Thursday, January 8, 2015

It's Frigid Out

Baby it is cold outside.  A good day for blogging, sewing and quilting....and maybe a finish or two.


Box of Chocolates is finished.


I really love this quilt.  I did it in muted shades of pink, brown and tan.  I machine quilted it using a serpentine stitch.  It took me 2 days to cut out and stitch and one day to machine quilt and do the binding.

My second finish is "Simple Stripe" by Temecula Quilt Co.  Just before Christmas I saw on their blog that they had a 2015 Calendar which gives you a mini quilt pattern for each month.  I thought this was going to be a wall calendar and was originally disappointed that it was individual cards that are approximately 4" x 5".  Not any more.  I have a small plastic picture frame just about the same side.  I put this months calendar in and then made this sweet little quilt.




The quilt is 12" x 14" and will eventually hang on my table quilt stand.  It took 2 days to make.  One day to cut and sew the strips and one day to machine quilt and do the binding.  I only showed you this months calendar.  I show you a new quilt each month.


Part of my New Years Resolution is to finish some UFO's and if I start a new project....finish it right away.  Mini quilts make this possible.


Speaking of finishing UFO's......


This is a wall quilt I made last year, I even managed to hand quilt it.  Then it got put away.  Today I hope to get the binding sewn on and finish it up this evening.  Woo Hoo....I'm on a roll.


Each evening I try and do some hand work.  I am making a dent in the hand quilting on my Henrietta Whiskers.  I'm hoping to finish it this week.


I said I wasn't going to do any BOM's.....well.....I'm not working on anything big or anything that will last a year.

But I am planning on doing Quiltmaker's Bitty Blocks.  This link will take you to the blog.  They are also doing a Mystery quilt.

Another project I hope to start on comes from Sharon at Color Girl Quilts.  She has designed some super simple sampler blocks.  These blocks are so cute.  I just happened to have acquired a FQ bundle that I am going to use for these blocks.  She just posted block 18....but don't worry she has a link on her blog for all the other blocks.


Now for something other than quilting.  At the end of October I went to the doctors for my usual 6 month diabetic checkup.  I have Type 2.  The doctor said my sugar was higher than she wanted and was going to put me back on lantus.  Ugh...I hated putting needles in my belly.  I asked her what I could do to not take the shots.  Easy she said....loose weight.

Well to me that is not too easy.  I'm 65, overweight and not very active.  I was told I had to loose 6 lbs. a month.  The first month I lost 4 lbs.  Good for me, I have such a hard time loosing weight.  The second month was December.  Not good...to much celebrating.  I didn't loose a pound.

So now it is a new year and a new start.  In December I joined Planet Fitness. My daughter Kelley is my workout buddy.  We didn't do well last month as she was busy and I was sick.  But we are doing much better.  I lost a pound this last week.  The goal is 1 1/2 pounds a week.  I even got a fitbit.  Yesterday was the first time I wore it.  This thing is amazing.  It keeps track of steps, calories burned, calories consumed and even monitored my sleep last night.  I have it sinked with my Fitness Pal and is keeping me motivated.


Well that is it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep warm and keep quilting.

Hugs, Cathy

7 comments:

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

Good luck with the weight loss. It's not easy, but I know that you can do this!

I love your little quilts ... there's something especially endearing about little quilts, isn't there?

Betty Lou said...

You are on a roll for 2015 finishes, your quilts are wonderful. I love it when the quilt designer says you can put a mini quilt together in couple of hours. Bought the 101 Small Quilts at Joanns yesterday and then today I found the book Bits and Pieces where Jan. quilt was first published. I am glad to have the book though for the rest of the year. Pretty cold even here in North Texas, stay warm.

Karen said...

Good fabric choices for your Box of Chocolates. Perfect size for the hanger.

I wish you good luck on the weight loss. I struggle with weight too.

Ray said...

Good for you in taking care of your health! Love your work - always.

Allie said...

Cold - oh my gosh - hubby and oldest son spent 45 minutes out in it this morning, changing my son's flat tires. Yes tires, 2 of them, lol! I don't know how they stood it but they still have all their body parts, so that's good.

I LOVE your finishes, and that little bear paw quilt! I love small quilts - I'd rather make something small than a big one. Although I'm working on a HUGE project I started last year, just before my aunt broke her hip - this is the year it'll become something. Not sure yet, WHAT it will become, lol.

Stay warm hon, and healthy - after what we're going through with my mom, you do NOT want to get worse! Think I'll go get on my exercise bike, you're inspiring me....

Janet O. said...

Box of chocolates is beautifully understated. I love all of the little minis, of course!
Good for you on the efforts to lose weight. Aren't Fitbits great? : )

Carrie P. said...

good luck with your weight loss program.
I put on some pounds during my recovery from my shoulder surgery. Being in a sling for 6 weeks means not doing much.
My kids got me the Garmin Vivofit. I am excited about mine too. It does the same thing as the fitbit. I am doing a lot of walking in the house when that red line shows up because I have been sitting to long. I hope to see a weight loss by spring.