Tim, Brandy and I went to Belle Mont Mansion this past fall for a tour. (I have been meaning to share these pictures for quite some time.) They had a ton of old quilts through out the house. This was the first one I took a picture of hanging in the formal dining room.

Posty Pals

Enjoy.

Any who…..Tomorrow night is First Friday’s in Florence. Crafters and artists set up tables up and down court street and sell there goods. Donna and I are sharing a table. I have a few things to sell. I made an Alabama tote bag, drink coasters, some dolls, fabric postcards, a jean purse, some table runners, and candle mats. Wish me luck.

Do you wanna know how I am doing it? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? I first started by going to the gym a couple of times a week. Then I cut out all drinks with sugar in them. I buy the flavored/carbonated water at Walmart. It is just like drinking soda. My kids and husband love it too. So you know it can’t taste too bad. I drink more water now. Milk is pretty much the only thing I drink that has calories. Think about how  much extra calories you consume in a day just buy drinking. If you are addicted to soda it is tons.

I bought a calorie counting handbook. It is small and fits in my purse. I am eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. I would say on average I was eating and drinking at least 2500 a day. In just 7 days that is 7000 less calories. Wow. I am paying more attention to what I eat. If I want chocolate I have it but it has to fit into my calorie count. Fudge pops are the perfect fix. You can buy the sugar free ones pretty cheap at Walmart. Even the ones with sugar are less than 100 calories. I eat more fruit and vegetables and less pasta and bread. Portion size is a big thing. Carrots, cucumbers, celery, and pickles have very little calories. Andrew and I can put away some baby carrots. LOL.

Now here is the part of the plan that is keeping me motivated. I am pretty sure that most of you know that I am a Christian. I found a website that has free programs to helps you break your addictions and habits. I love it. It is called Setting Captives Free. The program I am using is called the Lord’s Table. It is for people with eating disorders. Yes over eating is a disorder. The program is for 60 days. You log in each day and read a lesson and answer questions that go along with the lesson. It is full of scripture and helps you to understand how God can help you overcome your disorder. It is awesome. I feel closer to God than I have ever been. I have owned up to what I am doing to myself, my family, and God. Of course I take it day by day. Some days are better than others. Yesterday was a rough day for me. Today isn’t. I highly recommend this program to everyone. Even if you are not a Christian. It has a lot of Great advice. What do you have to lose…check it out.

Thank you to those of you who joined My Quilting Buddies. We have some great new swaps open for sign ups. I will be hosting a mystery quilt this month too. Come and check us out.

I am a co-administrator on My Quilting Buddies.com. My dear friend Tina started this website back in August as a place for us to meet and swap. It is full of really awesome people from around the world. We have monthly, quarterly, sewing, and non sewing swaps. We also have a ton of links to free patterns and blocks. Some of which I created. There is also a barter board for sewing and non sewing items.We would love to have you come and join us.

If you join My Quilting Buddies in February you will be entered in the drawing for these gifts. I am really hoping we can get some new friends to swap with. If you do this and post about it on your blog you will get an extra entry. Make sure that you post separately for these two entries. So one post here that you joined the group and a separate one for posting on your blog. I will draw a name for the give away on February 28th. Hubby has surgery on the first. Don’t think I will be anywhere near a computer to draw a name at that time.

The prizes to be given away to one person are this table runner made by me, the 50 Country Quilting Projects Book, and a Moda Charm pack.

I will also include a Moda Charm pack.

Here is a scrappy friendship star quilt I am making a free pattern for.

Hopefully I will get some time soon to create the directions and put them in down loadable PDF format.

Happy Sewing.