#69 Sharing a Bit About Me......

I don't really share a lot about me or my private life here. I set up my blog as a way to keep track of my quilting journey! I am constantly amazed that so many nice people that I have never met are enjoying my journey with me!!
Today however I am going to share some of my personal struggles, so if you want to get to know me better read on and if not, skip to the What I've Been Up To section!! :) I won't know the difference! ;)

So quick refresher of who I am. My name is Sandy, married to my high school sweetheart Dave, for 29 yrs now. We live on a farm in a rural area of Ontario,  have 3 children Amanda, Shawn and Adam. Amanda is a Children's Minister at our church and was married last year to Ryley, Shawn is a Farrier and dating a great girl, and Adam is figuring it all out still. The youngest is still at home, but the other two are off living their lives, though they are all very close to home, which is a great blessing!!

My life is good in so many ways, but I have been sick so much over the last 5 yrs or so and not really known why. My stomach has always been my weak area, even as a kid. I have always struggled with my weight, been a junk food lover and over eater, and a healthy eater and back again. I would feel good for awhile and then start feeling bad again. I would feel fine one minute and be nausea and shaking like a leaf the next. I never knew what was going to set me off or when. I've had some medical tests, that all came back clear, thank God. I've had allergy test that were negative. Over the last year I have been  loosing weight (the silver lining in all this) but feeling worse and kinda closed off.
(I have to say that quilting has come into my life during this time and been a true blessing. All the nice people I have met and all the distracting projects I have done, have all helped me so much!!)
I have back problems from a car accident as well and it seems that it plays off the stomach and the stomach sets off the back and around we go!!!
I have regular massage appointments, chiropractic and have tried physio/homeopathic, acupuncture and never seem to get to the root of the problem. Good for a few hours or day if I am lucky, but the cycle of pain never stops.
A few weeks back a friend mentioned a Naturopathic Dr in our area, so I made an appointment. I figured I had nothing to loose but time and a few bucks, lol. We spent an hour or so together just chatting about all the issues, she was fantastic. She listened to me wanted to know everything, not just one or two things like my medical Dr allows per visit. She suggested we start with figuring out the food issues, and gave me some options, one of which was a blood test!! I had never even heard of such a thing. So instead of groping in the dark with an elimination diet, I opted for the blood test that would let me know what foods where affecting me, because I have tried taking foods out of my diet and had no success at finding what was making me feel so bad.
I found out this week and have started a specific elimination diet for the next 6 week, that all dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs, and a few other things all cause me issues. This is not fun!!! But it is no wonder I felt so bad all the time, eggs are a main staple in my diet along with wheat and diary. I had been buying some gluten free items and not noticing any improvement, which makes sense now, because I react as poorly to wheat as I do to the gluten.
I am a little overwhelmed right now trying to change my thinking and wrap my brain around what I can and can't eat over the next 6 wks. Yesterday I cleaned out the pantry of all offending items, and my son and daughter came grocery shopping at my house!! lol That was the easy part, now to fill the fridge with the right foods and find substitutes for the other items. It is going to be a challenge in some areas more than others. Breakfast cereal for one, even regular oats say may contain wheat on the package.
I am having a whole new appreciation for life threatening allergies and Celiac sufferers. My symptoms may not be as severe  but it is tricky finding the foods that won't hurt you, because the ingredients can be labelled as so many different things, here's an example: I have to go egg free which you would think would be easy, just look for egg on the label or egg whites, but no if I see any of these words Albumin, Apovitellenins 1& V1, Lysozyme, Ovalbumin....... and there are more, all represent egg.  It is crazy, and scary how easily someone could get hurt if they don't know all this, or if the labels aren't clear.
Well my journey is just beginning I know a little, but really know nothing at all at this point, lol!! I will be entering a new life's journey, and it will all be worth it if I get my energy back, start feeling like myself again and stop hurting!!

 Thanks for listening.... if you have any knowledge in this area please share it with me!! Good recipes, help!!!! Substitutions?? Would love to hear from you!!!!

What I've Been Up To:

Block for a fellow guild member

 2 Blocks for a fellow bee member:

Taking a class Sept 27 to master my fear of curves!! I hope ;)

Started a Christmas gift!!

And getting ready for the BOM hosted by Art of Home

#58 My Summer Sewing List

I want to start with an unsolicited review of the Bag of the Month Club from SewSweetness! The short answer is      I loved it!! 
I was so excited when Sara Lawson posted about the club over 6 months ago now, and joined right away! I've only made a few easy bag/totes before and the idea of making my own purses was appealing. The patterns arrived every month in my email and every pattern looked fantastic! Even though I was filing them away to complete after I all the projects on my cutting table were done, I looked the patterns over and they all appear to be clear, well written and well illustrated.
 Then May's pattern showed up, from Anna of NoodleHead Designs, and I knew that would be my first bag!!! The Poolside Tote, perfect size, great summer bag, d ring was the only needed hardware, simple and straight forward pattern (have to ease my way into bag making, so I don't get frustrated, lol) and I knew I had the perfect fabric!! I was not disappointed!! I had one question in the pattern (not enough experience in bag making and wanted to confirm my thought) I emailed Anna and had the answer in no time!! Another great thing is, the bag looks great inside out too!!

