WOW, I was beginning to think that no one was reading my posts...I know I haven't written much lately.

Then I get a comment from someone I don't know! How cool is that! Thanks Wendy!

My weight loss has plateaued again. 58 pounds gone. It's a constant struggle. I have found that there are a few things I can't eat anymore. For those of you that don't know me, I am an Office Assistant and Teacher at a Child Care center. Last Friday was Grilled Cheese Day. I LOVE Grilled Cheese. Well, I ate a small bite and had a "stuck" episode. Those are not fun. So no more Grilled Cheese for me. I had given up sodas, popcorn, hot dogs, swallowing pills, and now grilled cheese.

DH and I are getting ready for our much needed vacation. We leave in 10 days for our Boston/NYC trip. I would love to drop another 5 pounds or so before then. I'm up-ing my water intake, protein intake (that seems to help too) and trying to move more and walk more. I know we are going to be doing a LOT of walking on this trip and I'm trying to get my body, especially my legs, ready for it. We have a lot we want to see/do, and it will be a challenge to cram it all into the few days we'll be in each city. 2 days in Boston and 4 in NYC.

Quilting wise, I continue to plug away at those Spiderwebs.

Since I want to make a rather large throw I figured out it takes 196 parts. I have about 130 of them done and have still barely made a dent in the scrappy strip tub. After I get this done, I think I want to do a scrappy Rocky Road to Kansas.

Am I crazy? These are easy enough to do since they're paper pieced, but it takes so many parts.

Then there are still all those block sets calling my name. I have made a little bit of progress with some of those though. Thanks to my buddies, I have the block layouts for several of them and I started squaring some of them up. I think I have enough of a red in my stash to get started on the Christmas King size sampler. Maybe I'll get started with that project after the trip.

Well, my new buddy Wendy tagged me, but I really don't know anyone else to tag as I'd already done this before... see here

Off to take a walk...

Love ya!

Babs

Singing (and Crying) in the Rain

Typical morning routine:

• Wake sometime between 5:30 and 6:30. Usually before DH leaves for work.
• Get into my "grubbies".
• Check e-mails/job ads/quilting groups/blogs, etc.
• Have Breakfast.
  
• Decide what project I'm going to work on till time to get ready for work in the afternoon.
• Sew or do housework or both
  

Well, this morning I was sitting here at the Laptop at 7:25 and all of a sudden decided I wanted to go take a walk. Had my sweats on, threw on my sneakers, grabbed the timer, and headed out the door without hesitating. WHAT, Wait a minute....where's the "old" extremely self conscious Barbara who wouldn't go for a walk till after 9am because by then people have mostly left for work and there aren't any kids around to make rude remarks....I hadn't been taking many walks lately because I was nursing a sprained ankle either...

But I headed out the door....Not knowing that it was RAINING...well, not really raining, but that fine, foggy, dew like mist... anyway, I did NOT turn around...I trodded on...

Now 4 months ago, I couldn't make it 2 or 3 houses away without hurting and stopping and turning around to go back home. That's what weighing 350 and having a BMI over 60 will do to you.

Today, I'm down 50 pounds, a lower BMI, NO more lower back pain, very little knee pain, and I just did a 30 minute walk IN THE MISTY RAIN! I was crying very happy tears as I kept going one house further, one street further... I felt like I could have walked a lot longer, but I couldn't see as my glasses were all wet.

As I walked, I thought about all the things I'm grateful for...This is getting to be a long entry but I don't freaking care.... I am on a roll and want to express myself....

• Thank you Liza, Mimi, SueAnn, and Suzette for being my sounding boards, my comrades, and teaching me lessons about things other than just quilting. For giving me a gentle "Poke" when I need one, for encouraging me to go for it, From you I've learned what having a real set of Girlfriends is all about. I look forward to every time we meet. It really is the highlight of my month.
  
