create4, i sent my FQ's fri. 2 for this mo and next.
irish, don't know how old you are, but either medicare, or soc sec will pay for housekeeping help if you need it.
i have heard of other older people receiving this benifit. someone correct me, please, if i am wrong.
couldn't live without my once a month lady. she does the corners, and scubs it all down.
hope you all are doing good, and being good. so far, i am pleased with myself. leaving the crap alone. but then i cleaned it all out of my house. could find some sugar , if i made something from scratch. etc. or home canned fruit, but so far, am leaving it alone. hang in there ladies.

possible themes, ---black and white and then maybe neutral's?

Cindy. I mailed Sept and Oct today. The success of finishing your quilt will help with you depression - a job could help more. I tell people recycling begins in the grocery store - making choices that are less packaged - I think the same could be said for weight control - making good choices at the point of purchase. I can't eat chips if I don't bring them home, etc.

meanmom - love the duct tape on the cookie container. Will you share the recipe? I need something new to bake for others.

Laurie, three pounds by the 11th is wonderful. :thumbup:

SewNso, Yes, I qualify. I don't think my Medicare Advantage/Priority will pay and I don' think regular SS will, just SSI if that's the one that's for people who became handicapped before retirement. My best bet in this area for help with the cost is Council On Aging. It's about 2 hours for about $50, but I will have to pay a portion because of my income. I already use their snow removal, though they don't do any unless 5 inches comes in a short period of time. Cumulative doesn't matter. It might work if I have someone do the cleaning while I do the decluttering. I really don't need anything deep cleaned, just routine.

My weight is holding at the 5 pounds the antibiotics put on me. I think my doctor has the dosage way too high and for too long. Maybe I won't gain 35 pounds in 14 days.

I have to work on the baby quilt tonight. A lot going on in the next few days so I can't put if off. any longer. I am considering scrapping the bazaar quilt and finding an less time consuming pattern. Or skipping a quilt and make casserole carriers. Decisions, decisions.

Furgirls are waiting. I took them with on some errands today, but they haven't been walked, so goodnight.

Taboo Tues. a little late in the day. Just thought about it being Tues. So I guess I should be easy on everyone so let's do no pizza. That will be a hard one on me.

I have a popsicle recipe that I got out of a cookbook. 1 pkg. Koolaid and I pkg. of Jello 2 cups of hot water and 2 cups of cold water. Heat 2 cups of water to boiling and put jello and stir until disolved then add the 2 cups of cold water and 24 pkgs of equal or splenda or the sweetner of your choice. Pour in molds and freeze. My sister used Mango Peach Koolaid and Peach Jello and they were really good!!!!! Could have been Peach Mango Koolaid. It's in a yellow pkg. I am going to use orange Jello if I can't find the sugar free peach.

PamS

I must have done something wrong when I subscribed to this thread. Life was so busy that I didn't even notice I wasn't getting it. Did anyone miss me?
We were in Texas and got our house all ready to sell. It sold on saturday! Woohoo!! We close on Oct 1 so I will be going back to Texas to pack up everything and clean.
Happy birthday, Meanmom!!
On saturday I went to the Madison Quilt Expo. Here is a link to the pics I took: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=35d624bcbf
I didn't buy any fabric while there. Just a few gadgets. I'm pretty excited to use my new pouncer. Today I bought some stencils to use with it.
I somehow got myself roped into a quilt block exchange with 11 other people who went on the Ireland trip. We are each going to make 12 identical blocks to exchange with each other. I was feeling totally overwhelmed by this but I searched for patterns and found one I liked and went to work. Here is a pic of my sample block. The 12 quilts will be on display at the International Quilt Fest of Ireland in June 2013.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]362165[/ATTACH]

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars
Yield: about 5 dozen small bars
INGREDIENTS
For the shortbread layer:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
For the caramel layer:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk
For the chocolate layer:
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp. light corn syrup
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Fleur de sel or sea salt, for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
To make the shortbread layer, preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to blend, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed blend in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and press in an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden. (If the crust puffs up a bit while baking, just gently press it down while it is cooling.) Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the caramel layer, combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue simmering and stirring until the mixture turns an amber color and thickens slightly. Pour the mixture over the shortbread layer, smooth the top, and allow to cool completely and set. (I chilled at this stage to ensure that the caramel layer would not melt when the warm chocolate was added.)

To make the chocolate glaze, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour evenly over the caramel layer and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then sprinkle with fleur de sel. Chill, covered, until ready to slice and serve.