I have managed to collect all the needed bag hardware and interfacing now, so now I have 5 more bags to make over the summer, and I am looking forward to the challenge!!

 If you haven't join this years club, you still can, till the end of June! 6 bag patterns for $40.00. Check it out!

  My Summer Sewing List:

       1. MidTown Messenger Bag
2. Convertible Bag
3. Bye Bye Love Bug Bag
4. Butterfly Sling Purse
5. City Slicker Bag (intermediate)
6. Continue Block of the Months
7. Finish Churn Dash blocks
8. Finish Mini Medallion Quilt
9. Batiks Quilt
10. Complete Quilt top for the Layer Cake Sampler

What I've Been Up To:

Making lots of Triple Stars 

Tester Pattern for Kristy at Quiet Play

and hanging out with Caleb at our annual  Church in the Park and family BBQ!!

#56 Finally Summer has Arrived!!

I am so glad that the good weather has finally arrived!! This week, along with sewing, I hope to get out in my flower bed. They are looking sad and neglected. We have had so much rain and cold damp weather, it is nice to see the sun!!

Had a blast today, enjoying that sun. Went for a walk and then had an adventure driving the new side by side. If you listen closely you can hear me scream, lol, before my daughter screams for me!! 

And then are son-in-law and daughter followed on the 4 Wheeler!!

What I've Been up to:

Finished a few more pouches

Finished all the Tiny Mini Pouches!Original pattern can be found here, at So Sew Easy. There were 3 sizes, 3 about the size of an eraser,  working zipper and all! And another group about 2"x 2" and the ones pictured below.

Completed one of 25 Diamond EPP Hexi:

 Started on the June blocks for Modern InstaBee: Different layout options for the Triple Star

 and have finally started piecing my Churn Dash Sew Along together!! Greens and Whites!! Excited about this one!!

HERE'S MY "To Do" LIST FOR THE WEEK:

(Hopefully will be starting a new list soon, and this one will be history!!)

1.. Scrappy Trip Around the R4 (still waiting for 3 1 blocks from this round!)i've heard it is on the way!!

2. Modern Insta Bee (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan)

3. Diamond Tread Quilt (sew sides to tread pattern to complete the top)

4. Part 2 of Mini Medallion

5. Cut the Churn Dash Sew Along pieces, (starting to piece blocks)(4/48)

6. Quilt the Michael Miller fabric challenge wall hanging

7. 4-6 Scrappy Trip Around the World Blocks (2 for a friend)

#55 Having Fun With Batiks

You may or may not have noticed my absence from my blog. Not that I post a lot, but I've had a rough few weeks! First I gave myself a minor concussion, getting better. Then I went right into a bad flu bug which I mentioned. It's has been a  rough go and it has slowed down all the fun sewing stuff!!
This week however I have managed to get back some of my sewing mojo, which makes me extremely happy, but I am so behind!! Oh well letting go of the things I can't control......

I mentioned previously that I was offered an opportunity to work with Jinny Beyer Batiks from 

And let me just say, I have been having so much fun!!

There are 3 colour ways within the Jinny Beyer Batiks, Lagoon, Java,  and Sumatra. So far I've only used the Sumatra line. Here's what I've made.....

Review: first I made an  8x10" flag, for a Jog for Cancer event in Stratford Ont.

This week I made a Sunglass pouch (find the pattern here), with the scraps left over from the flag, which is going to look great in the tote I just finished today!!( I know you can't see me, but seriously have the biggest smile on my face for this one!!) Love how the fabrics look together, it turned out amazing!!!! (find the pattern here) I tweaked mine a 

bit!! First I pieced the top section of the bag, then I enlarged the inside pocket and added a swivel clip for my keys.

Here's my List for the Week:

(Hopefully will be starting a new list soon, and this one will be history!!)

1. Sugar Block Club 2014

2. Sew Kitschy BOM

3. Classic Meets Modern BOM

4. Modern Blocks BOM Top Complete!!

5. Globe Trotting BOM

6. Layer Cake Sampler QAL (Only 2 more blocks to go) (all blocks completed)

7. Triangle QAL Top Complete!!

8. Scrappy Trip Around the World Bee (still waiting for 3 1 blocks from this round!)

9. Modern Insta Bee (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan)

10. Diamond Tread (quilt )

11. Batik Quilt (just moved from UFO to WIP!!) Top Complete!!

12. Part 2 of Mini Medallion

13. Cut the Churn Dash Sew Along pieces, (partly done)

14. Finish all my mini pouches (buy clips)

15. Catch up on all Modern InstaBee blocks (priority)

16. Tester pattern for Kristy at Quiet Play (Dble Decker Bus!!)

What I've Been Up To:

Sugar Block Club May Block

Globe Trotting May Block

Sew Kitschy May Block

Modern InstaBee May Block (my month!!)

Aurifil Designer of the Month May Block

Catch up Block for Modern InstaBee 

and one for the quilt I'm building

WIP Hexi progress

and I managed to sew some extra pouches for sunglasses and reading glasses, even 2 in camo (for my husband and son!!) This lovely fabric came from one of my InstaBee mates!!! Thanks again Karen!!