One of the kids at school was squeezing the back of the teachers arm today. She said, "are you playing with my fat." He answered "you aren't fat you have soft bones." Out of the mouths of babes.

cindy - The pattern is from the book "Hugs & Holly" by Kelly Mueller. I found it on Connecting Threads website, but you could probably find it on Amazon.

I figured out how to make them faster. If you take 1yd. top fabric, 1 yd. batting, 1 yd bottom fabric - make your quilt sandwich and quilt the whole thing, then cut the pieces you need, you can cut out 5 baskets to sew together. And if you use a different top fabric, say Christmas Trees, and the bottom is maybe Snowflakes, you could make 3 tree baskets and 2 snowflake baskets. Hope that makes sense.

The longest part about making these is the way they tell you to cut all the pieces out oversized, sandwich and quilt. Then trim them to size. I figured out that if you want to make quantity it's easier to quilt a large piece and then cut it down to the sizes you need. Less waste, saves time. Works great!! I now have 5 baskets ready to sew together.

There are some other great patterns in the book as well.

how's the wt loss going? i'm stalled....lost my get up and go. but am inching down ever so gradually. like a lb this week. but i'm hanging in there. that seems to be my pattern. lose 25 lbs, stall, lose 25 lbs, stall.
been sewing a lot on my 2nd jane. i decided to do all the inside blocks, set them, then do the triangles all at once. that's because i couldn't make up my mind how big the blocks were going to be. 4.5, 5, or 5.5. ending up making them 4.5. and have trimmed them all to that. just finsihing up the last 25 here and there in the rows.
i have 2 quilts at the LA quilters, so i think i will make binding today for them.
i've started my shopping list for thanksgiving, and will start picking up stuff along. i hate one big shopping trip, but guess i will bite the bullet, and just do it, and be done. Sales, here i come.
have a nice week.
and gotcha Van... no chocolate.

My weight loss is stalled to. I think I'm all pooped out, no energy either. I'm not sure why. I've got a ton of stuff to do to. Dinner here on Thanksgiving, but thankfully Mom is doing the Turkey, stuffing & gravy. DSIL is doing the pies. I get to do all the sides....yeah!!!!

Then I'll be giving the house one huge cleaning so I can decorate. I'm trying to get everything that needs to be done, done!!! Surgery date is December 12th and I want to have it all done by then. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!!

Decided to check in even though i didn't sign up this month. No point until I get serious again. Glenn turned in the Sandy estimates for the roof, window and trees this morning. The insurance company is sending out an adjuster. I hope they decide to cover the repairs. Yes the roof and window are old but they were sound before the tree hit the roof. I guess we'll see soon enough. Hope everyone is having a successful weight loss this month. I'm still treading water. I haven't even exercised in weeks-no idea why I'm in such a funk. Will start again next month...well, probably.

Hope to get you off the fence and back in the thick of it with us Blondeslave. That's get the funk moving away from you. We're in this together.

blond slave--yes sandy damage, etc. will funk anyone out. we lost this house to a tornado when we were orginally building it. then like 10 yrs later a tornado came thru, huffing and puffing, minor roof, gutter, soffet damage. and it hit me then, even tho, the damage wasn't bad.
Have you seen the youngsters in yellow safety vest, from LDS church, or mormans? my niece told me how to donate to their 'food expense, housing expense'. i guess they are just going in and cleaning whole houses out. LDS.org, find the middle of the page, and just donate to the kids cleaning up. haven't done it yet, but intend to.
everyone hang in there. we will keep losing.

I need to get off the fence, too. I will give up all my chocolate except the small amount of dark I take for health reasons. You don't want to know how much I can ingest in a day. For those of you who are stalled and are 'behaving', don't forget the feast day. If you don't have one, your metabolism drops so you need fewer calories and the weight loss stops. The feast day resets your metabolism so it doesn't go into starvation mode. If you are like me and stalled from incorrect eating, then maybe some duct tape over the mouth would work.

Off to take the dog's to the vet. I will check in later.
Judy

Thanks for sharing the info, I have been busy working and not much time to get online, still trying to adjust to these hours and days.

I will look for the book on Amazon.

Well there is no way I will be the winner this month. I can't quit eating. I feel like I have joined the wrong thread this month. I should have joined the most weight gained thread. Candy, pizza, hamburgers I have had it all. Got to get back on track. I walked a 5K this morning not my best time but I walked it. Back on track in the morning. I think I will head to my sewing room and see if I can get my mouth under the needle and sew it shut so I stay out of the goodies.

Ouch, that's worse than my duct tape. I've sewn a finger, but never a lip.

