The New Rag Purse Style / Five pounds down

I was able to complete a new purse in a new style of rag quilting this past weekend. I am in the editing phases of having the tutorial for this one ready. I hope to have it (the tutorial) complete this weekend and ready for sale.

Here is a picture of the purse and it is listed on Etsy for sale....

Today I am starting day 5 on The 17 Day Diet. I have lost 5 pounds! Yay me! I am finding this diet easier than I imagined to do. I was concerned with being hungry during the first few days, and to my surprise had very little hunger issues. I did not even eat my snacks I had allotted to me. I have 10 more pounds to go to meet my goal. Five more pounds come off after that to meet my mid BMI range.  

For exercise I have been doing some Yoga and weight training. I will be doing some running and weight training this afternoon with a co-worker. I hope I can keep up!

Have an excellent day!

New Tutorial for Baby Rag Quilt Burp Cloth set/ 17 Day Diet beginnings

I have had a Rag Quilt Tutorial Instructions for sale now for almost 4 years. It was created with mindset of using chenille fabrics on the backside and it is a larger lap size quilt. I see so many baby rag quilts for sale and am seeing burp cloths as well, so I wanted to make a tutorial that brought both of these crafted items together. Making burp cloths can be a great way to use up the extra fabrics from a baby quilt project and add something special or additional to your work. My new tutorial for the Baby Rag Quilt and Rag Quilted Burp Cloth can be found in my Etsy shop at this time.

Over 2 1/2 years ago I lost 40 pounds on the Atkin's diet. I have been off and on the maintenance program now for over a year and have gained 15 back. Recently I spoke a co-worker that had lost over 50 pounds since January and inquired what she was using for her diet. She stated she was doing "The 17 Day Diet" and explained  a little bit about it during our lunch period. Her explanation interested me greatly and I ordered the book that night. Two days later the book was lying on my kitchen table and I had the first 3 chapters read that  night. I wrote out the grocery list-spoke to my hubby about it and he agreed we would do it.

Yesterday he spent 2 hours at the grocery-God love him! But he is 100% committed to this venture as I am, so he is helping me with meal planning and cooking. He even stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my Vitamin D 1000 iu that I am ordered to take now.

This morning I weighed in like I do every morning.....finally down 2 pounds. That needle on the scale has not moved in a very long time!

The more I talk about this diet, the more stories I keep hearing from here and there.   People are losing weight. It is working. It is rapid. So as long as my mind is not on chocolate I am good. Chocolate is my favorite!  Here is my trick though: I have to try this and do it honestly for 17 days. I want to see what happens. The next 17 days the diets changes again and that phase allows for more weight loss. I am eager to see what happens and test it out for myself. My co-worker said that once she is on the maintenance phase she  eats off the diet on weekends, but Monday-Friday is back on it. That sounds doable for me. I was successful on the Atkins, but am looking forward to some changes.

New Bible Cover Rag Quilt Project/Vitamin D

As promised I have been working on my new rag quilting tutorials. Today I am blogging about the Bible or book Cover.

The Bible Cover tutorial can be found listed in my Etsy shop at this time.

The Bible/Book Cover was written so that it can be custom made to your Bible or Book. All it takes is some measuring and simple math skills to make it work.

So I had a well check a few weeks ago with my new doctor. She ordered up several blood tests which I had done last week. The nurse called me to inform me I am very low on Vitamin D. Really? I guess I am not spending enough time outside working in the yard/garden, so I am perplexed. My garden looks better this year than any other year! So I am to take 1000 iu's of Vitamin D now. I hope this helps my depression since it seems to be at an all time low the last 6 months.....

What I have been up to lately

Good afternoon friends!

It has been 7 months since I last posted on New Years day. January 2nd I became very sick with a stomach ulcer and was recovering from that for 8 weeks. I had a bad case of winter depression too, and that elongated my recovery even further. The last few months have been kinder to me and I realize it is time to get this blog back up and going again.

Some updates I need to include in this posting is that I decided to discontinue cutting fabric squares to sell on eBay and Etsy. Lets face it -it was good money, but with me being the only one running it all (and working full time) it was wearing me out completely. I enjoy creating my own things, so I am backing away from killing myself.

I have made another adjustment too: I am offering more items on Etsy than eBay now. eBay brings in more sales, but Etsy brings in more buyers with handmade in mind. Not to mention the better deal on fees.

Lastly, I have written new rag quilting tutorials!  Be sure to watch for those to be listed on Etsy and eBay soon. My husband reported to me that he is ready to .jpg 4 of 5 of them this afternoon once they pass my final approval to do so. I think you will find some new things to make aside from the norm.