Doll Quilt Swap 7

Look at this absolutely stunning quilt that came all the way from Australia to stay with me!

Isn’t it incredible?  I love everything about this: the colors that are just so pure and bright, the circles, the fabulous quilting, that bit of drama the black and white binding adds. 

It’s already up on my sewing room wall!  There was a spot that it fit just perfectly.  If Helen had designed a quilt specifically to fit that space, it couldn’t have worked better.  Really, I was just speechless when I opened the package.  Helen, I just have to thank you so much for this.  Just looking at this quilt makes me smile.

These swaps are just about the most fun I’ve had quilting.  And really, given the little quilt addict I am, that’s saying something.  And for someone as (embarrassingly) under traveled as myself, there’s a particular thrill in the international exchange: I’ve gotten quilts from Belgium, Hong Kong, and now Australia.  Seriously, how cool is that?

I realize I never posted the finished picture of the quilt I sent out.  I do love my pinks and browns, though I didn’t do a very good job of capturing the color with this one.

Meanwhile, as I sit here and type, I am trying to re-establish peaceful relations with my thighs.  I had one of those moments of truth this summer.  I was walking in downtown Denver and caught the profile reflection of myself in a store window.  Whoa!!  When did that happen?  Time to admit it was long past due to diet and, yes, exercise.

Now, the diet’s fine.  I’m mourning my Dr. Pepper (really truly) but have learned that I really like strawberry and spinach salad.  Who knew?  I’m taking this diet business pretty slow so I can’t say the pounds are exactly flying off; nevertheless, the scale tells me there is some slo-o-o-o-w progress being made.

But about that exercise . . . . Who knew my thighs were such whiners?  It’s all because I let them go into early retirement about a decade ago.  They’ve happily spent the last ten years lying on a Caribbean beach somewhere having pretty drinks with umbrellas brought to them by handsome (but economically exploited) male inhabitants of the island.  It’s a lifestyle they have been perfectly content with.  They are so not on board with my new “Let’s get healthy!” program.  First, they whimpered.  When that didn’t work, they cried (real tears).  Seeing as how even that failed to move me, they have now resorted to a full scale temper tantrum.  (Jeez, I say, I’m just biking to campus.)

I’d put them in a corner for a time out but I’m afraid they’d take the opportunity to organize a boycott.  Wish me luck.  Tell me to stand firm (ooh, bad pun!) against these ungrateful insurrectionists.  Even better, tell me that any day now they’ll give up this unseemly behavior and we can be good friends again.  Here’s hoping.