Good Evening, I've had a busy day today. I did weigh this morning, but it isn't pretty. We'll discuss that later. Way To Go, Ivamae!! WOO HOO!! Congrats on the silver scale award. Keep up the good work. Harold, Great Job on those 2 pounds. You just keep knocking them off. I'm so proud of you. I know you will have a great time at your family reunion. Looking forward to your pics. Even though I had terrible numbers this week, I was downloading/uploading ( I'm so computer dumb I'm not sure which you call it) pics from my camera to my computer today and there was one of me holding the newest Grandson. I could see that I had lost weight. I think that may give me the incentive to get back in the swing and finish what I started. Ek, I wish you good health and safety while you are gone. You can tell us all about it when you get back. Jas, You just gave me an excuse for my bad numbers this week!! I had a very bad 'charlie horse' in my calf muscle day before yesterday morning. So bad that it woke me from a deep sleep hurting like crazy. So, I know I'm low on potassium. I couldn't keep that excess weight at bay!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!! LOL Helen, I saved you for last because we were so close in our weight. You are doing so well and I'm proud of you. But, I think you need to give me a stern talking to. Not only did I not lose any weight this week, but I gained a significant amount. It is one thing to just hit a plateau for a week or 2, but I've been eating the wrong things all week and the scales show it. Last week I fell off of the wagon with chocolate ice cream several times. Then, friday I had chinese for lunch with my daughter. Then my son decided that night when we went school-clothes shopping that he wanted to eat chinese. So, Chubby-Butt here ate it TWO TIMES IN ONE DAY!!!! Saturday was a baby shower at 2pm (various snacks, a chocolate bon-bon AND a slice of cake)and an anniversary party at 7pm ( dinner AND a slice of coconut pie). OK, I've put it off as long as I can. My weight this morning: 163 pounds. If there was a 'broken scale award' I would win it this week. Betty

Good Morning, I'm still half asleep this morning. Stayed up until almost 3am reading stuff on forums here on the garden web. It is addictive!!!! Anyway, today is a big day at our house. I'm taking our Baby to get his learner's permit today. Of course DH had put his Soc.Sec. card up so we would know where it was and we tore the house apart last night to find it with no luck. SO..... it's off to the Soc. Sec. office 1st to get another one before the DMV. Y'all pray for me because in a "Senior Moment" I told him that he could drive home!!!! That is a SCARY thing. I may drive out of the city and get off of the 4 lane before I let him get under the wheel for the first time. Back to the business at hand... My weight for this week is: 157lbs - lost 1. Have a great day, Betty P. S. - I almost forgot, I actually got in 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday for the 1st time since DH's aunt came to live with us at the 1st of June. She didn't like it and kept trying to talk me off. I just kept telling her "Just a few more minutes"!!!! I think I will have to wait until DH gets home so he can sit and occupy her while I walk. Man, it felt good!

Well, it's not so unusual, but definitely something I don't normally do... I have a quilt in progress that is going to hang on my living room wall above the slider doors, kind of like a giant valance (10 ft X 5 ft). The center is a mariner's compass block, then around that is a large area of appliqued plants & flowers that are native to Florida. I designed and drew it all myself, using pictures from library books. I am definitely NOT an artist, and can't draw worth much, but I'm pleased with the way it came out. It's all hand appliqued, and in a lot of places I made little folds, tucks and gathers to give the flowers and leaves a 3D look. That section has a pieced border around it, and now I'm working on piecing a whole bunch of pineapple blocks to go on the ends, then the whole thing will get a braid border. Donna

Good question. I guess I don't like quilts who 'try too hard'. I feel the same way about interior decorating. When anything becomes too contrived to achieve an effect, it just strikes me as obvious. I'm in the same camp with ritaweeda. My tastes have changed considerably over the years and I think that's a good and normal thing. I'm not crazy about art quilts in general, but I have seen some on this forum unbelievably beautiful I loved. I am not crazy about some fabric combinations I find jolting and the purple/green ones sometimes hit me that way, but then find one somebody carries off successfully. I don't like quilts in batiks, but that I think goes back to my love of traditional patterns and fabrics. I would love to wear a dress made in batiks, however. As a rule, I don't like fabrics in novelty patterns, but love the 'jar' quilts with fruits and veggies in them. If I were to make a baby quilt, and I'll be doing that soon, I would prefer a juvenile block design (maybe paper pieced) than a quilt with a juvenile print as a pattern. And last but not least, I used to think the embroidered quilts in turkey reds were hideous.......but now am so intrigued by them I'm considering doing one myself. Looking back on this rather long diatribe and reading it, I just came to the conclusion that there is always somebody out there who can take something I don't think I like and manage to carry it off so masterfully, that I end up admiring it. So, guess it's not so much the fabric or pattern, but how it's interpreted.