• I'm grateful that 1 year ago today my beautiful little niece came into my life. On this her first birthday, I vow to spend more time with her over the next year. To be a better Aunt. To keep getting healthier so I can go chase her in the park and live to watch her grow up.
  
• I'm grateful for all my online quilting friends. DH doesn't understand why I call them friends since we've never met. They've been there for me when I've undergone major surgeries. They were there for me when my Cousin died tragically. They've seen me through good days and bad, and we share the things going on in our lives. I call that being a friend.
  
• I'm grateful for my Mom. What can I say? I love you with everything that I am. You've loved me even when there were times I didn't love myself.
  
• And Yes, I'm grateful for my husband who has loved me and put up with me when many times he shouldn't have. Who has loved me no matter what my weight. He doesn't agree with the way I "cheated" to start my weight loss, but loves me anyway. We have our serious problems, but I love him too.
  
• There are a myriad of other things...Deb, Helle, Jennifer, my friends at church, belonging to a church that lets me be myself, my talents, etc...but I will save them for another time...

Love you!

Barbara

Snowy Pond

Here is our house after the last little snowfall.







The house backs up to a city Greenbelt with a pond. I wish you could see the snow and ice that were on this tree. In the pond this day were 2 beautiful Snowy White Egrets. The digital camera wasn't working so I couldn't take a picture of them. We're hoping that they are a mating pair, it would be nice to see more of them around.

This pond is one of the reasons David never wants to move. He looked at the picture above and mentioned that it doesn't even look like a picture that was taken in the middle of a big city. The pond has been home to a turtle family, ducks, egrets, and a beaver that decided he wanted our small peach tree. We've also seen nutria, and had a crawdad crawl up from there, which David found when he was using the weed whacker one day. I love to go out and see what's going on in the pond. I try to ignore the litter that ends up along the sides. Once or twice a year the neighborhood has a "Clean the Pond" day, and since I'm losing weight, I hope to participate in the next one.

One day I may design a "Landscape" quilt based on this pond.

Yesterday I finished making all the cats. Need to press them and square them all up and decide on layout. I found the mouse pattern, but now I'm not so sure I like the way they'll look with the cats. Plus the tails all have to be embroidered and that would take me forever. So now I'm deciding what to do for the borders.

I'm gonna be a Quilting Fairy for a friend that can't finish some blocks for a swap. These Buzzard Roost blocks are really cute. So far I've gotten some great blocks. This gal sent me the fabrics to make hers, and a yard of this adorable butterfly fabric for doing this for her. I have to have some more of this fabric...I usually don't like glittery fabrics, but this fabric is too CUTE! I can't seem to find it in any of the online stores, and the camera's still busted or I'd take a pic. It sucks that I have to use a disposable and then wait for CD's to be developed. I've e-mailed her to ask where I can get it.

Well off to work on the Buzzards......

Scrappy Cats and UFO's

Here are some of the "Scrappy Cats" I'm currently working on...

I had 54 of them and need 80. I have all the pieces cut and made the "ear" sections last night. I hope to get all the cats finished today. Still need to find the pattern for the paper pieced mice I want to do for the border. I tore the pattern out of a magazine but can't remember where I put it. So I'll be looking for that today too.

This is gonna be a really cute quilt for a kid or a cat lover when I get it done!


In the MSN group "Quilting Forever" we have a "Block Block Swap" we send our partner a set of blocks and they set them for us.

I sent my partner the Black and White blocks and here's the top I got back! I Love it! I've never set blocks on point, always been scared to, but this has me thinking...




And here's the top I made for my partner using her blue and yellow blocks. I have these same blocks and intend to set them the same way for mine. Except that I think it needs another border of some sort around the whole thing....any ideas? Blue or Yellow?

My blocks runneth over

The 3 boxes I posted about yesterday are kept on the guest bed in my sewing room. Guess what I found this morning...another box of blocks I had put in the closet...

add to the list...

cotton reels, scrappy swappers stars, scrappy Jacobs Ladder, bright & black sampler, cowboy boot focus fabric, wild & bright focus fabric, crumb blocks, paper pieced tulips, Christmas 9-patch, even more blue & yellow's, batik & cream, black & white rail fence, and my "girly girl" RR blocks.