Probably a bad thing to put on a diet group. I have made these gluten free by making GF shortbread. I usually buy a really good butter to make them, an Irish or Amish butter. WHen you make the caramel layer stir, stir , stir and make sure you scrape around the edges of the pot as it burns easily. It take about 15 to 20 minutes on the caramel. Enjoy. JUst not too many.
Pat

That's a beautiful block, Pam. I admire those of you who are willing to work with small pieces of fabric. The outcome is worth it, I know, but I'm not here yet.

Sewnso, I like idea of the b/w FQs.

Pam, that's an easy taboo for me. I didn't get a gold star this week with the chocolate, but I will next week for sure. When are you going to make it difficult for some and ban Nutrasweet/aspertame for a week? That stuff is not healthy. I don't think Splenda is quite as bad, but I avoid it, too.

Off to Curves again tomorrow. I have to go in the morning. I am not a morning person, but the rest of day is scheduled. Anyone else trying a 30 day free trial in September? Your 30 days can go into October as long as you sign up in Sept. The machines aren't hard - I can do almost anything for 30 seconds and the intervals doing movements off the machines are only 30 seconds. I never tried it before because I thought the times were much longer.

Okay, I've caught my breath from our pretty night walk. To the sewing machine I must go!

Edit: we posting the same time, meanmom. -Thank you for the recipe. It sounds fantastic. I could make on for the shower Sunday then I'd have help eating it.

Yea!! My Dr scale and my scale show I am down about 3 lbs so far this month. I hope I can keep that and add even more loss to it.
It will be hard. My birthday is the 20 and Jim's is the 22. Already we've had some birthday cake made for us! I did eat a piece but it was a small one.
Need to be good and lose this weight!!!!

Beautiful block Pam!!!!
I have picked out my FQ for the next 4 months. One of them is a not so skinny 1/4 yd. I don't think anyone would mind getting a slightly larger piece. Now I just need to get them into the mail!!!

That recipe sounds yummy!! But........ Not a good idea on a weight loss thread! We might be tempted to make it and eat it and gain weight instead of lose

i got them over the weekend. thanks for sending them.

Argh..... My little scale is not working. I don't have any AAA batteries!! It may take a day or two longer to get these mailed if I have to go buy batteries or go to the post office.

Irish - sorry I tired you out. I tire myself out sometimes too. For a big girl I try to get a lot accomplished, but it doesn't always go my way. I did finish all my stuff on Monday. Came home from Mom & Dad's and fell asleep on the couch. All that fresh air, crabs and good times with everyone did me in.

As for the Hexies, right now I'm working on the pattern on the front of the Quilts and More magazine. I've got all the hexies ready to sew together. I save that task for slow days at work (when I work weekends) or when I'm watching football. These are bigger hexies so it will go faster. I've done some table runners and rounds with the smaller hexies. It takes a little time but when they're done they're beautiful!! And it reminds me of when I was little and my 2 GMs. They both did beautiful handwork. My one GM made all of her grandchildren sock monkeys and sun bonnet sue/sam quilts. She had 10 kids and each has at least 2 children, but most had more. She was very busy. She had a treadle machine, as did my other GM. She let me use it when I was about 6 to make doll clothes. That started me sewing. And she taught me to cook. Loved (and still do) both of my GMs very much!!!!! And I'm thankful for everything they taught me.

create4--the packaging of my FQ's worked okay? couldn't remember if that postage was right or not. do others package theirs like mine?
some of you ladies wear me out, just reading all the work you are doing. are you seniors? bet not.
so far, so good this week. might hit the bed early tonite, just so i don't crave sweets.

Your packaging was fine. No extra postage was requiredv when delivered. Yes some have sent it the way you did.

Mine got picked up in today's mail. I bought new batteries for my scale yesterday but the mail had already been picked up by the time I got the postage on the package. You should get it in a couple of days. I put the next 4 month's worth of FQ's in there

I can send a medium weight FQ in a business envelope for $.68, but if one won't fit comfortably, then I have to use a 5x7 manila envelope and it's in the $1.32 range. Two together were $1.95 this week which surprised me. They weren't heavy so it would have less to mail them separately. I assume the ones in the business envelopes have arrived safely.

I survived a very busy day today and have three more to go, then I can relax a bit. I have two grandsons tomorrow and one is my hole digger, so if the rain stops I need to see if I can get the hydrangea I want. I'm changing my front landscaping to need less carried water - more perennials and fewer pots.

Cindy, how is the quilt coming? I may switch horses in the middle of the stream - put aside the bazaar quilt and do a quicker one, but I hate having another UFO.

