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It's a Quilt! It's a Pillow! It's a Quillo!

Greetings from Me and My House,

Today I'm moving on from nutrition teaching to a simple sewing project. Keep up your Good for You-Natural! lifestyle of eating though.

Quillos are a favorite around our home. Each child has their own for wrapping up in to take a chill off or laying around on. They are super for taking on trips. A quillo is a quilt that folds into a pillow that is simple to make.




You will need 4.5 yards total (after preshrinking) cotton print fabric. Homespun plaids work great, as do any type of novelty print, quilting fabrics, or flannels. You can use all one fabric if you want, but I prefer to use differing fabrics for the front and the back. The pillow/pocket can be made with both sides the same as the one of the other fabrics. If you want the two sides to be different, you will need another 1/2 yard fabric. The instructions here are for an adult size, aprox. 45" (the width of your fabric) by 72". (A child/smaller size is the width of the aprox. 45" by 60", and a smaller "pillow/pocket" is made. A baby size can also be made - 36" by 45".)
This one is child's size:


Supplies needed:
So for your adult size quillo, you need:
2 yards preshrunk fabric for the back
2 1/2 yards preshrunk fabric for the front and pillow/pocket
These should be compatible prints - different, but look good together.
2.5 yards batting - any batting that does not have to be quilted at small intervals. I prefer an all cotton or wool batting.

Thread that blends with both your prints.
Scissors/Rotary Cutter & Mat, Pins, Sewing Machine, yardstick, removable fabric marker.

Instructions:
Blanket:
Square up the ends of the fabric and cut (I prefer to use a rotary cutter) the front and back blanket pieces each 72" long across the width of the fabric. Cut 1 piece of batting the same size.

Layer (by spreading out on a large flat surface) the batting, then one of the fabrics, wrong side down on the batting, then the other fabric right side down (on the right side of the first fabric). Smooth all layers and pin around all edges.

Sew around all 4 edges (I prefer using a walking foot) leaving a 10-12" opening in the center of one end to turn. Clip corners. Turn right side out and press seams, including pressing the opening seam edges in.

Pillow/Pocket:
Cut 2 18"x18" squares for the pillow/pocket out of the remaining front fabric (or one square from each fabric, if you are using both). Cut one piece of batting the same size. Layer and sew exactly the same as the blanket part, only about a 6" opening is needed.

Alternative pillow/pocket:
You may also use an 18"x18" quilt block as one layer and your front fabric as the other layer. After sewing the edges, turning and pressing, quilt your block before attaching to blanket in next step. When attaching to blanket, be sure to sew with the quilt block side facing the blanket side, otherwise when you fold your quillo into a pillow your quilt block will be inside and unseen.

Attach Pillow/Pocket:
Find the center of the open end of both the blanket and the pillow/pocket parts, and match them up. Make sure the center of the other end of the pillow/pocket is lined up with the center of the blanket. Pin the ends of blanket and pillow/pocket together and pin the sides of the pillow/pocket to the blanket. Stitch a narrow seam across the ends of both, attaching the pillow/pocket to the blanket, and closing up the open ends of both.

Lay quillo out flat. Measure in from each side of the blanket onto the pillow/pocket about 1/4" onto the pillow/pocket. With removable marking (disappearing or wash out marking pen), mark this distance the entire length of the quillo, on both sides of the pillow/pocket. In other words, you are going to sew on the pillow/pocket sides, but you are going to extend these seams the entire length of the quillo. After marking, pin through all layers along each line while quillo is still laying flat. Stitch along both lines.

You're finished! To fold quillo as a pillow, fold into aprox. thirds along the stitching lines you just made, with the pillow/pocket facing down and your folds on top. Then fold the top down twice to a point just above where the top of the pillow/pocket is, then fold again, over the back of the pillow/pocket. Turn over and reach inside of the pillow/pocket, grab through all layers of both bottom corners and flip the whole thing inside out. Your folded blanket is now inside your pillow/pocket. Smooth and you have a nice pillow.

This one has a quilt block pillow/pocket:


Simple, but pretty, and certainly practical.

For Me and My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa

GFY-N! Transitions - Week 7

Greetings from Me and My House,

This is week 7 of our 7 steps to a Good for You-Naturally! lifestyle of eating. I hope you have made some healthy transitions in your diet over the past several weeks. We will finish this series today by introducing cooked whole grains.

We've already talked about raw seeds, particularly in their sprouted form, and introduced that grains are seeds. This week we will add whole grains in their cooked form.

