Thursday, January 31, 2008

New quilting project

A while ago Mike and I were talking about how I should make each of the boys a quilt. We discussed making a quilt using lots of various shades of red in it. I came across several pieces of fabric that looked fun and several that had a firetruck theme to them, some fire hydrants, fire, firetrucks and firemen hats and suits. Since Jonah and Jackson are so excited whenever firetrucks pass our house I thought it would be fitting to quilt about it but not to make it the main theme of the quilt.

have loved looking at newer contemporary quilts and have imagined being able to come up with something unique that wasn't too difficult. With that being said, I am in the process of designing my own version of a log cabin quilt. It will be pieced together in the traditional style of the log cabin but my added twist is making each strip a different width. I finished cutting out all my pieces and started sewing them together. So far, this is what I've finished:



I have no idea what fabric I'll be using to join all these blocks together, or what fabric I'll be using for the back side. I'm just having fun trying to piece these all together right now.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

More improvements!


We (when I say "we" I actually mean Mike) started to put some finishing touches on our main floor bathroom. It's not totally finished as of yet but pretty close I'd say. We picked out some hardwood laminate flooring at IKEA over the weekend and I must say that I really like the way that it looks. What do you think?

For a Friend



I made this the other day for a friend...can't disclose who yet because the recipient hasn't gotten it yet! But I really love the bag. It would be perfect as a music bag, as there are three big pockets in the front. This pattern came from the book Simple Gifts to Stitch by Jocelyn Worrall. Best of all, I made it in an afternoon, kids and all! You might recognize the material from another cute "Charming Handbag" that I made a while back. I love how it looks and would definitely make it again.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Weigh-In

This morning was the first weigh-in and I have to say that I absolutely love the very first week you are counting points on weight watchers because you lose quite a bit. I lost 5.5 pounds! I can't let myself get too excited about it because I know the following weeks won't see as much of a drop but it's a start and I'm excited and totally committed to seeing a change and changing my lifestyle for good.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Oh! I almost forgot!


It's funny that I called this blog "My Patchwork Quilt" seeing as how I've never ever made a quilt in my life. Well, that has all changed. For Christmas my side of the family drew names and I got my older sister and her husband. I decided that I would try to make a lap quilt, so it wouldn't be a huge and difficult project. There was a similar quilt in the Bend the Rules sewing book which I really liked but I decided to put an extra twist in it so it's not identical to the books quilt. I finished it and really liked how it looked. Then I remembered that my grandfather was having a 90th birthday celebration after Christmas and I knew I had to make one for him too. I went about making his quilt and for some reason it just didn't turn out the way I had envisioned. I made it a little bit differently than my sisters and was just flying by the seat of my pants. I whole heartedly own the fact that I have NO IDEA how to make quilts, I was just guessing for most of it! I was a bit embarrassed with how his turned out. I guess it was another learning lesson for me, and that's OK. The above picture is the lap quilt for my sister and her husband and it was taken before I quilted the front and back together - but you get the idea, right? My grandfathers quilt was made out of a lot of the same material and it had a different backing to it - I have no picture of it (which is probably a good thing!)

New projects on the horizon

Since we returned home from SD I just haven't been able to get my groove back. I thought that if I were to take out some of my fabrics and just look at them that I'd be able to get some of the creative juices back that have somehow disappeared with the rest of my brain. Well, looking at the fabrics has gotten me excited about getting back into the craft mode but so far nothing has happened. However, I did take a few pictures of the fabric that I know I'll be using in the near future...so here they are!


These two fabrics I do know what I'll be doing with...Remember that gorgeous pleated beauty bag that I just adored? Well, these two fabrics will make one of those. The outside will be this really cool pink fabric, and the pleats and inside will be made of the blue fabric. I'm a little nervous about making a pink bag but for some reason it just feels like the right thing to do. I plan on keeping this bag just for myself!Hmmm...I'm starting to see a strange pattern...pinks and blues... Actually I've already used these two fabrics for a small zippered pouch but I loved how it turned out and would love to use them again. They are simply dazzling together.
This is a collection of four fabrics that I found at Joanns that were drastically lowered in price. I fell in love with the red cowboy pattern and decided that I needed to make something boy-ish for one of my boys. I still have no clue what it will be. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. (They are fat quarters each.)

Happy New Year!

I realize it has been way too long since I have posted over here on My Patchwork Quilt. I guess the season and traveling can do that to a blogger! We had a great time in SD over Christmas with our families. It's a new year and even though I'm not crazy about resolutions it's time for me to make some. I have been inspired by my sister in law who has lost a considerable amount of weight since March. So I have decided to get back on weight watchers, although I won't be attending any meetings, and I will be exercising (step aerobics and walking) to boost my efforts. The reason I'm writing about all of this is so that I might keep myself accountable. It is a scary thing to admit to the entire world wide web that I have a weight problem, but it needs to be done. Here are my resolutions for this new year.

  1. Eat healthier, using the points system
  2. Formal exercise 3 times a week
  3. Lose a total of 25 pounds (that's my baby step goal. My ultimate goal is to lose between 45-50 pounds).
I would love to be able to lose the twenty five pounds by the end of June but realize that a more reasonable amount would be somewhere between 3-4 pounds lost in a month. We'll see how it goes.

At the very bottom of my blog I have posted a weight ticker...a way for me to track my progress and a way to keep me accountable to you!

I'm not liking this much right now but I know that if I want to be around for a long time I need to change a few poor habits of mine. I officially started yesterday and each Monday I'll have a weigh in day. I have a feeling that this isn't going to be easy for me but I know that when I reach my goal I'll feel really good about myself.

Here's to a new me!