I haven't read '50 Shades of Gray' - kind of waiting for a) after things slow down after Christmas or b) something to do if I do decide to have surgery, so I don't know what I am talking about. My 12 year tutoree has an e reader - I forget the name of Apple's. His mother borrowed it to read those books and left all three downloaded on it. T is allowed to bring the e reader to school. Am I only one who sees that as a potential problem? '50 Shades of Gray' in a Junior high????

Tonight is the night I finish those concentric circles on the baby quilt. Imperfectly done is better than undone when the shower is Sunday and tomorrow and Saturday are scheduled.

My youngest daughter gave me some cabbage soup today. I expect to lose 15 pounds overnight - burned off - that stuff was hot. I'm glad I only had enough for one dinner. It was good, but I'm still sweating.

We had a baby shower at church today. One of the hostesses made me some gluten free cupcakes. They were good - just a little salty. That's why I stopped at my daughter's house. My grandson's doctor has him on a GF diet, so I shared the leftovers.

Okay, back to the sewing machine. Have a clean eating day.
Judy

what's the price of a lst class stamp now? that's what i used on an envelope. all our stamps are 'forever' stamps.

i was told at one time that a FQ folded in half long ways, (and ironed each time you fold it) then folded in 3rd's and inclosed in saran wrap would ship for a lst class stamp. i just do that, and don't even go inside the p.o.
and they seem to go thru just fine in a business envelope.

Have received FQ's from the following

CountryHouseQuilter - 4 months worth
lauriejo -
Not sure of screen name but from Coeur D'Alene, ID
IrishRose - 2 months
SewNso - 2months
Vanogay - 4 months

I know several said they were in the mail and I will be watching. This is as of mail delivery today.

Cindy, mine were mailed out so you should be getting them soon. (4 months worth) It must be much easier now that you don't have to make a trip to your po box.
I have been helping a friend get ready for a garage sale for a few months. The sale will be done tomorrow. I will be so glad to not be working on that anymore. Maybe I can get something done in my house for a change. Maybe even get back to some quilting. :)
I have not been exercising and lately I have been eating poorly. Even with that I am down 3 lbs so far this month. When life gets back to normal I plan to do better.

Well, I am glad everyone seems to be posting on the negative side (as in I lost pounds). My scale shows a loss, too, but only 2 pounds. Need to do way better than than in the coming weeks. Have a quilt retreat the end of the month, so need to get the weight down before that. You know how sewing with a bunch of ladies can get you to picking without realizing it!!

Hi all just been off the internet for a few days and now need to catch up with all the news. Glad to see loss from you all makes me want to try even more to get this stuborn weight off.
It's been real hot again and this weekend will be more of the same. Be glad when the end of Sept comes and it will then cool off.
I'm down a couple of #'s but should be more. Drinking lots of water and waking each day.
I've also been helping DH to replace the shade cloth on our patio so thats even more exercise than usual. I'ts been up for 5 yrs so it was turning to dust.
Having Bouillabasse for dinner. We have it about twice a year and boy is fresh seafood expensive. We have been craving it for a while now and just said to heck with it, the money be d. The house smells sooo good with just the sauce cooking.
Well off the clean shrimp for dinner. Have a great weekend and I'll check in later.
Hugs to all.
Gail

Happy Friday to everyone........hope everyone is doing well this month.........I'm back on track, lost a few pounds so far. Definitely glad it's friday....sheweeeee what a week. Looks like the cold front moved in on us today......I went into a pt's house and it was like 80 outside, when I came back out there was a chill in the air. Good luck everyone

Boy going back to work seems to be a big help in the diet department! I work from 9-3 and don't get an actual lunch, I just eat a quick bite at my desk. It isn't very relaxing, but it sure keeps me from overeating. Portion control is my biggest hurdle. I actually wore a pair of slacks to work today that I haven't been able to wear since last year.

I read through the posts last week but didn't post anything. Mailed in my fat quarter. BUT just saw read the first post again and noticed I'm suppose to sign in weekly in order to be eligible. Oh well , good luck to everyone else.

you have to fold it in half once, then again, then in 3rd's. then wrap in saran wrap. it has to measure exact l8x 22 in. and have the selvage cut off lst.

isn't it sad how the wt doesn't come off as fast as it goes on? or does it? i'm sure i gained it faster than 2 lbs a week. haven't weighed in several days. sunday morning is weekly wt in for me. but darn, after 5 weeks you know, i should have been 50 lbs slimmer. NOW I ASK YOU, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? :o
GET your FQ's mailed in. we want more in the pot than that. don't we ladies. sewed with my janome in a pfaff quilting frame today. seems to work soooo much better that the grand quilter from pfaff. did that after supper, to stay out of extra's. hope you all are eating healthy, moving and drinking your water. i started walking a little.

