Second Trimester Rocks!

I have now gone through the magical transition from first to second trimester.  Sweet, sweet bliss - I can think again!  I can eat again! (in fact, I am now constantly hungry!)  And, best of all, I can sew again!

For my friends who want to keep track of my measurements:

waist: 30"

hips: 40"

(both down 3% from my pre-pregnancy size - definitely no evidence of a bump yet!)

As for weight, it is hard to tell because I was switching scales and unit systems while I travelled, but at the lowest I lost 14 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I am now at -12 lbs (I have never been so proud of gaining 2 lbs in my life!)  The whole experience has made me realize that despite all the pressure for women to be thin, that extra fat is there for a very, very important reason - you may need to go 6 weeks without being able to eat some day!

More importantly, sewing!

While travelling, I managed to visit a couple of quilting stores in various cities.  I am pretty embarrassed to say I can remember which stores in which cities (it is all such a blur...)  But I did manage to pick up some exciting new supplies:

- glow-in-the-dark thread.  I think this will be so much fun!

- a "Clearly Perfect Angles" mat for my sewing machine.  I haven't tested it yet, but I think it will be useful.

- some "Soak" to try cleaning some of my blankets and quilts that are too large for my laundry machine.  The website says it is for wools, but at the Birmingham Quilt Show they had a stand where they were recommending it for quilts.  I may not test it until spring when the weather is nice enough to dry everything outside, though.

- some new marking tools and threads.
- Machine Quilting by Sue Nickels, as recommended by Sylvia.  I have tried a bunch of the patterns from it in my quilt-as-you-go project.

- Design Essentials by Lorraine Torrence.  A really good book - it has me re-thinking some of my designs.  I probably need to re-read it, though, since I read it on one of the days when the nausea and vomiting was at its worst...

Wow.  I hope Kevin doesn't notice quite how much I bought, especially considering I wasn't even quilting at the time.  At least I have promised that I will make him a baby sling.  And maybe some cute towels with bunny ears.

As for actual sewing, I have made some progress on the spheres quilt (remember the one that I was preparing specifically for all this travel?  Ha!  I have made it about 3% of the way!).  I almost have Shattered Dishes totally pieced, but I am out of shape - if I hand sew for 2 hours or so, my wrist gets sore!  I used to be able to hand sew for 8-9 hours straight! 

I have quilted another 6 panels for my quilt-as-you-go project (the real story is that I am going to make Khilen, Kevin's new nephew, and our baby semi-matching quilts).  Again, I could not work on that one to save my life while in my first trimester....

You may be noticing a lack of pictures.  In my travels, I seem to have lost our card reader.  I am sure we will track it down...

And now, the real dilemma - I have not cleaned or gardened in 2 months.  A responsible person would get out the bleach and Comet.  However, I have so much sewing I want to do!

Kirsten