I was cleaning out a drawer and found my measurements from last Nov. I bet I am back up to there. I will measure when I don't have on heavy jeans. Dec and Jan were down - what happened? I'm on track today and I'm going to bed early so I only have 4 more hours to eat. I'm going to church 1 1/2 hours early until Christmas and I need time for my hair to dry. I can't blow dry it.

Took the dogs to the lake today through the woods. There are so many downed branches and small trees that I felt like I was marching. Haven't done that since high school and the woods have no relation to a football field, plus I do not have on a short skirt. Oh, I helped my daughter with her baton corps, so I guess have marched more recently but even that was 35 - 40 years ago.

I haven't finished that list of questions from McCall's magazine yet. Remember
1) Do I really have to have this?
2) Am I even hungry right now?
3) Is this food splurge worthy?
and the new ones
4) How will I feel after I eat it?
5) Is it the end of the world if I don't have it?

Interesting thought for this week, "Almost all the pleasure you get from a high fat or high calorie food comes from the first few bites. After that, it doesn't have the same reward." Edward Abramson, Ph.D.
In other words, you only really taste the first few bites. I used to have a friend who tried to teach me to eat only three bites of high calorie foods. She had no concept of being a compulsive overeater and I had no concept of eating three bites. She's still my best friend. I'm willing to give her idea another shot.

Be sure to plan your feast day for Thursday and jump back on the wagon Friday. I feel for those of you who will have leftovers.

Purplemen, a former leader, taught us, "If you want to meet a goal, you have to have a plan. Failure to plan means planning to fail."

Sorry about the quotes and sounding preachy, but the holiday season is upon us and we need to be ready.

As of 7:59 pm Nov 17, 2012, I, JLM, will control what goes in my mouth.

I am losing weight and getting healthier.
Judy

Meanmom, we all have times like that. You must be excited about having the extra time off work next week. I know how stressful your work situation is.
I have a big problem with wanting something when told I can't have it. Needless to say, I have had chocolate every day this week. Now if you had told me eat chocolate every day I probably would still have eaten it every day. LOL That is why dieting does not work for me because I can't keep my mind off of whatever it is I am supposed to deny myself of. I went to Wendy's today and had my last Baha salad for who knows how long. Our Wendy's and the two in the next town will be closing next week. Funny how a couple divorcing can affect a whole community. I will have to go back for a burger since theirs is the only fast food burger that I like.
Irish, if we are confessing..... when I joined this group I had 25 lbs to lose. Now it is 35. I am thinking about staying away for a while to see how that affects me and my over eating problem.

Judy I will have to put those quotes on my refrigerator. I just feel like I am out of control. I need to quit the goodies and get back to the gym. Pam that is why I like weight watchers because I am allowed to eat anything I want. I have to budget for it but I can have it. If I know I can't have something I just crave it more. I went to Sams yesterday and they have a chocolate truffle (only at Christmas) that I LOVE. I made the mistake of not only buying them by opening them. Now they are calling me to eat them. I was planning on taking them on our Thanksgiving trip to share so I wouldn't eat so many. I might have to take them to work tomorrow to get them out of the house.
I will go to the gym today and eat the right foods.
Pat

Well, I've been planning on our Taboo Tuesday since this is the beginning of our holiday seasons and the binges most of us cave in to. I won't tell you what it is yet, but hopefully, it is one we can all keep up with. Good thoughts presented above and good quotes.

So who is planning a big meal for Thanksgiving?

Mom and I went to the store today to get the turkey, and we got a 20lb turkey and ad the butcher cut it in half.....split in half. Since it looks like it may only be the 3 of us and maybe 1 more. So we will freeze one half and cook the other half. I would have never thought to ask the butcher to cut a frozen turkey in half.

I will be making my homemade cranberry sauce as well. Just have to find my receipe. LOL Since some one else was in my apartment for quite awhile I have know idea what they did with some of my stuff. UGH... including some of my cookie recipes that i had printed out.

We need some more cheerleaders........those who are good with encouraging and inspiring.

I know were are in the season that is so tempting with the wrong things.........just remember you are in control of you....not those around us.

we're have a small crowd compared to past thanksgivings. i think i am going to look for the smallest turkey i can find.
smaller children like to see the 'big bird' all ready and sitting on the table. so will do that for him. husband keeps saying do a big chicken. then some ham also. i think there are going to be 6 of us. compared to 20 or so other yrs.
i'm losing, just not real fast. hoping for 5 lbs anyway this month. will see. have a good monday.

