. I never could understand why diabetic diets had so many processed carbs in them. Not all carbs are created equal and a lot of the processed carbs wreck havoc with your body. I could always tell when I had had too many processed carbs. One slice of bread could be too many. I would get very hot and flushed. I started this "lifestyle change" on January 26th. I have not gotten hot and flushed since January 27th. There are definitely restrictions on this protocol. They are actually easy to live with and they do not go on forever. Eventually you get to have some of those carbs back. You need to follow the rules so you don't get in trouble. I think it is very doable and there is room for a little indulgence. Once you get to stage three, you can almost live normal. This is a lifestyle change. I am looking forward to felling better than I have in years and reversing some changes that pre-diabetes and diabetes can bring on.

We finally got the kids married. Their day is February 14th. It was short and sweet and did the job. I think the important thing is, they wanted a ceremony. After two children, they both realized they couldn't afford one. They were just going to go in front of a judge. Then this opportunity showed up, and a small, but nice ceremony was possible and affordable.

We had a sad event happen too. On February 13th my DH's sister passed away. It was not unexpected. You're just not fully prepared. So DH was home all week and delightfully disrupted my schedule! It's not fun when mortality smacks you in the face. A comment his remaining sister made was that she was next. We were all thinking it, we just weren't gonna say it! DH is the baby of his family so theoretically he would be the last to go. I am the oldest, so I would be the first to go (my family).

We got our tax return and decided to help the economy by joining the ranks of households with huge TV's and portable computers. We got some necessities too. The fun stuff was more fun to buy.

The weekend

I don't usually get to work on my quilting over the weekend and this one was no exception. We did go to Wal*Mart to get some stuff and I got some more fabric for other quilts that I have running around in my head.

My diet...oh-um...protocol is going well. The one thing I find inconvenient, all the easy or instant stuff is loaded with carbs. Don't get me wrong, making a salad or scrambled eggs is not difficult. Just sometimes it is a whole lot easier to just pour a bowl of cereal. There is a lot more prep work involved without the carbs. My DH didn't marry me for my cooking skills either, he's the cook. Another thing that has changed, DH would cook pancakes or waffles or biscuits and gravy on the weekends. At this stage of the game, all this stuff is not allowed. I've got him reading about this approach to a healthy lifestyle so he can understand what is going on and hopefully he won't unintentionally sabotage my efforts.

I will admit that I seem to use a lot of eggs. I try to limit the yolks to 5 a week. You can have almost all the egg whites you want, they are pure protein. As a family we use a lot of eggs. I had started to collect egg cartons. They were piling up on the top of my cupboards. Anyone who saw them asked why I was saving them. I want to have some backyard chickens someday and I supposed it was for that reason. I had collected 48 cartons. We can only have 3 or 4 hens. Even if I had chickens now, I don't think they could fill those cartons anytime soon. I don't think the chickens will get here this year either. So I posted the cartons on Craigslist. I proposed a trade, one egg for one carton. I got 4 dozen wonderful, free range eggs. Some are chicken, some are duck, and I even got a couple of turkey eggs. What fun!

My DH usually works on Saturday and has Sunday off. This week, cuz of the Super Bowl, he had Saturday off and worked Sunday. We got the rugs shampooed, yea! We bought this house almost three years ago. We had the rugs shampooed at that time. It was time to do it again. I've said it before, thank goodness for company otherwise our house might never get clean. We would like to replace the carpets but will have to wait for a later date. I should be working on some more cleaning like sandblasting my boy's bathroom. I like writing in my blog better.

Our flea spot treatment arrived yesterday. After the wedding we will dose our cats. We have 6 at this time. We have Guido and Punkin. He's our oldest boy and she's oldest of them all and only girl.

Thomas, he is such a fun cat! We Call him Thup-Thup cuz that's the sound he makes when he rushes over to bump your leg.

And there is Fred, a small sometimes grumpy cat.

One of our newer acquisition (someone dump him) is Ruby. Poor Ruby, he has an identity problem, his name is Ruby. So we call Rubio, or Rubicon, or Rubix, or even Rubin.

Our sixth cat was another dumped cat. We named him Earl Grey. We don't have a picture yet but he is a smaller and younger version of Guido.

Well...it's Friday!

No sewing again yesterday. Well that is not entirely true. I patched my little boy's jeans. Any quilt making is on a hiatus. We are working on the house getting ready for a small reception for after the wedding.

This protocol is getting easier. The cravings have almost disappeared and I really feel like I have some self control. I didn't even have any coconut M&Ms. It is going to be quite some time before I can have the ice cream that only I will eat. I guess I should use the "suck and seal" (Food Saver) and protect it from freezer burn.

Maybe I should mention the supplements I am taking along with the food. In the morning I take 200 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid and 500 mg L-Carnitine. Then in the afternoon I take GTF Chromium (I need to get more). The evening time is when I take my vitamins. I take a good quality multi-vitamin. Then I take additional 500 mg of vitamin C, B-50 Hi-Energy Complex (contains all the various B vitamins), 600 mg of Calcium, and 400 I.U. of vitamin E.

