Love Buzzard's Crafts & Life

Got up at six forty-five this morning and after I finished Brian’s lunch I sat at the computer doing online searches and reading emails for a couple of hours.  Then I decided that I would go back to bed since I had not had eight hours of sleep.  I got in bed and was not falling asleep so I said to myself that it was silly to go back to bed after being up for two hours so I got up and got busy.

I pressed about thirty yards of Christmas material and then cut it into twelve-inch strips.  Then I decided to get all my Christmas fabric out and divide into different stacks to see exactly what I had.  I ended up with piles of yardage to cut into strips, panels to quilt as is, small pieces that will make maybe two blocks, appliqués, fabric that has glitter like material woven or printed on the surface, and the final pile was fabric to take to the thrift shop.  The thrift shop is getting a thirty-gallon trash bag full of Christmas fabric.  There are even some finished Christmas stockings in the pile.  I just remembered that I did not get out the fabric that is printed with poinsettias but at least it is all in one container.  I had thought originally that I would not use the poinsettia fabric but have decided to go ahead and use it and get it out of here.

I figured up today that if I make the quilts forty-eight inches by sixty inches that will require twenty block on each side for a total of forty blocks per quilt.  Since I am aiming for forty quilts that is one thousand and six hundred blocks.  Actually there will be less for I am making the front of some of the quilts from panels.  However the panels will need blocks or strips to make them the correct size.

Not too long until midnight so I am off to bed for I am very sleepy and have lots I want to do tomorrow.  Would love to get two or three panels quilted.  At least I can keep changing between pressing, cutting, sewing blocks together, and quilting panels so I do not get tired of doing the same thing all day long.

Last night I was tired of working on the table runner and said I was going to bed and would finish it today.  Well I started doing something or the other and then I decided that I would go ahead and finish the runner and then it would be done and I could forget about it.  I am very unhappy about the way it looks.  What a waste of pretty fabric.  I should have taken the extra time to put trunks on the trees for now they just look like red and green triangles.  And I think it would look better with a white border.  The back is one piece of fabric and looks fine so might make the funny trees the backside.   I am going to put it away and see how I feel about it at Christmas time.

Since I went to the time and trouble to make the table runner I sent a picture to Amanda for the August Christmas Challenge.  She picks a winning number each month and the lucky person gets to choose fabric from the Fabric Cafe.  It certainly would make me feel better about my challenge item if I were to win the fabric.  It could happen but I very seldom win anything so not getting my hopes up.

I have finally gotten all the blocks cut for the baby quilt and blocks pinned together ready to sew when I get up tomorrow.  I was hoping to have the quilt done to give to the mother-to-be Sunday but I had   forgotten that I will be working at the voting polls on Saturday from five-thirty in the morning until eight-thirty at night.  No quilting on that day.  The block alone does not look like much but it is going to be a pretty quilt.

After church I drove to Ruston to get a couple things that I needed from Walmart.  Had to go to Ruston for what I wanted was not available in Jonesboro.  And since I was there, I went to Fox’s Pizza for supper.  Brian and Christy were not home and I did not want to cook.

I had every intention of finishing the table runner that is my August Christmas challenge but I am so sleepy and tired that I am going to bed.  Besides I have until the thirty-first to finish it.  I only need about thirty minutes and it will be finished.

Finally got some sewing and quilting done today.  I am working on the table runner for the August Christmas challenge.  I hope to have it finished and out of my hair tomorrow night.  I am not really happy with it and I guess that comes from not having a pattern but just winging it.  Oh well, maybe someone will like it and I can give it to them for a Christmas present.

Although I did not get a lot done on the table runner today, I did get several household chores done that just would not wait any longer.  Housework is very close to the top of my list of hate to do jobs.  But a time comes that one has to bite the bullet and just do it.

Hard to believe that I got up this morning at seven thirty and started my day with breakfast from the Let’s Do Lunch eating plan.  I tried to make a smoothie but my frozen banana half would not cooperate.  I poured it into a glass and put into the fridge.  I can have it tonight when the banana will be soft enough to go through the blender.  The recipe did not say but maybe one should cut the banana in chunks before freezing.  From now on I think I will just use plain bananas for the ice cubes and orange juice will make it cold enough.  Since I could not have the suggested smoothie, I ate a huge bowl of watermelon.  I love fruit so this eating plan is going to work well for me.

After breakfast I went to the grocery store and when I got home about ten thirty I was so sleepy that I had to lie down and I actually fell asleep for about fifteen minutes.  Then I got up and have been fine since.  I think it was driving in the bright sunshine that made me sleepy.  As good an excuse as any I guess since I was not sleepy until I started driving home from the grocery store.

Just found an army marching in my kitchen, an army of ants.  I was hoping that I was rid of them for this year.  Just finished spraying so hopefully they will all be dead when I get up tomorrow morning.  Before I realized they were there, one bit me on the elbow and it is now itching and burning like crazy.  It seems that ant bites are almost more irritating that a wasp bite.  Cover the wasp bite with soda and soon it stops hurting.  Not so with an ant bite.  At least the ants are not in my bed.  Decided that I better check and thankfully the bed is ant free.