I'm getting ready to clean. My day off. Tomorrow I'm heading to PA with my Mom and a couple GFs to the Farmer's Market. Going to pick up a few things for Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner is at my house, but my Mom will cook the turkey, make the stuffing and gravy. I've been married 30+ yrs and I'm still not brave enough to cook the turkey for the "big feast". Mom loves doing it so that's a good thing. There will be 13 of us this year. I love having everyone together under one roof. It's my family - M, D, DB & DSIL, and DH's family - DB, DSIL, their friend, plus our kids, DD, DS, DDIL and granddaughter. Our families all get along so well, which is always a wonderful thing!!!! We're always together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And it's nice we all live within 10 miles of each other.

We are doing the same thing for Thanksgiving we have done for most of the last 35 or 40 years. We go rent a bunch of cabins in a state park with my whole family. This year I found a couple of big houses to rent in Hocking Hills Ohio. One has 8 BR and the other has 6. I think there will be 32 people. I am in charge of the menu and food planning for the whole weekend. I assign everyone what to bring. We don't do a traditional Thanksgiving meal since a lot of the cabins have limited kitchen facilities. This year we have a huge kitchen that looks awesome. We do a lot of hiking and just fooling around. My parents are getting old so we don't do as much hiking as we used too. Heck I'm getting old. They are 88 and 85. One of my sons won't be there since he lives in Japan. I set up a zip lining trip for some of us. I will probably pee my pants doing it but it will be so fun. Eating will be pretty good since I planned the menu and most of them are healthy eaters.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy your families and guests that is what Thanksgiving is about. Make Thursday your cheat day, just don't go nuts.
Pat

Taboo Tuesday - double pronged day - both good, just one for others and one for yourself. The good for others - this is the beginning of the holiday season for many people. The time to remember good times and things and those not as fortunate as we. Reach out to some one/some group in your community. Bring a bag (small or large) of groceries to a community shelter to help them feed the less fortunate in your community. Perhaps you know a family to help, you get the idea. Then remember them again in your grace/moment of silence/whatever around your Thanksgiving table. Now, taboo for yourself - skip the THIRD helping. All of us will cave in to temptation and have that second helping - DON'T HAVE A THIRD - oh, and only ONE dessert (this is the one that I'll really have to work on). Pick the one that appeals to you and stick with just that. It can be a cheat day, but don't ruin all your good work.

vanogay. great taboo's. that's my plan. IF i have a dessert. one serving, and that's it. making eggless cheesecake for me. one small piece and that's it. i'm going to sneak and eat veggies before dinner. that way i won't be tempted to over eat when everything is done. have a nice week everyone.

Glad you're on board SewNso. Went to the doctor yesterday for my arm - it's healing quite well, thank you - and when they weighed me, I'd lost another 4#. Had to rush home and weigh on my scales - and yep, 4# this month. I am estatic (SP?) and that will really be my incentive for Thursday - reminding myself what I have gained and conversely, what I could lose just by over doing it.

That's good news about your arm and the four pounds, Vanogay. You just keep shrinking!!! :thumbup:

No third helpings? That means when I leave the table I am finished - no eating in the kitchen. Okay. I didn't make last week's. No chocolate isn't in my vocabulary.

I'm glad I'm not cooking Thanksgiving other than the desserts and corn pudding. I totally lost the use of my left leg Sunday night so I had to use crutches for 24 hours. This is not good. The SI joint is in bad shape and the surgeon won''t operate because of the contaminated steroids. He's right, of course, but it's still scary. I want to do Christmas dinner. One day at a time is my new mantra.

I worked on the Spicy Spiral table runner with the wrong cut. I had to do some 'adjustments' but it looks good. Now to sandwich, quilt and bind it. My oldest daughter cracks me up - she is so 'first born organized' that when she saw the fabrics for her sister's Spicy Spiral, she didn't like them together. Tonight she came to go out for dinner, she thought it was pretty. I just laugh at her and tell her not to look until it's sewn together.

Busy day tomorrow. I hope the stores have some pumpkin left because one year they ran out. Luckily, I had some at home. Pecan pie sounds good, but I don't think there'd be many takers in this group and I'd have to eat it, so there won't be any made.

Have a good evening, everyone.

I am not in. I would be cheating. 2 weeks ago, I had Bariatric surgery. Surgery for Weight loss. From last April I have lost a total of 40 pounds. Since the surgery, I have lost 10 of it.

I am not advocating this. Before they even consider you they give you a goal weight that you have to lose and maintain. I had to lose 23 pounds, simply cutting back, and eating their diet. It was not easy and it was not fun, but I had serious arthritis and I was desperate to get the weight off. Pre arthritis I weighed 108. I am a very small woman. Then every movement was pain and I just quit moving. And I shot up to 223. High of 250.