Most people are used to eating most of their grains in the form of flour in baked goods. Although I certainly won't debate against whole grain bread being delicious and Good for You, I primarily want to encourage you to begin adding whole grains in their intact form several times a week.

Oatmeal may be the only whole grain you are used to eating. Regular rolled oats are the whole grain, but flattened. Perhaps you are used to eating some other grains refined, such as white rice. Switching to brown rice is a Good for You choice. Other whole, intact grains that are good and can be served much the same as rice are: quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), amaranth, even whole wheat. Brown rice and oatmeal are easy enough to find in your local grocery store. The others may require going to a health food store.

We use a rice steamer or pressure pan to prepare our whole grains. You can read more about them here. Quinoa can be cooked in about 20 minutes, as opposed to brown rice 60 minutes, so it is a good choice when you are in a hurry. If you are really in a hurry, brown rice takes 18 minutes in the pressure pan, and quinoa only takes 1-2 minutes!

You can serve any whole grain as a pilaf, adding chopped onion, parsley, and other seasonings if desired. Some additions may be garlic, peas, shredded carrots, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or natural vegetable broth powder.

Begin adding cooked whole grains to your lifestyle of eating this week, in addition to the other changes you have made. I believe if you continue on this Good for You -Naturally! path you will see a change for the better in your health. God has provided us with such a great variety of great foods. Enjoy them, as He created them. And, "taste a see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa

GFY-N! Transitions - Week 6

Greetings from Me and My House,

We are nearing the home stretch. How are you doing? Are you keeping up (unlike my posts)? Most of the time? Have you made some changes that are becoming habits - Good for You ones? Has adding all these steps begun to crowd out some of your old inferior choices? Good for You!

If you are just now joining us, go back and begin with Step 1, and add a new step each week. If any of these Steps are already habits for you, advance on to the next Step right away.
Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, Step 5

This week (and next) we are going to revisit a couple items from God's Original 4 Food Groups, in a different way. But first I want to share, just touching the surface, about why we have added the things we have in raw form. (There are other reasons that work with this also.)

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has given each of us about 1 trillion cells that make up our bodies, each one a highly complex energy factory. But to function properly our cells need the proper fuel, and that fuel needs to be able to reach the cells.

Do you all remember high school chemisty? I don't. But I've learned a few things since then, at least in this area. Our bodies function best at a ph between 7-8, that is slightly alkaline. Below 7, disease and accelerated aging set in. Below 5.8 cancer can develop. Have you ever wondered why cancer has become so ramped in our time? The average American is living at a ph of 5-5.5.

How did we get to this point? All deceptive foods (adulterated and non-foods), stimulants (caffeine, coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, alcohol, tobacco, etc.), animal derived foods (meat and dairy), pollution, chemicals (food additives, food growing chemicals, personal care products, etc.), stress, meds/drugs and even cooked food are acid producing.

Only raw foods are alkaline producing. Therefore to pull our body back toward health we need to eat more alkaline producing foods - more raw foods. Just like a car functions better on higher octane fuel (and breaks down on the wrong type of fuel), our bodies function better on higher alkaline food (and break down when given the wrong kinds of fuel/food).

This week's Step, number 6, will include some cooked food choices. Typically, if about 80% of our food intake is from what you have included into your Lifestyle of Eating from Steps 1-4, we can eat about 20% of our foods (from God's Original 4 Food Groups) in cooked form. Lightly steamed fresh vegetables are still slightly on the alkaline producing side, and cooked whole grains are just slightly on the acid producing side. These will make up our Steps 6 and 7.

Beginning this week, and added to all the other Steps we have included in our transition to a Good for You-Naturally! Lifestyle of Eating, you will add lightly steamed fresh vegetables daily to either your lunch or supper meal, or both.

Steaming vegetables is a way of cooking that retains nutrients (as opposing to boiling or microwaving). Food steamers hold the vegetables above boiling water to cook them. You can use a stainless steel pan insert steamer, or an electric food steamer. See more on choosing a food steamer in our Good for You-Naturally! Resources & Recommendations.

You do not want to cook the life out of your vegetables, until they are limp and and their color faded. But lightly steam them so they are hot and still just slightly crisp (and still colorful). Broccoli, Carrots, Potatoes, Green Beans, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Mushrooms, Onions, Bell Peppers, and combinations of any of these and many more are some of our family's favorite fresh steamed vegetables. Corn and Peas are of course are among our top favorites too, but not available fresh right now.

