We all hear about counting calories. Surprise. Calories aren’t one of the 3 Strategies of Weight Reduction.

What do you suspect are the 3 requirements for shedding weight, health and fitness? Are you prepared?

The 3 keys to weight loss & fitness success are. . .

1. Protein is Power

2. Muscle is Magic

3. Fiber is Your Friend

PROTEIN IS POWER

Protein is the building block of muscle. Working out breaks down your muscles; rest builds the muscles up. In order to add muscle you should have 1 gram of protein for lean body mass. It’s difficult the body to create protein by itself.

When you’re first learning how to crochet there are one or two critical details that you need to incorporate in your crochet box of tools. Studying about the needles, yarn and stitches will make a huge difference in getting started or in improving your talent. All of these things also add to your enjoyment of this entertaining past-time or needlecraft.

Crochet is a particularly multiple purpose needlecraft used to form many kinds of items like: sweaters, scarves, vests, shawls, hats, mittens, blankets and each kind of garment that your creativity can imagine!

With the bed being one of the most comfortable places in your own home, we all love to spend some time in there. So its no surprise that so many folks can I’ve lost count of how many cups of coffee have ended up on my favourite green quilt design at home!

If you have to get a stain out of a quilt, but are concerned about damaging the quilt, here is a few fast and effective techniques to make sure you don’t 2 things you should do when a stain occurs:

Time is essential

In the last article, we looked at what to do when marking happens and the way to treat oil and grease based stains.

Continuing on from there we will now look at the next most common kind of stain that happens on quilts:

Protein Stains

Believe it or not, this is a big one. Many folks are surprised to find out just how many protein based stains there may be. Stuff like mustard, blood, fruit juice, mud, vomit, wine, coffee, chocolate and coca are all protein based stains.

Patchwork quilts come in each size and form, so it should be no surprise when you come across new methodologies and styles when it comes to quilts.

I have been looking into a rather more obscure type of quilting called Sashiko quilting. This is a kind of quilting that originates from Japan. “Sashiko” itself literally interprets into “little stabs” referring to the stitching style used in the process.

It was initially used to fix tears and worn out parts of a quilt, but over time has turned into a unique quilting style. This is a hand stitching process that uses the thread itself to stitch a pattern or mural into the quilt.

If you have not heard about “Sashiko” before, do not feel bad, its not the most typical of quilt designs out there. While there is a solid following, not everyone has a Sashiko quilt.

To give you a bit of a background, Sashiko is a style that originated in Japan decades ago when cotton and fabric was still extremely expensive. With Sashiko literally translating into “little stabs” it had been a style that was used to mend tears and worn out bits of cloth and making it look nice, while avoiding having to get new material or make a new quilt.

Learning to crochet is fun and engaging. It does take patience to learn the basic stitches and then the way to combine those basic stitches into pleasant, fascinating crochet patterns but that is a component of the fun and challenge to learning to master the ability of crocheting and this unique needlecraft.

Newbies as well as intermediate can enjoy the different kinds of crochet stitches since there are several types of crochet that are able to be experimented with and each have a fantastic variety in the things shown that can be designed with the stitches in that crochet type. You can go from a baby sweater to a Holiday stocking, to a bedspread or other home dec items, to threads. The designs and inspiration are everywhere.

Welcome back to our must have quilting special. In previous articles, we covered the fundamental tools that without them, it might be quite hard to make a quilt.

In this article, we’ll be looking at some items that aren’t ‘critical ‘ to the quilt making process, but without them, it would probably take far longer and be a lot tougher.

Basting Gun

If you’ve never seen a basting or tacking gun, the simplest way to describe it is as a material stapler that uses clear plastic instead of steel staples.

No two people learn quilting the same way. A few individuals gain an interest in from a books or perhaps from a friend. For me, my nanna was an enthusiastic quilter. One wet day, I was at her house and she suggested that I might like to have a go at quilting.

She had purchased a quilting kit a fortnight before and had waited until I was bored before giving it to me, so this is how I learned about quilting kits and how I made my first quilt with a green quilt design.

What’s A Quilting Kit?

In part 1 we looked at the importance of rotary cutters and cutting mats and how they will help you speed up your quilting. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the core basics you will need to finish your quilt.

Iron and Ironing board

Chances are you will have both of these, even before you began quilting. The great news is that you almost certainly will not have to buy a new one – unless your old one is causing you problems with everyday ironing.