I’m really tired, though.  Expect a proper post tomorrow, k?

2QAQ is already planning a juried quilt exhibition, as well as a journal quilt project, so that gives us a couple of things to work on. I’m looking forward to going to the meetings, I might even *gasp* take my turn DRIVING into Brisbane!

I’ve also joined the main group of Queensland Quilters - so maybe I’ll even have some quilts in their show this year (October).

Before the meeting, we stopped in at The Quilters Store in Auchenflower - which was worth the trip by itself! I didn’t buy much, really - two more King Tut threads - one in black/white grey for the Miranda sewing theme bag, and one in greens and brown for Maria’s Chocolate PaisleyMiranda.

I also bought a new unpicker (since I have worn mine out! Does that tell you much about my sewing skills, hmmm?) and an awl - both of which were about half what I’d pay in Toowoomba. Somehow I don’t think it costs $7 extra PER UNIT to ship a seam ripper up the hill, do you? AND THEY WONDER WHY I DON’T SHOP LOCALLY!!!

Then this evening I had a dinner out with another person I didn’t know before - Jenny, a member of the Southern Cross Quilters, who is currently in Toowoomba for work, but normally lives in Melbourne. There were some awkward silences, I think…

( I am NOT good at social stuff - arrrgh!)

I don’t get out much, so two lots of people things in two days is something exceptional for me. I discovered that Toowoomba on a Sunday night is CLOSED - even the convenience store was closing at 8 pm when we popped around to buy eggs for Jenny’s breakfast! Seriously, she’s been told all these horror stories about “Don’t walk anywhere in Toowoomba, even during the day” - huh?!? We were the only two people on the street, but it didn’t feel unsafe.

I do not understand this town.

Anway, it’s bloody cold here - the current temperature at the airport weather station is 13.7 C (12.5 with the slight wind chill); in reality it’s 9 degrees outside and about that inside our bedroom too - which is about what we’d expect in the absolute middle of winter, not at the start of Autumn.

I’m off to bed… and tomorrow I see the dietician and start on the weight loss program….

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I got peopled-out while window shopping yesterday at Grump Central - got home and collapsed into bed a 4:30 in the afternoon! Slept right through (apart from a nearly 2 hour long phone call with Maria) , and then slept again all day today - I was exhausted.

In other news - apparently cloche hats are IN IN IN this season - HOORAY! They are my favourite ever style of hat (although I will have to work out what to do with all my hair - how do I make a neat low chignon??) . I’m a hat person, and am seriously considering making a cute little cloche to go with the brown outfits. (Or not so little - on fatchicks, it’s all about proportion, after all….)

And the January Burda World Of Fashion magazine had a double page spread on hats - you know, I really REALLY want to do a millinery course sometime. [click to see larger image - it's worth it.]

Speaking of fat chicks: I had my official medical for starting the weight loss thing. I had to sign forms saying my doctor had explained to me the risks of gall bladder, cardiac, and other problems that could be unmasked by weight loss; and that I understood that my hair might temporarily shed more, that I might be hungry (!) and that this is a drastic decision and I HAVE to consume the required amount of calories and especially water; also that if for any reason I need emergency surgery while I’m on the initial (up to 13 weeks) part of the plan then the doctors HAVE TO BE TOLD so the IV fluids compensate; and that my usual medications will have to be even more closely monitored. Eeeks!

So - regular blood and urine tests, weekly visits with the dietician, sessions with the psychologist - on top of my normal rounds with my GP, the pain management specialist, and the physiotherapist. Maybe the idea is to keep me too busy to think about food??!

But it’s this entire re-programming thing, or resorting to gastric surgery - and I don’t want that. So the doctor did all the necessary checks - blood pressure (both sitting and standing, because apparently this sort of weight loss can trigger orthostatic problems - ie, you fall down when you try to stand up); a measurement of electric impedance (tells you fat/water composition, apparently) etc.

She also warned me that any initial loss would be water weight, as my body tries to regain its equilibrium. (Why did the !@*&)#s at Weight Watchers NEVER say that - instead they made you feel like a failure when you couldn’t match that intial loss each week??)