You may also use frozen vegetables sometimes to steam, but this lowers their nutritional value further, so don't rely on this daily. Use fresh as much as possible. But a plus for frozen may be that you are able to purchase them organic when you may not be able to purchase fresh organic.

Include a wide variety of vegetables. Try for differnt ones each day. And "taste a see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8

For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa

GFY-N! Transitions - Week 5

Greetings from Me and My House,

For our first 4 weeks of our 7 week transition to a Good for You-Naturally! Lifestyle of Eating we have added God's 4 Original Food Groups. This week we will add the 5th Step, also a provision given in the Garden, by God, as a necessity for man's life and health, pure water.

Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4

Our bodies, like our earth, are made up of about three-foruths water. It is necessary for every function of our bodies. And it is important that we have pure water that is helping to flush toxins and wastes out of our body, rather than adding more to it, in addition to keeping our bodies hydrated. Most American's don't drink enough water to keep their bodies hydrated, which is evident in many of our common diseases.

To figure your personal water requirement take your weight in pounds divided by 2 and that is how many ounces of pure water you need daily. So you see the 8 glasses per day rule only works if you weigh 128 pounds.

Don't like the taste of water? Once you taste cool pure water, you may realize it isn't water you don't like, but the chemicals you've been tasting in tap water. Try pure water. Distilled or Reverse Osmosis purified water is best.

Purified water can be purchased in individual serving bottles (Aquafina is best, not brands "enhanced with minerals" - weird what we buy these days, but try telling your grandmother that you've been paying over $4 for a cup of coffee), or distilled can be bought in gallon jugs, or you can fill and refill jugs from purified water machines in grocery stores (usually the same purifying process as Aquafina, and our own home water purifying system).

For times when no purified water is available, you can squeeze fresh lemon juice (a great detoxifier) into your water or add a couple drops of Therapeutic-grade Lemon Essential Oil (preferably in a glass glass, never to styrofoam, or even thin plastics). There are a couple other alternatives, but I'll spare you anything more detailed here.

Just begin this week to drink your personal pure water requirement each day. Yes, you may feel like you are floating away, or living in the restroom at first. That's good. Your body is flushing itself out, trying to cleanse itself. It will stabilize, and you'll feel better in the process. And your body will thank you.

"O taste a see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8
For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa

GFY-N! Transitions - Week 4

Greetings from Me and My House,

In Genesis 1:29 God prescribes His provision for man to eat. "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food]." This is week 4 in our 7 Week, 7 Steps to a Good for You-Naturally! Lifestyle of Eating. This week we will be including the 4th of God's Original 4 Food Groups.

For Step 1 we started eating a fresh, raw vegetable salad at the beginning of each lunch and supper. For Step 2 we began eating fresh, raw fruits for or before breakfast. For Step 3 we began adding fresh raw sprouted seeds to (or as) our veggie salads. For Step 4 we will add fresh, raw nuts.

Do you immeditately think of the non-nut when you hear "nuts"? Many people's favorite nut is the peanut, which is not a nut, but rather a legume, that we generally eat as a nut. For our Step 4, we want to add true nuts.

Almonds are the King of nuts. They are very high in nutritional value (the most nutrient dense of all nuts), mild tasting, and very versatile. You can even make a great tasting "milk" from them, and a super nut butter. Walnuts are good "brain food". Pecans, filberts/hazelnuts, and macadamias are excellent choices too. Cashews aren't as good of a choice nutritionally, but do make good nut butter and "milk" also.

You may have to go to the health food store to find raw nuts, as your regular grocery store most likely doesn't have them. Usually you find them already shelled. Find a store that has good fresh nuts that aren't going rancid. Stale nuts will turn you off from fresh, raw nuts.

Nuts too can be added to our salads if we choose, remember those options I gave you with our Good for You-Naturally! salad suggestions on Week 1? Or we can just eat them by the handful as snacks. We can also grind many of them into a nut butter - which is super as a dip or spread for fresh veggies.

Try to find a variety, and add a handful or more daily of fresh, raw nuts to your Good for You-Naturally! Lifestyle of Eating.

Oh, and if you didn't add in those "other" seeds last week, raw sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, flax, etc., you should add them in now - either by the handful or on your salads.

"O taste a see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8
For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa

GFY-N! Transitions - Week 3

Greetings from Me and My House,

Welcome to Week 3 of transitioning to a healthier - Good for You-Naturally! - Lifestyle of Eating. We began Step 1, Week 1 by starting each lunch and supper with raw vegetables/salads. In Week 2 we continued Step 1 and added Step 2, eating raw fruits in the morning, before or as breakfast. This week, we will continue Steps 1 and 2 and add Step 3.