Ladies, 20 lbs will take some organization and discipline. Try to find a Dr who will give you a good healthy diet. (Not one from the best seller list) 20 lbs will make you feel lke a new person. I won't happen overnight. I know you can do it. I did and I am the laziest munchiest person in the world.

Best wishes to all of you.

Welcome, Sucia. please join us for the positive reinforcements we can give each other. I don't know that surgery is cheating, but it's not up to me.

Time to go to bed if i want to do much tomorrow. Goodnight.

Hi Sucia. Surgery isn't cheating. Good luck on your journey. Yes loosing even a few pounds is helpful. My knees feel a litte bit better with each pound I loose. The advice to get a good healthy diet from a professional is a good idea. We all need an eating plan that we can live with for the rest of our lives. This isn't a diet it is a lifetime eating plan. We all need help and encouragement on our journey.
Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy yourself. Allow yourself a few small cheats so you don't feel like you are missing something. Otherwise you will probably consume more calories in the end. Get back on the wagon on Friday and do a little extra exercise.
Pat

Just heard a good joke on David Letterman. In preparation for the holiday season everyone needs to set their scales back 10 pounds tonight to avoid the holiday weight gain. I wish it was that easy.

Spent an awesome day in PA with one of my very dearest friends and my Mom. We went to the farmer's market to get some things for tomorrow's dinner, and did a little Christmas shopping. All that walking and fresh air was great exersise by my feet and legs are sore today. We didn't get home till late in the evening and I didn't get to bed until even later. Tired and sore do not make for a fun day at work. Oh well.

Looking forward to having family and friends gathered together at my house tomorrow. It's always a good feeling to see everyone gathered around the table.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Healthy Thanksgiving!!!!

Wishing everyone a blessed and healthy Thanksgiving. Remember to keep up the fluids and hold down the solids! Enjoy the day!

sucia, welcome. happy holidays. no, surgery isn't cheating, nor is it the solution all the way. you have to be committed to make that work also. so join in the chit chat, and welcome. i know several people that have had several different types of wt loss surgery, and then turned around, and gained almost all the wt back. there was even a fella on biggest loser like that. soo, hopefully, you will be moderate in your food choices along with your surgery. god bless.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are in a huge cabin in Hocking hills OH. I looked online and I think there are several quilt shops in the area. Not sure if I will have time to go to any. We are going ziplining tomorrow. Woo Hoo! I have never done it before but it should be fun.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy your day. I'm off to #3 daughter's house as soon as my desserts are cooled. That means I will get to hold the new baby while the others clean up. Nothing wrong with that. He's not doing well. Can't stop vomiting and he's only gained a pound in five weeks. Since he started so small, that's not good. I'll talk to his mother today and find out what they've tried. Personally, I'd vomit up soy milk, too.

No third helping. Okay.

Wishing everyone a Happy Weekend..........remember what we have to be thankful for.

So how many went back for 3rd helpings? We will be eating later today, have made the cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and a dam good dip (mom's recipe and title). ALmost forgot made some banana bread.

OMG, i have lost count.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
The only thing I had a second helping on was the corn. Everything was good but, oh my, that corn was so good. My daughter and I froze sweet corn this summer and this was the first we had eaten of it. We still have not cut into the carrot cake but that will happen after dinner.

I am happy to say I didn't even go back for 2nds. we ate late, had a meat and veggie tray with some dips, didn't do too bad there but I did have 2 slices of my banana nut bread.

I am down another 4 lbs so far this month.

thought everyone would like this........

Well, I had a heaping first plate, then when there was room, got some of the items that didn't fit on my plate the first time - was that a second helping? Then, someone remembered the cranberry relish which was mixed with cool whip and refroze - I had some of that. Was that third helping? Never had the same thing twice. I'm like Sewnso, lost count. However, I did only have one dessert - with ice cream, though. Not good. Today is a fast day and clear liquids - got to clear my system of all that excess and of course, my tummy is grumbling from all the food it had to carry. Didn't sleep very good because of it either. You'd think after this many year, I'd take better care of my self.

We are in a cabin and have done nothing but eat all weekend. There are 32 people here in 2 big cabins. I will probably win the prize for most weight gained in a month this month. The only thing is we have done besides eat is a lot of hiking this weekend. We went zip-lining yesterday it was awesome. It has been 60 degrees all week until yesterday it got windy and cold. SO we were cold while zipping. It is lightly snowing this morning.

Meanmom.......your Thanksgiving sounds like such fun with all the family.

Where has this month gone? Can time really be going by this fast?