It’s genuinely scary. This is not your regular faffing about diet, this is SERIOUS. I have to do this.

It looks quite greyed out here.

The close-up is better for the real colours:

I spent last night doing this:

So later tonight I might even *gasp* cut into the fabric! (but only if the tissue-fitting goes well… otherwise it’s back on the table for more alterations…)

It’s dry-clean only - I can’t even REMEMBER the last time I bought fabric that needed dry cleaning - come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I took anything to a dry cleaners.

I can’t believe this though - it’s BROWN!

Do I own a single pair of brown shoes? Umm, nope! Well, I guess that’s what I save up for next. And I bough a beautifully subtle poly herringbone (that looks like fine wool, but at about a third of the cost) to make that Butterick vest pattern…. I figured if I was going to go with the brown skirt, there was no point in going halfway!

This is especially amusing to me after buying fabric to make Mum and brown bag, and now Maria’s chocolate/green/teal bag… brown is CATCHING!
And Mr Beloved was only saying this morning that “Those ratty old t-shirts have GOT TO GO, Caity, they are NOT flattering.” So yay for the sewing bug making a welcome re-appearance in my life, eh? It’s partly inspired by Sue, who is doing WONDERFUL things; partly by re-reading back issues of Threads, and also looking atErins’ A Dress A Day blog, and swooooning over her use of Liberty fabric - which I can now save up for and lay-by at Gardam’s - yay!!

I’ll be off to curse at the overlocker (serger) later tonight. I know I can get it sewing a nice three thread edge once I have it set up….

BUT - look what else Gardams just got in today! Sue and Di and Faye and Jan - and any other Toowoomba Quilters - you have GOT to get down there and grab some of this, it’s too too wonderful…. from the Loralie Designs “Sew Fancy” range:

[click on the thumbnails to see much bigger images]

Sewing Machines

Scissors

and Mannequins, Oh MY!

And what am I doing with this - Yep, you know it - another Miranda bag! (possibly the most useful bag pattern ever - and the easiest to make, because of the care Joan Hawley has taken with her instructions. I know I rant about it but truly - it’s that good!)

This time I’m going to make the longer handles and only use it to cart stuff back and forth to quilters. Makes sense to have a dedicated bag that I can just grab and go, I reckon.

Also, Toowoomba girls - call up Gardam’s and tell them you want to come to this:

I’ll be there, it should be a fun night!

[Mum, anything I should be looking out for, since now we're BOTH sewing in brown?!]

later edit: Mr Beloved commented:

It should be noted that Caity is not paid or otherwise induced to rave about Gardams.

It should also be noted that “Ewan Gardam” anagrams to “A mad, new rag”.

Pretty impressive shop, though.

But if the Lindt bunnies are marked down at the shops tomorrow, THEY WILL BE MINE!

Especially YOU, dark bunny, Muaaa haaa haaa.

That there’s newspaper speculation over whether Nigella is curvy or frumpy?  YOU HAVE TO ASK?!?!?

She is a GODDESS.  An hourglass shaped goddess.  With three kids (ok, only two she birthed, but still) and a husband and a business and you want her to look like WHAT, exactly?  Sheesh!   She is not a 17 year old (or for a longer in the tooth model, see Kate Moss - ugh!) string bean, she’s a gorgeous, middle aged, talented, busy woman.  And yeah, we could all use some firming up and strength training (as my discussion with the physio made clear!) and so she’s booked in with a personal trainer - good for her!  If I had her money, so would I.

Helen Mirren.  Judi Dench.  Nancy Pelosi.  Even OPRAH, for gawdsake - women who are WOMEN, dammit.  I am so damn tired of society’s all consuming (ha!  NOT!) passion for pre-pubescent figures.

(If you have a naturally slender figure, pleas understand this rant is not directed at you.  Although  you won’t be coming shopping with me anytime soon, ok?)

Yep, after the AGONY (and sweat - ugh, is it just the physicality of trying to get bras done up, or is it the whole nerve-straining experience?) of trying on over a dozen bras…

SUCCESS!!