I finally went to sleep about eight this morning.  Was sleeping so well and the phone rang.  It was a guy from the place that wants you to send them your gold and silver and they will send money.  I kept trying to cut him off and he just would not listen but kept right on talking so I hung up on him.  I did not slam the phone down but very gently put it down.  Got back in bed and after about another hour of sleep the phone rang again.  Wrong number.  Around noon I was sleeping soundly again and was awakened by another wrong number.  Tonight and from now on, I am going to unplug the land line phone when I go to bed.

I have finally decided what I am going to make for the August Christmas challenge.  I am going to make a table runner of three different Christmas fabrics in red, green, and white and will use the X-Block to make the blocks.  I pulled out several fabrics and was planning to use about six of each color fabric but decided that even though it would be pretty, it would take more time than I have to spend.  Trying to decide if I want to use a fourth Christmas fabric on the back and make the table runner reversible.   It seems that usually with reversible pieces, the “back” seldom gets used.   When it is time to put on a back, I will decide what I want to do.

Last night I cut several block with the X-block but was having trouble holding it with my arthritic fingers.  I tried using the gripper that I have but it was too large and I had to keep taking it off and putting back on so that I could cut all four sides of the square.  I finally gave up and sat down to read.  The thought kept running through my mind that there just might be a gripper that was very small and could be used on a seven-inch square.

This morning when I got up I called the quilt shop where I bought my large gripper to see if she had a small one.  She did not but said she would check to see if they were available.  Then it dawned on me that there was a quilt shop in West Monroe and she just might have one.  I called and she not only had a two inch one but a four inch one.  I told her to hold the smaller one for me and that I would be over within the hour to pick it up.  I tried it out as soon as I got home and it makes cutting the blocks so much easier.  Money well spent.  And I did remember to call the first shop and tell her that I found what I was looking for and she did not need to do a search.

This evening I learned that I have quite a bit more time to make the baby quilt for Isaiah for his parents are not going to be moving away for two or three months after he is born and he is not due until the middle of September.  I was happy to learn that for I have some other things that I really want to do before the end of the month.

I have decided to try the Let’s Do Lunch eating plan for all I have to lose is weight.  Tonight after church I went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on a good many food items that are on the eating plan but that I did not have in my cupboards.   One of the foods that is highly recommended for snacking is frozen grapes.  I had some really big green grapes so I stuck them in the freezer.  I think I prefer my grapes at room temperature for they are hard as can be and after eating about a dozen my tongue was frozen.  According to the author of the book, freezing the grapes makes them sweeter but I do not agree, at least my frozen grapes were not sweeter.  Have some bananas in the freezer to use in making smoothies.  I bought a box of Truvia sweetener and I certainly hope that I like it.  I am not a great fan of sugar substitutes but if I want to lose weight I must stop eating all the foods that are overloaded with sugar.

I must say that when I first saw the title I thought now that is the diet for me.  However, I do think that the subtitle is a little misleading.  When you read the book you learn that you are NOT permitted to eat ALL carbs but must leave out bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice.  The book was very easy to read and understand.  After explaining the program, the author gives a fourteen-day meal guide that is easy to follow and gets one started off right.  The idea is to get rid of any food cravings one has during the two-week period.

The author includes a very long and thorough shopping list to make sure one gets the right foods and then at the end of the book there are numerous recipes for all the food groups.  All are very similar to well known recipes but fat, sugar, and bad carbs have been eliminated.  One recipe was for butter bean “mashed potatoes.”  I really could not believe that so I made the recipe and I was right, to me they did NOT taste like mashed potatoes but mashed beans with garlic and chicken stock.  For me I would rather just eat a food as what it is and not try to make it taste like another food. The idea of eliminating desserts for the rest of my life is an idea that I may not be able to live with.  However I have not started the diet so maybe I will never want dessert again.  It is really not a diet but a way of eating for the rest of one’s life.

The book also has testimonials from people who have lost weight using this eating plan.  The author lost two hundred and thirty pounds and feels that God gave him the knowledge of what to eat to lose weight and he wants to share it with the world.  The plan certainly is simple enough and I am going to give it a try.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I was still awake this morning when it was time to get up and prepare Brian’s lunch.  When I finished I was still not sleepy so I sat at the computer and read emails.  I finally got back in back at seven thirty and was soon asleep.  About two hours later the phone rang and I was getting ready to be upset but it was the Clerk of Court calling to ask me if I could work as a voting poll commissioner on the twenty-eighth of August.  I had gotten a letter earlier telling me that I was an alternate and if someone could not work then they would call me.  Made the lack of sleep worthwhile.  And the good part is that I will be working in Quitman.  Then I crawled back in bed and again was soon asleep.  Two hours later there was another phone call but this time it was a wrong number and it took me a couple of minutes to convince the guy that he really had the wrong number.

This afternoon I cut all the strips for the quilt and sewed them together in groups of three.  I was sewing right along when I realized that I was just about to sew a third set of strips incorrectly.  The middle strip is dark and I had sewn two sets with the two light strips together.  Fortunately it did not take me too long to remove the stitching.  Now they are all sewn correctly.  I will cut the blocks tomorrow and sew them together.