After More Than 20 Years It's Finished

My mom started this jean quilt more than 20 years ago during a decidedly transitional period in our lives.  Without getting into details, let's just say times were hard.

 

I remember the stacks of jeans that she used to cut the pieces from. The jeans were given to her by various friends and family members. I remember them going with us wherever we moved.  I don't think I really appreciated (or even thought much about) the reason why we were carrying it all with us.  It was just there.  A part of us, a part of our lives.   

 

The quilt top was finished a few years later.  After all the moving and being stored in places it was decidedly dirty and so my mom washed the quilt top at which point some parts frayed and some seams were undone.  And so the quilt was put away again.

 

A couple of years ago, while my mom was out visiting us, she brought the quilt with her.  We shopped at Joann's for some batting and backing fabric together and the project was handed on to me.  This was about the time I had completed my first quilt for Ladybug.

 

Another baby and a couple of years later, I decided it was time to finish my mom's quilt.  I looked up ideas on fixing quilts and decided on applique.  I'd never tried that before, but figured now was as good a time as any.  I planned on twelve little flowers in various places around the quilt, but after the first one, decided two were plenty.  Not only did I not want to overwhelm the quilt itself, all that stitching was tiresome and it was time for the quilt to be finished.  (Plus I want to take it with us on our upcoming road trip to Seattle!) 

 

After the applique, the rest was simple.  I cut off any frays from the back of the quilt top, positioned the batting and backing and tied the quilt and finished the edges.  Done!  Enough talk.  Want to see some pictures (pardon their quality)?

 

 

It's much more warmth than we need in this climate, but is perfect for a picnic blanket, and maybe someday a family heirloom.

A Tale of Two Scales - {phfr}

{pretty}

A little teaser about an almost finished quilt.  I'll post about it when it's done.  This quilt has a story!

 {happy, funny, and real}

While pregnant with Froggy I gained...quite a bit of weight.  But after he was born I lost 30 pounds of it immediately.  This put me in between the 165 and 170 mark according to my scale at home (you can figure out what I weighed by a little math).  I'm 5'4" so...yeah I still had a ways to go.

Months went by.  Sometimes the number on the scale would read 165.  Sometimes 170.  But that's it.  No other loss.  And I was nursing!  But I was also eating cookies and ice cream and chocolate like crazy.  So.  Not going to lose a lot of weight on the all sugar diet.

And then one day when Froggy was about 7 or 8 months old, my neighbor across the street patted my belly and asked if I was pregnant again.  I shrugged it off and went home...and ate a whole plate of brownies in my sorrow.  (My husband was out of town that week as well.  Lots of emotions.)

It was after this that I started to do the Couch to 5K thing again.  That lasted all of three runs before I remembered how much I dislike running.  And the timing was always so hard to figure out.  Do I get up early and try to run before everyone else is awake?  But I've been up with the baby half the night!  Do I wait until my husband gets home at 5:30?  Who's going to make dinner?  What about after dinner?  Running on a full stomach?!  Do I put both big kids on bikes and both babies in the bike stroller and run that way?  Sounds like fun! (Not even.)

I tried doing my exercise videos at home, but never could really get into them.  And through all this the numbers on the scale never changed.

Enter a few weeks ago when I was so tired of my fat, tired self that I broke down and bought the streaming version of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred on Amazon (affiliate link).  I did that work out one day and the next day I was so sore I could barely walk.  The soreness went on for three days.  I complained (in my usual habit) to my husband, who knew the results of a good workout when he saw them, and he decided to give it a try too.

So the two of us have been trying to shred ourselves on Level 1, and I've noticed that I can almost keep up with the video now doing jumping jacks and butt kicks!  And I'm not sore anymore after a workout.  Working out with my husband has been kind of fun and he wants to do it, so that makes me keep doing it.

But still the numbers on the scale were not moving.  Not one. little. bit.  165. 170. 165. 170.  My goal is 142 so knowing that I have almost 30 pounds to lose and nothing is changing is very discouraging.

Enter 11:30 last night.  My husband finally decided to weigh himself (he had been avoiding the scale) and was shocked to see the number (I'm not going to post his numbers).  "No way!  I cannot weigh &*^!  Not possible!"  This was a very high number which he had never ever weighed before.  "The scale has got to be wrong!"

Wrong?!  The scale is wrong?!  How wrong?!  How long has it been wrong?!

My husband sped (well, I don't think he actually sped, but you know what I mean) to Walmart where he jumped on the scale at the wellness area.  It read...his actual weight, which was about 25 pounds lighter than the scale said at home.  He called me and told me the good news and then picked up a new scale.

When he got home we both tested our new scale.  157.  Fully dressed and with wet hair. 1.5.7.  NOT 170!  This morning I did an accurate weigh in and was 155.

How's that for losing 15 pounds overnight?  I'm coming for you Jillian!

 

 

 

 

 

Go visit Like Mother, Like Daughter to see other contented people.

Nothing Like An Arizona Summer



I keep sending my kids outside to go play and they come back in a few minutes later saying, "It's too hot!"  I guess they have a point:

 

Know any good games to play inside?