Wednesday Weigh-In - Workouts

I'm getting back to my workout routine after a long hiatus while I nursed a nasty cold and lingering cough.  I am focusing on increasing the intensity of my workouts.  I don't see how I can possibly devote any more time; I usually get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week and workout for about an hour and 20 minutes each session.  So I am trying to ramp up the intensity to increase the calorie burn off rate.  I've increased the incline on the treadmill for my walking workout, and lengthened the amount of  time I spend at the most intense speed/incline combo while spending a shorter time in the middle speed before I begin the cooldown.  So far, so good.  Although it didn't appear to make an impact on this week's weight loss stats!

The stats:

weight lost this week: 0.4 pounds
weight lost YTD: 1.6 pounds

Pillowcases - Finished

I've been participating in On The Edge Pillowcase Crochet Along.  Cassie of You Go Girl organized this and put the instructions on her blog.  I finished mine on Sunday.

They are actually pretty easy. The hardest part, well, really the most frustrating part, was the blanket stitch that forms the foundation for the crocheted edge.  You have to use such a long piece of yarn in the needle that it becomes twisted and tangled very easily, so this step does require some patience.  Cassie advises having some chocolate on hand as a coping mechanism.

I think that another time, I might weave 1/4" ribbon in the spaces between the blanket stitches.  I'd also like to see how it turns out made with much finer yarn or crochet thread.

How Do You Display Your Quilts?

I listened to Jackie's December 2009 podcast while treadmilling this morning.  It was about how she uses and displays her quilts in her home.  It reminded me that 1)  I have been looking for a quilt rack to use in our bedroom, and 2)  I need some new and different ways to use my quilts in our home.

So, I'm sharing some of the ways I use and display my quilts in the hopes that some of you will do the same and give me some fresh, new ideas!

Of course, I have quilts on all of our beds.  (This picture was taken at Christmas time.)  Every bed in the house has at least three quilts and I use them in rotation.  And sometimes, a second quilt gets folded at the foot of the bed.

This quilt display rack is on a wall in my kitchen.  I use it for wall hangings that I rotate seasonally.  The Valentine quilt just came down and Aquarium went up.

I keep a quilt on this chair in our family room and have another over a chair in the living room.  I also have a pile of quilts on a shelf in the family room; they are handy on very cold nights when we watch tv.

In our hallway upstairs, I mounted two curtain rods, one above the other, and I have six quilts folded over the curtain rods in an informal display.  A similar idea is to hang a folded quilt over the stair railing.  This is a very nice look when you have section of bannister that is visible from the floor below.

How do you use your quilts?

New Podcast Found

I found a new quilting podcast to listen to on the elliptical trainer and treadmill.  It is Jackie's Quilting Chronicles, by Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works. 

Her most recent podcast is an interview of Karen Griska of Selvage Quilts fame.  It is quite interesting, especially if you have any interest in making something with the selvages from your quilting fabrics.  Karen talked about how she came to make her first selvage quilt.  If you need inspiration, visit Karen's blog, selvageblog.blogspot.com, where she has a new post just about every day with selvage projects of quilters from around the world.

Jackie is a quilting dynamo!  She is a longarm quilter, teaches at a local quilt shop, has a an online fabric shop as well as an etsy shop, makes her own quilts, and does the podcast.  I call that living a quilting life!

Wednesday Weigh-In - Return of the Stats!

The fact that I lost any weight at all this week is something of a weight-loss miracle.  I had a crazy week at work, putting in such long days that I never made it to the gym.  Plus, I had a two-day meeting in New York City.  Though fun and productive, the meeting was not diet-friendly.  Cookies and brownies appeared in our conference room every afternoon and we went out to dinner at a Cuban restaurant.  Must have a mojito!  I had to compensate with major deprivation the rest of the week.

With my new, "tell it like it is" scale, I've reset the stat tracker.

The stats:
weight lost this week: 1.2 pounds
weight lost to date: 1.2 pounds

Exuberance and Joy!

Laurie of Minick & Simpson had a wonderful post Monday about not worrying about achieving perfection with every quilt because it keeps you from being adventurous.  It struck a chord with me.  I am trying to be more adventurous with my choice of projects. I am considering designs that I would previously have written off as too difficult or requiring too much patience.  I am looking at colors and color combinations that are outside my usual range.  As Laurie said, "Almost every one of them is way less than perfect, all of them make up for it in exuberance and joy."

I have to keep this in mind and let myself adventure a bit further afield.  Yesterday, I bought this magazine.  I bought it totally for the cover quilt.  I've been wanting to tackle a kaleidoscope quilt for some time and that variation on the cover in modern greens and browns "spoke" to me.

New Start, Near Finish

The past week has been lots of Powerpoint and not much sewing.  I'm so busy with work that I didn't have time to get into my sewing room at all during the work week and only for a short time this weekend. 

I finished the quilting on Old Gold and Blue.  I used gray thread because it worked on both the gold and blue fabrics, and quilted in straight lines using my walking foot.  All the quilting is done and I attached the binding.

I have to finish the binding (the hand sewing part) and attach the label then this one will be off to the auction.

I decided on the fabric to use for the Pillowcase Crochet Along.  I'm using the pale pink floral stripe, with white yarn for the edging.  I've got a pair of pillowcases cut out - only about two weeks behind!

The last few late nights were spent with this book...the second Flavia de Luce mystery.  As entertaining as the first; I highly recommend it.