I figure I have enough blue/yellow/white blocks for 2 or 3 large quilts.

I have my work cut out for me....

Swappers Anonymous

Hello. My name is Barbara and I'm addicted to swaps. Actually, I've drastically cut out most swaps. I have a "birthday block" swap I'm doing, and a few I'm organizing to get more blocks of certain kinds to go with blocks I've already got. I'm not signing up for any more 2 & 3 color- sampler blocks. I've had my fill of those and have all the colors I would ever want.

I've been going through and organizing all my sets of blocks into boxes and made a list. All the blocks and rows are now into 3 Avon boxes. Where do I start? I really want to get some more tops made. Need to give "tirane" something to do LOL. She's my good friend who quilts these for me. Of course I have some things she's already done for me that now need binding. But that's another story for another time.

How do you decide what to work on next? I have all these block sets, plus all the other quilts in my head that I want to do. All these scraps that are calling my name...I don't know where to start!

Hang on to your hats...here's a list of all the Block sets....

Canning Jars on black, Bug jars on black, 30's Churn Dashes, Christmas Friendship Stars, Amish 9-patch, Amish Baskets, Scrappy Split 9-patches, Red & Beige split 9-patches, Orange & White Sampler, Bright & White Sampler, Scrappy Tennessee Blocks, Scrappy Basket of Chips, Scrappy Bowties, 30's bowties, Kids Buzzards, Kids Hole in the Barn Door, Bright Double 4-patches, Pink/Green/Burgundy/Brown Double 4-patches, Purple Lovers Sampler, Batik Fish, Pink & White Sampler, Pink/White/Black Sampler, Pink/Brown/Cream Sampler, Fall 9-Patch, Mini Spinning Flowers, Tan/Burgundy/Hunter Green Sampler, Red/White/Gray/Black Sampler, Scrappy 9-Patches, Green & White Sampler, Black & Bright Indian Stars, Black & Bright Windmills, Christmas/Winter Sampler, Patriotic Sampler, Mocha Lovers Sampler, several sets of 6 inch 9-patches in various colors, Scrappy Starflowers, Bright Starflowers, Butterfly focus Fabric Blocks, Stitched Scraps, Halloween Sampler, Blue & White Sampler, Pink Lemonade Blocks, Pink Lemonade RR, Christmas RR, Stack and Whack Christmas, Camping fabric RR, Depression Blocks, Blue & Yellow Sampler, Blue/Yellow/White Sampler, Scrappy Spiderwebs, Kids Square in a Square, Heart focus fabric blocks, Mapleleaf blocks, Scrappy Cats, Fall Sampler, Black & Bright Bear Paws, Flower of Friendship, Mini Watermelons

Whew! Some of these blocks I really don't even care about anymore. Maybe I should pull those aside and put them in "Swappers Mall" in Quilting Forever. Some of them, I only have a few blocks and not enough to really make a top. Some of them I really like but need to make more blocks.

This list also doesn't include the stack of blocks I have from swaps where people didn't follow directions. Those will eventually get made into Charity quilts.

I'm not a huge fan of just plain 9-patch quilts, but will cut those up into dissapearing 9-patch quilts. I think I'm going to combine some of the samplers like the Pink & White with the Pink/White Black, and do the same with the Blue & Yellow and Blue/Yellow/White. The 6 inch 9-patches are blues with muslin, Yellows with Muslin, Purple with Muslin. Pink with Muslin. I think those would all look good in a quilt together.

Then theres all the sets of fabrics I have that I've picked patterns for....but that will be another entry for another day...

So now you understand why my moniker is "quiltswapqueen"....

"God, grant me the serenity to accept I cannot finish everything, Courage to not sign up for anymore swaps, and the wisdom to know what to do next. Amen".