I was extremely good yesterday. It was easy cuz the cravings weren't there. Now let's talk about some of the other things you can have. We will start with the protein, make it lean. White meat skinless chicken or turkey. We are looking for the leaner types of beef. Flank steak, sirloin, Porterhouse steak (make sure you trim it), Filet Mignon, Round steak, London broil, 85-93% ground beef, tenderloin, Rib roast, Rump roast, Chuck roast. Seafood (yum, yum!) is a wonderful choice. Cod, tuna (fresh or packed in water), trout, snapper, flounder, herring 9not creamed), tilapia, whiting, haddock, sardines sea bass, pollock, halibut, swordfish, mahimahi, clams, crab, oysters (yuck >p!), lobster, shrimp, scallops, and surimi (imitation shellfish). Then there is pork, the other white meat. Pork tenderloin, Canadian bacon, canned ham, trimmed pork chops, fresh ham, deli ham, center-cut pork chops. All of these meats you need to have lean cuts, avoid regular bacon and sausage because of the added fat (you want your body to burn your fat, not the fat you eat. Trim excess fat, no breading, coating, or sauces that contain more than 5 grams of carbs.

Yesterday was spent on cleaning off horizontal surfaces. I have noticed through the years, that we have a problem keeping elevated horizontal surfaces clear of "stuff". We really need to get into the habit of putting stuff away instead of setting it down. I like a living room, or front room, or parlor that is separate from the rest of the house. I can usually keep that one room clean for unexpected, heck, even expected company. So slowly, but surely, we are getting the house clean. We have until Saturday. I want to be done by Saturday the 13th. Here's hoping!

Piles and piles and piles

I have not done any sewing for a couple of days. I have made my two oldest boys a string quilt. So I am now completing a string quilt with a spiderweb effect for son #3 and his girlfriend (soon to be wife on Feb 14th). I have top and bottom sashing to sew on and then the binding and this quilt will be done. Sashing, quite often, is a frame of fabric around the body or individual squares of the quilt. Like a picture, a quilt can have the quilt body (the picture), then a sashed border (the matting), another sashed border (the frame), and then the binding (decoration on the frame). This particular quilt, when done, will have the quilt body, sashing in a green color, then a string pieced sashing, another width of sashing in blue and then the binding. The pieced part and the blue go on as one piece because of how I have chosen to back this quilt. This quilt is a "back as you go" quilt, so when you get done all that is left is the binding. If I were to do this again, I would chose to do nothing larger than a full size quilt. The quilt I am making is queen sized and it is definitely getting unwieldy. I will not be getting much sewing done today either, piles and piles and Piles of laundry!

Diet is such an awful word. As Garfield has observed: "It is DIE with a t at the end!" So that is why I am using protocol. Yesterday went fairly well. SH (sweet hubby) made me a breakfast, carefully adhering to what I can and cannot have. I had my little square of bread. Boy did I want more. As with most dietary restrictive regimens, there are cravings. The reason for these cravings is your body's stockpiles for emergencies. Your body stockpiles fuel by storing fat. Your body stockpiles carbs by storing a three day supply of blood sugar in the liver. The liver releases these blood sugars on a regular basis. When these sugars are discharged your pancreas panics and releases too much insulin, thus the cravings. This is why the first three days (or so) are the most difficult. We are trying to get rid of the surplus blood sugars and your body is rebelling! Once these sugars are gone, and you limit you carb intake appropriately, your pancreas can "rest" and then the reprogramming can begin! Oh, and the by product of this is...drum roll please...WEIGHT LOSS!! I pulled out my bag of veggies and munched on them through out the day. Lunch was more veggies with cream cheese thrown in the mix (low-fat is recommended but not mandatory.) Dinner was a deliciously tender pot roast with potatoes and carrots and onions with a very nice gravy. Oh wait...I can't have potatoes...or carrots...or gravy. It smelled so-o-o good. I had the meat and some green beans. At least I could have the onions that were cooked with the roast. Those kind of veggies always taste so good. Hubby was a dear and ate those other veggies for me. Then he got the rest out of sight and packaged them up for his lunch for the next couple of days. And about those cravings. I am so glad I went out and got some nuts. Nuts are allowed at this stage of the game. The ice cream was calling to me relentlessly, especially the Southern Crunch Butter Pecan. I am the only one in the house that will eat it. It will just have to wait. Eventually I will be able to have some. Portion control will be very important. Not only is this a "protocol" it will be a lifestyle change.

We got the guest room cleaned up and able to accommodate guests. We used to call it "the white" room. Now we may have to call it "the Princess-and-the-Pea Room". We put our former queen set (we upgraded to a king) on top of a waterbed frame our second son gave us. We are gonna have to eliminate the box spring. The bed is three feet tall! Wonderful for nine year old boy but for us older folks, not so much. You need a step ladder to get in bed! We now have to figure out what to do with the full size bed. We upgraded the guest bed. Our youngest kinda wants the full. He has some issues he has to deal with before that can happen. I have an idea for a Murphy bed. Will have to think on it some more.