Step 3 will keep you in the produce department of the store (or perhaps not, read on), but maybe not your regular grocery store. You may need to go to a health food store or contact a nutritional supplier, like me :-) This week we will be adding raw seeds.

Perhaps the only one you can think of is sunflower seeds. And I'm guessing that most of you don't eat them raw. Try them, they are delicious. Pepitos, pumpkin seeds, are also good and popular. Sesame seeds are another popular seed, but not one we usually just munch on by the handful. Flax seeds have become very popular, as their health benefits have been discovered. However, you must grind them before using, because if the outer husk isn't broken they will pass through you undigested. You can just throw them in your blender for a few seconds. Any of these can be thrown on you lunch or supper salads, or sunflower and pumpkin seeds can just eaten plain as snacks.

However, this isn't the primary type of raw seeds we are adding this week. The raw seeds that mainly make up Step 3 are what I call "baby vegetables", sprouted seeds.

Perhaps you are familiar with bean sprouts, those plump sprouts typically added to Chinese dishes, and not usually eaten raw. The other sprouts you may have tried are alfalfa sprouts. These are the long stringy sprouts you see on many salad bars. You can get them in most grocery stores. Beyond that you probably won't find much more variety in regular grocery stores, except perhaps broccoli sprouts, which has also become somewhat popular because of their anti-cancer benefits.

But many types of untreated, organic seeds can be grown and eaten as sprouts. (Never eat tomato or potato sprouts, or garden (treated) seed sprouts.) Other sprouts that are becoming popular commercially are red clover and radish (both usually mixed with alfalfa). Other available sprouting seeds are: cabbage, garlic chives, fenugreek, lentils, and peas, and all of the following. Buckwheat, sunflower, and red pea all grow into nice salad "lettuces". Wheat produces a sweet sprout, and one that can be baked into sprout bread as well as eaten raw, and used in other recipes. Rye and triticale are also sproutable grains. Some grains, such as barley, oats, millet, and quinoa have an outer indigestible husk that is removed before being sold as food, but without which the grain won't sprout. Sproutable barley can be purchased. Rice is not suitable for sprouting. Adzuki, garbanzo, and soy beans do well. Larger beans, such as lima, kidney, black, and navy don't do as well. Chia, flax, cress, and psyllium are all gelatinous seeds that require special treatment. Mixes, containing several types of seeds, are also popular.

You may be able to find several of these sprouts in a health food store. But more than likely you'll need to become a baby vegetable farmer. Don't worry. I call this Gardening for Wimps. No weeds, no bugs, no dirt. No expensive equipment or weather caused failures. Sprouting takes only seconds per day and your crop is ready for harvest in less than a week. You get fresh, nutrient dense, organic produce year round. And you don't even have to go outside.

Do you think you can't afford organic food? Or don't have the time or space to produce an organic garden? Just a tablespoon of so of seed will yield you a bumper crop of a pound of fresh organic vegetables every week in just 9" of counter space, (more if you stack your sprouters,) and literally takes just seconds per day. Sprouting is not just Good for You-Naturally! gardening. It is cheap, easy gardening requiring hardly any time at all.

But oh what you reap. Plants at their peak of nutrition. Enzymes, the life force in raw plants, put there for their growth and our health by God, is at its highest peak in sprout sized plants.

Each variety of sprouts has its own distinction. Some are mild, some sharp; some bitter, some sweet; some hot, just like their grown up counterparts. There will undoubtedly be some you like immediately and others you don't. Alfalfa is mild, unlike in its grown up state, which is probably why it is popular. Radish sprouts taste just like their grown counterpart. So to have cheap, fresh, organic radishes for your salads every day grow your own sprouts rather than buying radishes at the store. Experiment to see which kinds of sprouts you like.

Beginning this week, try to include sprouts daily. Just add them into your salads - or make your salad entirely of sprouts. If you use a variety, you can make a delicious Sprout Salad. Try to find a bigger variety than just Alfalfa (and Broccoli). In fact start growing your own. My ebook, Gardening for Wimps (click on Sprouter), tells you all you probably need to know. If you really want to get into sprout growing and using more than that, Steve Meyerwitz, the Sproutman, wrote the comprehensive volume on sprouting, Sprouts: The Miracle Food (click on Cookbooks).

"O taste a see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8
For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa