Food Changes

I have radically changed the foods that I eat.

Eight weeks ago, on January 10, I decided to take my health matters into my own hands.  In a desperate effort to relieve chronic pain in my mid-section, I radically changed the food that I was eating.

Three months prior to that, I began to be troubled with pain in my upper back that kept me from being comfortable enough to sleep at night.  A visit to the ER gave me a diagnosis of a muscular-skeletal problem and a prescription for Celebrex.  Three days later I was in my doctor's office with a badly upset stomach(from the Celebrex) in addition to the pain.  In the succeeding weeks, I had numerous trips to the doctor's, another trip to the ER, and test upon test- blood work, MRI, CT, x-rays, ultrasound, and gall bladder.  Everything was normal except my Vitamin D was low, and I have the beginning of osteopenia. Somewhere along the line, I got a prescription for the pain killer, tramadol.  I don't think it helped the pain, and it certainly led to constipation, and then my bladder began to be very sluggish.  I quit that stuff, then seemed to have some withdrawal symptoms at night from it. In the middle of the various tests, the doctor sent me for physical therapy, which only helped a little bit.  Some therapy sessions caused me increased misery for a day or so.The pain moved to my shoulder blade area.  Then the dr. discontinued therapy and prescribed prednisone.  Wow, what results I got from that!!  I was pretty comfortable for a week or 10 days.

Ten days after the prednisone, the pain returned to my front right mid-section.  All these many weeks, about three months in all, I slept very, very poorly.  I could not get comfortable because of the pain.  I went from bed to recliner to couch to a chair to walking the floors to try to get some relief.  A heated- up corn bag gave me some relief or comfort.  A hot bath helped some, too.  There were several nights in that time that I took an evening bath and another in just a few hours.  I figured I probably did not get more that three or four hours of sleep a night during that time.  I hated to go to bed, but was too weary in the evening to stay up til my normal bedtime of 11 PM.  It was awful, just plain awful.  Ken was very supportive of me.  One night I was up and seemed so short of breath that I was afraid I was going to die.  I woke Ken up, and he realized I was hyper-ventilating.  He helped me overcome it.

A very painful night just before Christmas sent me back to the ER.  I was afraid my bowel had kinked or something.  The doctor was rude and very un-helpful to say the least.  He said my constipation (thanks to tramadol, which I had discontinued a couple of weeks prior) produced a back-up of stool which could cause my symptoms.  They gave me a bottle of laxative and sent me home.  I took two more bottles of that stuff in the next couple of days, and I got a good clean-out, but my pain remained unchanged.

All along here, with these numerous doctor visits, I did not get any diagnosis of my problem.  Dr. and his PA could not figure anything out.  The last time I went to them, December 31, I begged them to send me somewhere else if they couldn't help me.  But, oh, wait a minute, we want you to have a test on your gall bladder. We will give you another week of prednisone tablets to help you in the meantime. An earlier ultrasound had showed it to be normal, but this test was more specific.  Of course, it came back normal, too.  Finally they referred me to a rheumatology clinic in Altoona, PA.

At about the time I got my referral to Altoona, I had decided to try to change my nutrition.  I did some research on the internet and talked to our daughter, Jill, who is an RN and is also doing the paleo diet.  Since I had had such a good response to prednisone, an anti-inflammatory, I figured I must have inflammation in my system.  It wasn't too hard to find out that there are foods that decrease inflammation and foods and medicines that increase inflammation.  My thought was to eat plenty of the good foods and leave off the things that contributed to inflammation.

That meant going off of sugar, cold-turkey.  I am talking about foods made with sugar, which I had eaten in abundance.  Cookies, candy, homemade bread & rolls, cakes, ice cream--all those things I enjoyed and craved.  I also gave up any artificial sweeteners, which took care of my Diet Decaf Coke and my Equal on cereal.  What I did eat was, and still is: berries, particularly blueberries, broccoli, sweet potatoes, spinach.  I eat just a little pasta, rice, and noodles, but not often.  I haven't concluded yet that wheat bothers me, or dairy and eggs either.  The sugar I know was a huge offender.  I stay away from processed foods, too, since most of them have sugar in them.

The first few days were rough.  I wanted sugar so bad!  At about day 5, I noticed a difference in my level of pain.  It was still there, but not as troublesome!  At that time I was taking Alleve and Advil, which I now know were not good choices.  I diminished them and stopped altogether when I learned that Advil makes leaky gut worse.  My night's sleep began to improve.  Now, after eight weeks, my sleep is wonderful and back to normal.

I have read several books about the anti-inflammation diet, and keep doing research on my health.  I still get sore in my middle when I stand up for a long time.  That is improving little by little.  Going shopping is improving, too.  When I was in misery, walking through a store was painful, now it is not too bad!

More and more I am eating out of the produce department!  Just the last couple of days I have started juicing with a borrowed juicer.  It consumes lots of veggies!  Today's carrot juice, a little over a cup, was five carrots and one apple!  No way could I every eat five carrots!  But I can drink down the juice.  I have also made green juices with spinach and kale, etc., and it isn't bad either.  It is certainly something I can do if it improves my health.  It's an easier way to get vegetables in. 

My appointment with the rheumatologist was scheduled for March 5, but I rescheduled it for late April.  If I were symptom-free at this point, I would have cancelled it, but I didn't really want to "burn the bridge".  Little by little, I am improving.

As a fringe benefit, I am slowly dropping pounds!  I had lost about 10 pounds in those three months of miseries before I changed my diet.  Now I have lost an additional 12 pounds on my anti-inflammation diet.  I think my soreness in my middle will decrease as my belly fat decreases.  We shall see.

And, to top it all off, I have not been to see a doctor since December 31!!

Just a test post!

Do I still remember how to do this??  I am thinking I should share some things about life now in my 60's, but want to test out my skills in doing this.

Monday's quilting

I am now working on a lovely blue log cabing quilt for a customer/client.  I have taken some pictures of it as I am going along, and will perhaps post them later in the week after I talk to my client!  I don't suppose most people will mind having their quilt on my blog, but I had better ask!  I hope to finish it tomorrow or the next day, all being well.  That will finish up my work for others and I can get back to Jill's and my quilts!

I finally found my last new rotary blade and put it in the cutter.  I decided to take a break from my Handiquilter and cut up some green and neutral materials to get started on Bonnie Hunter's "Star Struck" quilt.  I have been wanting to start on it for weeks, and tried to keep it on my "back burner".  Today when I found a good blade, I decided to clean off my cutting table and get started cutting it out!  I started sewing on it, too, and hour or so.  Pictures later!

Saturday, looking back over the week

I think I did more quilting this past week than I ever have in that time span.  Monday I quilted one of Jill's quilts that she made at Mahaffey retreat.  It was a large block quilt and I had lots of fun doing different things in different areas.  And, WOW, I experimented with small feathers, and they turned out pretty good!  I hadn't tried them for a while because my last efforts seemed so shaky and irregular.  But I guess all the practicing I have been doing on other designs must have helped!

Next I worked on a huge t-shirt quilt.  It was rather challenging but went quite well.  My client had made it out of t-shirts with a few other interesting pieces of clothing included--even part of the sleeve of a long-sleeved shirt!  She came and picked it up and was quite pleased!  I was, too, because it seemed rather stressful to do.  I was worried about it stretching because her method of sewing it did not include interfacing behind the shirts.

Then I was ready for something smaller and quilted two similar table runners for a Chat & Sew member.  They turned out well, too, and I got to do some "artsy" things on them.  I finished one on Wednesday and the other on Friday.  Then I did a toddler-size quilt for another client.  It was easy--she wanted a close stippling on it.  She came and picked it up today.

Now I have a large, gorgeous log cabin quilt to do.  Today I have been working out the design in my brain for it.  I would love to do feathers in a large star in the center of it, but don't feel confident yet not to mess it up.  I think it is going to be swirls in the central star and loop-de-loop the rest of the quilt til I get to the borders.  I will load it up on Monday and get humming!

Yep, I know I should have pictures of all these things.  However, I am trying to get into the habit of writing!

My three new books came today, and I plan to spend more time this evening curled up under my snowflake throw browsing in them!

Thanksgiving night, 2011

Wow, it will soon be a year since I posted anything here. Just thought I would write a few lines to prime the pump, so to speak! It would be nice to have my quilt pictures here, and be a quilting blog like others are!

We ate at Todd and Sue's today in Clearfield with her mom and dad and brother Scott and sister Kelly. Ross came here last night and was with us, too! It was a lovely day in every way.

I am surely enjoying my quilting. This past Monday I did a quilt for Jill. Tuesday I did a huge T-shirt quilt. Wednesday I did a table runner and have another one like it to do tomorrow. Then I have two more customer quilts to do, plus about three for Jill and three for me!!

I ordered three books about machine quilting designs which I hope will come tomorrow. Since my business it earning us some money these days, I have decided to invest some money in "education"!!

Yes, I would like to keep this up. Time for some fresh input!!

Friday morning--I wrote this last night, and can't seeme to get it published! Better luck today??

Half Square Triangle Tutorial

A month or so ago I started working on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt called Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll. You may find more information here: http://www.quiltville.com/. I sewed along the first couple of weeks and then got a little behind. This week I decided to make a great effort toward getting caught up, since we are actually nearing the finish line.



Part 5 was a big stumbling block for me. We are instructed to make 600, yes six hundred! two-inch half -square triangles. Half was to be red, the other half neutral. We are NOT allowed to whine on a mystery quilt, but I was filled with dismay when I thought about the sheer numbers of it all to cut, sew, and press.



There are lots of ideas and instructions for doing half-square triangles. I wanted to do it the easiest way possible. I remembered seeing a tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company about a way to cut quilt squares. It is called Summer in the Park and used six jelly roll strips sewn into a tube. Why couldn't I adapt that idea and sew my triangles that way?



I did a yahoo search on half square triangle tutorials and did not find any information about doing it the way I had in my brain. So, I decided to go off the deep end and see what I could come up with. I have not done all 600 yet, but I am pleased with my method so far. It is a daunting task, and then I decided to do my own tutorial about it, which takes even more time!! Oh, well, I am anxious to share it:



I cleared off my kitchen island and laid out a large cutting mat. I placed my neutral fabric on it, right side up. As you can see, it is a little scrappy on one end! I am agreeing with Bonnie's idea to use from my stash!

My red fabric is a dark berry red with pink flowers in it. There has been pink in the other parts of this mystery, so I thought it might go nicely. I lay it on top of the white/cream neutral, right side down.

Since the sewn seam of a half-square triangle is sewn on the bias, I want to cut my fabric on the bias.With the help of a yardstick and the bias cutting line on my mat I made my first cut.

I couldn't quite figure out how wide to make my bias strips to end up with a 2-inch finished square. That is what prompted me to see if this method was on the internet with a chart about how big to make it. Zilch. I decided to cut my strips two inches wide. I figured I would have to square them up anyways. It turned out that two inches was about the right amount oversize when I squared them up.

Cut, cut, cut. As you can see, I have cut the two fabrics together. Now to take them upstairs to my Bernina.

I sewed a quarter inch down the one side of the strips, chain sewing them together.

Then, flip the whole bunch around and run a seam down the other side. These are bias seams, so I try to handle them carefully.

Back to the cutting board. How many HST's will this make? I think it may have been around 120.

Now, to use this nice little ruler to make the little triangles. I put the two-inch mark at the cut edge. That meant that the top point came close to the seam on top. Rotary cut both sides for this first triangle

Flip the ruler over, put the 2 inch mark on the top cut edge, line up the left side with your previous cut. Triangle #2. Only 598 to go!

And so on, down the row. When I did the second batch of these I stacked two cylinders together and cut them two at a time with good success. I wasn't brave enough (or stupid enough) to do three stacks!

I tend to stack things up in piles of ten. I don't know why unless it is to help me count to see where I am at!

Off to the ironing board! Again, I am working in stacks of ten.

Now to square them up. The cutting process actually cuts off most of one of the dog-ears, so I used that nice edge and shaved the excess off the other two sides. Occasionally one of them would need some squaring on all four sides, but most of them were pretty good.

I am using a 12 1/2 inch square up, which is way bigger than I need. When the quilting world finds out my method, of course, I am going to make millions of dollars, and I think I will buy a smaller sized square-up!

Aren't they cute? All squared up.

This is some of the stuff I cut off. As you can see, my squares were about right.

Since I was behind on my sewing, Bonnie's clue about what to do with these hst's has already been revealed. After squaring up about 30 or so, I decided to follow her instructions and sew them together in rows of 5. I chainsew them together.

Here they are on the ironing board, ready to be pressed from the wrong side.

Five rows of five! I WILL be able to finish these triangular strips!

Okay, what is my conclusion? Is this an easier method than others that I have seen? I think so, for me, anyways.

Was it faster? The sewing certainly goes faster because you are sewing long strips together at full speed, instead of the stop and start of sewing smaller pieces. One huge benefit that I liked is that I didn't get the corners all "dog-chewed" as I call it. When I start sewing those triangular pieces at least one in ten seems to get stuck in the throat of my machine, and gets chewed up.

This method is most feasible when you are making lots of half-square triangles of the same fabric.

I think what I like most about it is that it is clever!

And, I do, indeed like clever!