Three new bras - all the same style - two in “toffee” (a not totally disgusting beige, as pictured here) and one in a very pretty (but less practical) sky blue.

The Fayreform “Charlotte”. Padded straps - oh, bliss! Full coverage! Less jigglement!

Most of the other bras I tried on had an unfortunate tendency to squish my boobs towards my armpits. And while my boobs do like to lie down and sleep there at night, by day I want em paying attention and looking straight ahead, thank you very much!

Even with the embroidery, this bra doesn’t look like”I have lichen growing on my boobs” under a t-shirt (and a big thank you to DebR for that memorable phrase!)

And Mr Beloved, bless his cotton socks, went out a got me a full length mirror. (altogether now - awwwwww!) so in a little while I’ll go have another try at that pattern.

If it turns out that the bra doesn’t fix the whole issue, I have found the pattern alteration solution in a back issue of Threads - gee I love their online index! (If you’re interested, it involves measuring the bust point and drawing a line from the mid shoulder down to intersect half that measurement, on a line parallel to CF - aren’t you glad you asked?!)

Then I got to go to playgroup (quilters!) for just a little while… before rushing off to the physio. Who was super nice and HELPFUL - turns out the wee problem? Is connected to the hip problem; the hip problem’s connected to the ….spine problem, the spine problem’s connected to the fibromyalgia, (are you humming along yet?!) … now hear the word of the specialist! Dem Docs dem Docs gonna…. DANCE around….

Yeah. So in fixing each little bit of each thing hopefully we’ll get to a healthier whole. EVENTUALLY. And there’s also the small matter of using better strategies for both my brain and my bladder. We’re workin’ on it.

And now - got the new Burda WOF in my hot little hands (the January issue - with this skirt - at last!) and all the fabric for Maria’s Miranda bag washed, ironed, and ready to sew. So why am I still at the computer?!

Oh, I forgot to tell you - the electricity substation EXPLODED this morning! Which meant that the big transformer on a pole 20 metres from our place id a big FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMP!-y surge and we lost power, half way through breakfast. But it’s fixed now, obviously.

So, I’ve traced off the appropriate size of this pattern. And as I started to tissue fit (just a precaution, since I’m not about to cut into even a cheap fabric without some checking) I got REALLY frustrated: there is no bust point marked! EEEPS! Okay, “Settle, Petal” I said to myself “It’s a princess line, I’ll pin it together and work it out…”

Annnnnnnnd…. either I need another inch and a half length over the boobs from what the fat-chick pattern sizing has come up with, or I desperately need a new bra. Or perhaps both. I mean, it’s freakin’ AMAZING for me to be cutting out (tracing off, anyway) one of the smaller sizes on a pattern (these go up to 6x which makes my 2x seem petite!) but then to find that I still need to make adjustments - ahhhh, I was only ever kidding myself that I wouldn’t have to, wasn’t I?

A large part of my frustration with how FAT I am right now is that I have NO CLOTHES to fit me - and it’s sooooooooooooo depressing sewing things that are so huge. Even when I can get a pattern that’s close to the right size with no grading (and may her choice of Deity richly bless Ms Crawford for designing for us fat chicks) I still *sigh* feel like it’s such a lot of effort to make something that I’m probably going to not wear for all that long….

BUGGER IT! A big part of this new diet plan thingummy is to overcome this sort of thinking. I AM WORTH DRESSING NICELY! And, realistically, given the endocrine/other health issues I have to deal with on top of losing the actual weight, I’ll probably be the size I am for a while yet. We’re looking at a minimum of 12 months on this program - during which time if I can get back down to even coo-ee of 80 kg, I’ll be happy.

So - tomorrow Mr Beloved will move the full length mirror back to the house *gulp*! And I’ll probably miss Quilters and go bra shopping… waaaaaah! Maybe I can do both? And still get to the physio for a 2pm appointment? Well, maybe not.

You’ve probably all heard by bra-shopping rants before - so I’ll just say this: BIG SHOULDN’T MEAN BEIGE.