I am finally mailing my FQ tomorrow. I have 4 months worth ready. Been ready for days, I just keep leaving them on the kitchen table when I leave. They are stuck into my purse so I remember them. I have been behaving pretty well so far. I haven't weighed in yet. My clothes are looser. I bought a pair of jeans Friday that are quite a bit smaller than what I wore last winter:-) I have been hitting the gym quite a bit this month. My personal trainer suggested 5 days a week. Not quite there yet but I'm trying. I know it is a poor excuse but life keeps getting in the way. Although I just realized that isn't a good excuse either as my gym is open 24/7.
Pat

it is ok if you dont post weekly. We have had some who post the first week and nothing until the very end. you are still in. I am not gonna say no you can't win because you didn't post weekly. I understand we have busy lives. Just post when you can.......not just once in a blue moon.

:thumbup: I agree.

What a day! I did something stupid and screwed my body up and had to make 72 taco tarts and 72 chicken tarts for a party today. Good thing I have a stool the right height so I cook sitting down. I know I'm allergic to the environment and many sprays and such, so what made me think I could spray those yellowjackets. This time my face and mouth are swollen and my legs quit working. I am drinking everything in sight to flush my body and will take an antihistamine at bedtime. Curves tomorrow? I hope so.

The baby quilt with crooked lines was delivered today.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ml#post5519958
Am I getting old or are things like baby showers an awful lot of work? I don't remember feeling that way in the past.

Eating was off today. I hope I didn't so too much damage. I forgot to ask myself, " Do I really have to have this?" I doubt if I had too much total - it just seemed like my hand was headed for my mouth a lot. I finally took my GGDs outside to swing instead of staying inside with the food (and the noise.) The now 3 year old calls me 'Play park grandma" instead of GGM, so I have a reputation to uphold. The year old was all smiles that she was able to go.

I hope y'all had a cleaner eating day than I did. I wish us all one for tomorrow. Eat clean, drink water, exercise and be kind to yourself.

Oh Irish ya really gotta watch that spray poison, nasty stuff. I let my hubby do it tee hee. Be very careful about the swelling too, it can close up your throat in seconds, ask me how I know. :rolleyes:

I think something was in the air yesterday, it seemed like all I wanted to do was eat. I had Reeses Pieces calling my name all day, hopefully they will be all gone when I get home from work. Then I made mac and cheese for dinner and ate seconds, bad plan on my part cuz I love mac and cheese. Ah well today is another day, I WILL make better choices.

I worked last Thursday and started feeling bad. Went to Patient First that night on the way home and waited about 2 hours before the Doc saw me. That place was full of sick people. I waited outside the door until they came looking for me. I knew I was only getting a sinus infection and didn't want what everyone else had. Doc saw me, gave me meds and I was out in 10 minutes....amazing!! So my 3 day weekend was spent with a lot of head congestion, but I'm back at work today.

Saturday I had 7 ladies over and we worked on making "Turkey Tabletoppers". Mine is almost done. When it is I'll post a picture. I got the pattern off of Missouri Star Quiltings website. I didn't really like the look of theirs on the picture, so I kinda redesigned it. I think it turned out awesome. But when I post you can be the judge. Next project after this is finished is to get my Ravens Mondo bag done. Hoping to get it done before Football season is over...LOL.

Has anyone else had a lot of crickets this year. The last couple days I bet I've killed at least 10 trying to take up residence in my basement. One girlfriend told me they were good luck and if I killed one I'd have 7 yrs bad luck. Told her that as many as I've killed in the last couple days I'll have bad luck the rest of my life. I have to kill them if they're in my basement, they eat fabric. Oh well, I can't win that one.

Does anyone have a pressure cooker? Not the old kind, the new safe kind. And if so, do you use it often? And for what? I'm thinking of buying one but I'm hesitant. I hear that you can cook meals quick and sometimes I think that would be my only option. Let me know.

Amy

Please ignore the link to my baby quilt. For some reason the board deleted that thread.

Off to do laundry and clean house. Have a good day. I'll check in later.

I am getting healthier and losing weight.