Some Finished Projects

I promised to post some finished projects, and I am getting a little better about loading pictures to blogger. I am learning a little more about quilting, too, by my practicing!! Our mothers always told us that practice makes perfect, and I think of that when I am sewing and see all my imperfections! Anyhow, this is my completed baby boy quilt and I am very fond of it. I showed it at a quilt gathering on Saturday, and some people even wanted to take pictures of it! It is very simple to make and very similar to the gingham girl quilt I showed before. The backing of striped shirt material seems to go with it. All part of my stash reduction project!

Look at the quilt and not the hands and feet! DH and I need some more practice at taking quilt pictures! And, again, the red in this quilt is a cherry, Christmas red.

Here is my zigzaqg quilt, all put together, and you will see more of the red and shirt material. This one was more challenging to put together. It comes from crazymomquilts blog.

Ya gotta chop off some of the zigs or zags, whatever you want to call them, to make a straight edge. Since I don't like bias edges, I cut more of my bountiful red on the straight grain to put a border around it. And, I have kept all those zigs and zags, and will do something funky with them, you can be sure!

I have started to machine quilt this but ran out of red thread. Small wonder since I have been doing so much sewing with red!!

Ah, my musical quilt. It sat for a week or so. I went to the fabric store to find something to put on for borders and binding. I loved this green batik fabric with it and it seemed an excellent match in the flourescent lighting of Joann Fabrics. Now at home and on the camera, it seems less than perfect to me.

I also bought a yard of this brick red with gold stars, which is an excellent match even under our home lighting. If only it were musical notes instead of stars!! I am hesitant to introduce the stars to the musical quilt, but I have decided to use it as binding.

Here is the quilt, with all the blocks put together, hanging over my ironing board. I decided to put a narrow green batik border around it. The coordinating musical print that I bought in the beginning is not going to show up at all in this quilt. The design is busy enough and the green batik border seems to be just right to frame it. This will hang on the wall over our bed.

I have it made into a quilt sandwich with muslin as backing. This quilt is not part of my stash reduction project!

But this one is!! This is a dolly quilt, or called a ticker tape quilt on crazymomquilts blog. The gingham scraps from cutting the five inch squares for my baby girl quilt are a fun idea for this quilt. You just sew the raw edged pieces onto a quilt sandwich! I also did some loop-de-loop quilting between the patches to practice. It was fun to make this little quilt and my grandkids will enjoy it with the dolls when they come.

I bound it with some bias pink gingham that I had a roll of from my rug weaving days. More stash reduction!

This is the holiday hexagon, again from crazymomquilts.com. I made it two strips bigger than the pattern shows. It fits nicely in the center of our kitchen island and shares the same fabric as our crazy quilt valances and our mixer cover. I practiced my loop-de-loop free motion quilting on it.

Now, back to my autumn fabric. I had posted a table runner that I made using the fabric from our fat quarter exchange at Chat & Sew, plus a couple of pieces that I had. I had some fabric left over, so thought I would cut 5 inch squares out of it and make some disappearing nine patch blocks. Here is the table runner I came up with--it's a little long for a table runner, but we have a big dining room table, so it is fine.

I learned a couple of important lessons from this runner. 1. I did more loop-de-loop quilting on it and had lots of fun doing it. However, now that it sits on the table, it looks about as flat as a tortilla! Of course, I am using 4 oz. batting which is not super-lofty anyways. But, too much dense quilting takes away the softness. 2. There are good reasons why we put borders on quilted items, and it is not just because of looks. When I sewed the binding on, I had one area that was a little stretched because I was attaching it to a seam that was weak. Binding is easier and does a better job if you are sewing it onto an unseamed border.

I had some five inch squares left over. I sewed some of them into half-square triangle blocks and made two potholders! These also got rather stiff because of my dense ldl quilting! Usually I give potholders away (they make nice hostess gifts!) or sell them, but these went to my drawer because they are so pretty! Plus, I enjoyed putting the same squares together in a different way.

Oops, I still have two five inch squares left over. How about a pincushion? I seem to use and need lots of them since I go to a quilt group, and also sew upstairs and on the dining room table.

This little guy is rather cute.

One square left. Since the pincushion above it rather small, and I use lots of these quiting pins to sandwich quilts together, I decided to put a border around the remaining square to make it a little bigger. This is a great size---

So, that ends my autumn fabric creations. I still have a nice piece of the fall fabric strings sewn together, but I have put it on the back burner. Other things have taken my creative ideas!!

In looking over my post before publishing, I discovered that my musical quilt it at the bottom of it! I thought I had lost this picture from this posting, but here it is! It shows the narrow green binding sewn around it. Now to get it quilted!