The living room is done. The guest room is done. Tonite we will work on the kitchen-dining-family rooms. This is pretty much all one space. We would like to get this all cleaned so we can rent a steam cleaner this weekend.

Quilting, Dieting, and other fantasies

Since my blog says quilting, dieting and other fantasies, we will start with quilting. As you have seen, I have made "string" quilts for two of my boys. I have also made many rag quilts. When my first grandson arrived I made him this quilt: It is a little hard to see, but it is a four patch. A little more structured than a string quilt. Then when my second grandson came along I made him this quilt: Front and back. I didn't have enough fabric of any one kind to make the back. I thought this turned out well for a little boy. This quilt was not quite as structured. It did have squares that were identical, just turned in various ways. In the making of these quilts I have discovered a few things about me. I am not particularly interested in making structured quilts. I love the piecing of string blocks. I enjoy putting the blocks together to make the quilt top. I love how a rag quilt is done once you get the "blocks" sewn together (well...you do have to "rag" it after that). I bog down and have a problem with the actual quilting of the quilt. I could hire that part out, but money is tight. I think I have figured out how to combine the two types of quilts I like and I am going to make my hubby a car quilt as my prototype. His will be khaki on the rag side and flannel string blocks on the soft and finished looking side.

Yesterday went well. Breakfast was an omelet with onion, tomato, garlic, spinach, 3 egg whites, and one yolk with a sprinkle of cheese. Notice all the complex carbs. In this program I can have 5 grams of other carbs. There is a type of bread at my local store I like. It is a multi-grain, nut and seed type. One quarter of a slice has 4 grams of carbs. Sigh! Oh well, it's for the greater good. I have found a lower carb bread that has 5 grams per slice. I will try it after this other loaf is gone. I got a package of those "green" bags. I didn't get the name brand, nor did I get a knock off from the grocery store. I went to Dollar Tree and got some there. I did this a couple of weeks ago and put plain old iceberg lettuce in it. They seem to be working well. But I digress. I got the bags and filled one with radishes, cauliflower, celery, and mushrooms (experimenting with the shrooms to see if they will not get slimy, so far so good). I snack out of this bag throughout the day. According to the powers that be, the first three days are the hardest. I must say the potato chips and cosmic brownies are taunting me. The bananas are laughing (no fruit in this stage of the game). Lunch was sauteed zucchini. No breading :(. As long as it has been five hours or more, I can have another 5 grams of carbs. Woo-hoo, another quarter slice of bread! Or something else that is allowed. No fruit, or fruit juice, that is why the bananas are laughing. Dinner was Two slices of lunch meat and more veggies. I could just keep quiet, but I will admit I did cheat a little. I had two, count them two, coconut M&Ms. I was afraid to have anymore. I really want this protocol to work. I have to "rest" my pancreas for 8 weeks. If I mess up too badly, I can't just start up where I left off, I will have to start over fresh. Before I started this, I had lost 40 pounds. Then it all stopped and it didn't seem to matter what I did, I couldn't budge from that. Here's hoping I can achieve my ultimate goal and become half the person I was!

Now other fantasies. Tonite, when hubby gets home, we will be doing some extreme cleaning. Our third son is getting married (Valentine's Day no less)and we are getting ready for a small, informal reception for after. My guy did not marry me for my housekeeping skills. I do well if I get the dishes done and the clothes washed. The rest waits for a wrecking crew. He works so very hard and I stay home and yet he is still so willing to put up with this and help! How lucky can you get. While working on this blog, I have been cleaning the front room. SO I do get some done. Thank goodness for company, otherwise our house would never get clean!

Why must we always start at the beginning?

This blog will be my ruminations on my quilting projects, progress with my diet, and other observations in my life.

I went bold by starting this blog and the diet on the same day. Bold or silly, you pick!

Type 2 Diabetes is knocking on the door and I will have to let it in if I don't do something. Since my body doesn't seem to be reacting to carbs appropriately, I have found a protocol that may help. It is a low carb, very low carb, extremely low carb plan. You can't live without carbs forever and this plan reintroduces more carbs as it progresses. Just remember that all carbs are not created equal. In this plan, most of the refined carbs have been verboten! You get to eat most any vegetable (no potatoes for now), lean meat, and other things. What this protocol is trying to do is retrain your pancreas to release insulin appropriately. With type 2, when you eat carbs, the pancreas panics (in effect) and releases too much insulin. The insulin attacks the carbs, but there are not enough carbs for the insulin released. So your brain says that you want more cake, chips, crackers, etc. Then the pancreas panics again. It's a never ending cycle. Let's see if this protocol will end this cycle and help me get to a more normal place.

I have just recently started quilting. My first project was rebuilding a quilt my grandmother made. This was at the request of my second son.


I liked it so well, I made a quilt for my oldest son.

I have four sons and have made each one what I call a car quilt. These were rag quilts made out of old jeans. In hindsight, I would have put flannel on them too. My youngest son got one made of camouflage material, denim on the rag side and flannel on the flat side.