I finally get to pick my sewing machine up this afternoon. It has been in the hospital the last 4 weeks. It's costing me $450 to get it fixed. No fabric purchases for a little while for me :(
I have used my old Pfaff to do some piecing. This weekend was our "UFO" weekend at church. I sandwiched my Pineapple plus quilt and finished up my X-Block Venetian Tiles quilt. The Venetian Tiles pattern was poorly written and I pieced the top back in February and it took until now for me to try and figure out how to do the border and make it look good. I am happy with the way it looks but it sure was a PITA. I got it sandwiched too. I forgot to sandwich a small child's quilt while there, oh well. I will drag my husband into helping me later.
Now I Just need to decide how I want to quilt those quilts.
I did pretty good with my eating this weekend. Avoided the deserts and the muffins but I did eat about 3 pieces of bacon. Didn't have enough veggies either. I will have to work on that this week.
My birthday is Thursday and Jim's is Saturday. We are going out to dinner Friday night. My son is, hopefully, getting leave and coming home for a week starting Friday. The kids are going to fix us a birthday dinner on Saturday. With my son home it will mean more cooking and lots of Beef. He always comes home and wants beef. Tri-tip, steak, roast etc. I guess he is not happy with what the Navy feeds him, lol!!!

Life sometimes can be such a discouragement. I keep getting turned down for every job I have applied to. I refuse to let it get me down. Please God send me that job you want me to have. i need to get back to work. I will continue to look and work on the T-shirt quilts i have been asked to make.

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I went in the hospital and found out that I had lung cancer. I went in on sept 19th and had surgery sept 30th. Wow how time flies.

Keep up your hard work ladies.

Boy this fall everyone I know is having sinus trouble (except me), must be good growing weather or something. None of my fall allergies have hit yet, knock on wood, and fall is always my worst allergy season. I guess I am just being contrary.

We have had more crickets in the house this year than ever before! They are making me crazy and the cat totally ignores them. Do crickets have cycles like the locusts do?

No pressure cooker for me, them are scary :eek:! LOL my mom used to make the most amazing pork and saurkraut in the pc, but I really can't bring myself to use one. Silly huh? I take that back, I did borrow hers once and survived. Maybe I should give it another try. They do cook the food faster, and keep the moisture in better.

Irish are you going to try again to post the baby quilt, I wanna see!

Wow all of my machines together aren't even worth $450! But then again, I wouldn't part with my Singer for any price. Isn't it funny how attached we get to a particular machine.

Beef, it's whats for dinner! Well I think I'd rather have the bacon actually lol. Whenever my brother comes home (not in service, just CA), he wants the silliest foods. Like cream sticks from a local bakery and pizza and jojos.

Cindy I know how discouraging the job hunt can be, I was off work for nearly a year. Partly because I was trying to find a job at only 30 hours a week. I wasn't sure my health could do full time. I finally started my new job the first of August and it is at a tax account, so it is part-time right now but full-time in tax season. Of all the jobs I applied for this one is the very best fit so I know it worked that way for a reason. Keep the faith, your job is out there. Wow it doesn't seem like it was a year ago that you had your surgery! You have come a long way since then.

I have done a little better today with the water, now I need to get my feet moving. I am up and down all day at work, but haven't had any sustained exercise today. But no snacking either! When I weighed myself yesterday I was down another pound, yippee!!!

I've been very good with my food today. Not even a bite of a snack and no treats either. Tonight might be a different story since I am going out with friends. Hopefully we will go someplace where I can get a nice salad.
Remember when I told you (3 months ago) that my daughter is pregnant? She finally had her 3 mo evaluation at work. They are going to keep her :). She told her boss she is expecting and he was happy for her. She is starting to show but is just wearing her jeans and pants a little snug. She is very tall so that probably makes a difference in how well you can conceal it. I think she is at 18 weeks. Poor thing is still having morning sickness.
I had intended to get back into my exercising today. Even put on my exercise clothes. Too bad it took me all morning to get rid of a migraine. Exercise didn't happen and now it's time to get cleaned up for my dinner date with 2 very good friends.

I found out why it was deleted - some members couldn't open the pictures, so let's try here. This is another simple one, but I think I like simple quilts made in bright fabrics. This is the one I couldn't follow the lines to do the circles. I finally just did the best I could - the baby will see the colors and later the trucks, not the quilting. The FMQ in the border was so easy - what a relief after struggling with the circles.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]363553[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]363554[/ATTACH]

It must be a headache day. I didn't go to Curves because I'm having a dizzy headache. It keeps my service dog busy. Lily has come flying out of her room to stabilize me twice. Moira is so oblivious. She just bounces through life making me smile.

Oh pretty, lots of color and contrast - just what babies love.

I was going to go to the gym on my way home today. I had to stop at my DD house to set it up for a showing. They decided to rent it out instead of selling it. They are going to rent it for a year and make sure his job out of town is what he wants. I ended up mowing her grass and the grass at my house too. I was trying to beat the rain that hasn't happened. I took close to 2 hours, push mowing. I guess that counts as going to the gym.