I Can Finally Share This...

Quote for the Day:

“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” 

~ Mother Teresa

In February and March, I was working on a quilt as a gift for my chiropractor so I wasn't able to post anything about it.  

When I went in today for my office visit, I took it in and gifted it to him!  He was totally surprised and from his reaction, I could tell that he loved it!  

The back...the bones glow in the dark!  LOL

The label was a poem that I found online...

This quilt is machine-pieced and hand-quilted.  I had a lot of fun making it and I am so relieved that he loves it!!!

Loretta

New Quilt Project...

About 5 years ago, I purchased a hand-embroidered vintage quilt top off of Ebay.  My daughter saw it, finished some the embroidery that needed completed, and asked if I'd make it into a quilt as a wedding gift for her and Dale when they got married.  

It seems that wedding is in the works for later this year, if all goes well!  Hence...I figured I'd better get to work on it.  

It is a king-sized quilt, measuring 100" x 100".  Whew...might take me a little while!  

It is too big to get a nice picture of it in my house because I really don't have a place or bed that big to lay it out on, so I took pictures as I was loading it into the frame yesterday.  

I started hand quilting it today.  What I like about these tops is that the quilting lines are already pre-printed on them so there is no marking involved!

Like most vintage linens, there are some "storage spots" that will show up in the pictures as I post my progress.  These don't bother me because when it is all done, I will soak the whole thing in Oxi-Clean.  I do this to all of my vintage linens that have storage stains on them and I've never had any stains that not come out.  ("Storage stains" refers to the brown spots that are caused by either bugs that get up into the fabric at some time OR that come from being in contact with non-sealed wood like a cedar chest or wooden shelf.)  You can't wash the item before quilting because it will wash out the pre-printed quilting lines and you take a chance of the unfinished edges raveling.  

Loretta

Happy Birthday to ME!

Best birthday present EVER...

Today...on my birthday...day 96 of eating the Whole30 way...I hit the THIRTY POUND mark!!!

Thirty pounds and three medications gone!!!   It really is never too late to change your life!  

If it weren't for the terrible arthritis in my right knee, I'd feel like a million bucks!  I guess I still feel like a million bucks...that all have a bad knee!  LOL

(source travel.nationalgeographic.com)

Happy Birthday to ME...from ME!!!  :)

Loretta

Feeling Blessed....

Quote for the Day:

"Without health, life is not life; 

it is only a state of languor and suffering - an image of death."

~Buddha

Over the past week, I've been cleaning out the flower beds, preparing them for Spring...raking, weeding, trimming rose bushes, collecting/cleaning containers for my container garden, etc.  During this bustle of warm-weather work, I found myself amazed at the difference in my life now compared to where I've been and what I've been through.

Two short years ago I was not even able to walk out into our back yard because the unevenness of the ground would cause my back pain to flare up after just 5 minutes....and that didn't even include actually DOING any work!   At that point in my life, I truly just thought my health was going to continue the downhill slide.  I hoped to find something that would relieve my pain, but never even thought that now...2 years later...I would be in the best health that I've been in in YEARS!

With my dietary changes, continuing chiropractic care, and ongoing use of essential oils, I am now completely off of THREE medications that I had been on for years.  In two weeks, I will be getting some blood work done that will tell us if I can reduce/eliminate two more medications.   I go weeks, sometimes months, without needing any pain medicine.

I can now picture myself living many more decades...something I couldn't picture myself doing just a few short months ago.  (Part of this perception comes from losing my father when he was only 59 and mother at the age of 68.)

In the meantime, I'm able to enjoy many physical activities that I had thought were a thing of the past.   I have a list of things that I plan to get done around the house...things that have been put off for years because of my health.  And we won't even mention the list of quilts that I want to make in this lifetime!  

I'm loving every minute of my new life and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me!

Loretta

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  I hope that you all had a nice Easter and got to enjoy some time with your family or friends!

We had Easter dinner with our friends that live across the street from us, Wes and Kathy!  The food was delish and between her and I, we were able to tweak the menu enough so that I had plenty to eat...in fact, too much to eat!  

She served these beautiful individual cheesecakes for dessert...

...Andy, Kathy, and Wes all said they were very good!  Aren't they adorable???

I didn't have any, but I took a package of these Coco-Roons with me and had them with a cuppa coffee while they enjoyed the cheesecakes so that  I had a delicious "treat" while they had their treat.  I haven't been eating "treats" for almost 3 months now so it was an absolutely perfect end to the meal! 

Kathy doesn't sew but knows that I do, so she gifted me with this sewing machine cover that used to belong to her mom.  In fact, I'm not completely sure, but I think it may have been homemade by her.

Isn't it sweet???  It is the perfect fit for my Viking embroidery machine and I feel honored that she gave it to me.  I know how much she loved her mom!

I can't show you what quilt I'm currently working on because it is a gift, but once it has been given to the intended recipient, I'll post pictures!  :)

Loretta