Last week, I finished a quilt and 2 latch hook projects. And I finally started this quilt top that was actually meant to be a child's soft book. I bought the Twas the Night Before Christmas soft book panel last year. When I went to buy some extra fabric last month to help me increase the size of the quilt, Hobby Lobby had these panels available, but I'm not sure they would still have it in stock locally. It isn't even listed on their website. So, if you're interested in making a project like this, I have notes listed below the picture beneath this paragraph. : ) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas fabric soft book panel by Susan Winget Originally sold by Hobby Lobby stores but can also be found on Etsy and eBay. When I bought this fabric, I knew I wanted to make a quilt instead of a book. Last week, I cut out the title page, picture pages, and story pages individually. Then because the book and story pages are aligned for a book, I had to re-arrange the picture pages

 In an overwhelming world, "Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations." Image courtesy of Nik via Unsplash This has become my theme lately as one thing then another comes up. And my goal is to keep life as simple as possible, as the title of this blog indicates. So, I put away the carpet cleaner in June, which means 3 rooms of carpet never got cleaned and likely won't be deep cleaned this year. I am exploring new and much easier venues for carpet and upholstery cleaning. Of course, when I find one that works decently well, I'll share it with you on this blog, because that is the theme of this blog - helping other women simplify their lives.  My family and I are on a journey right now that feels slightly difficult at times. But we all know the beautiful destination is around the corner. More likely several beautiful destinations. So, I'm not complaining, just explaining my recent disappearing act.  I'm still here, but my time is limited for the time being

Image Pixels to Inches, Flip Image, and Increasing DPI These are simple tips I want to share with those of you who are like me and do not have fancy programs to help when needing to convert pixels to inches, find out how many pixels an image has, and increase DPIs for better print quality. My tips are based on a Windows 11 OS and may not work on other systems. However, you may be able to do an internet search to explore your OS options based on the information I have provided below. I do not receive any compensation from these two sites listed. I use them because they are easy, free, and safe to use. These tips are helpful if you need to quickly figure how many pixels you need for a certain number of inches so you can print the right size every time without guessing and wasting printer ink until you do get it right. Also, sometimes, a print needs to be flipped (mirrored, reversed) for transfers. And last but not least, if you’re selling printable items, a higher DPI is needed for

 In Matthew 7:12 NLT, Jesus tells us , "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." image courtesy of Randalyn Hill via Unsplash My goodness, how often does the world turn the Golden Rule around? Jesus meant it for us to be kind and merciful. Many in the world use it to get even, to seek vindication for a wrong done to them - or what they think has been done to them, which is NOT at all what Jesus said in this verse. Yet, how many times do we hear, "Well, they did this to me. I'm going to do the same to them." Or, "That person was mean to me; I'm going to teach that person a lesson they will never forget." Or, "I never get a break. Why should I give anyone else a break?" Jesus said to treat people the way we want to be treated. That means to be cordial in all encounters. Show mercy to those who aren't showing us mercy. Let's be nice to people who

In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus teaches us that God hears our prayers of asking and seeking and answers when we knock on the Door of His Heart. Let's read the Amplified Bible version below. “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened."  image courtesy of  Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone?"  Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him." I want to touch on a few scenarios that I thi

OMG! I bought a cast iron skillet. I thought this would be great to share with you this morning . I got my Lodge brand skillet at my local grocery store for about $10 less than I could buy it from Amazon. I didn't find out until I researched that Lodge is the best brand on the market according to other bloggers.  First thing you need to know is that you can't let these skillets get wet beyond washing them. Because they will rust. The second thing you need to know is these need to be seasoned with vegetable oil. So, even though my skillet was seasoned at the factory, I did have to wash it as soon as I got it home, because there was no covering on it. Everybody who was curious about a cast iron skillet had touched it before I bought it. Okay, probably not many people, but in my imagination, only 1 other person touching it was enough to warrant a thorough washing.  Once washed, I dried it with a completely dry dish towel - not one I had just dried my hands or other dishes with. 

Watching our backyard wildlife is a favorite pastime at our house. We have a birdhouse that the bluebirds occupy most of the spring. A few years back, we had 4 different bird couples nest in the birdhouse. Besides the bluebirds that year, we also had Carolina wrens, barn swallows, and black capped chickadees. We used to set out birdseed and had a birdbath to attract more backyard avian such as the titmouse, cardinal, blue jay, cedar waxwing, house finch, goldfinch, wren, barn swallow, black capped chickadee, and others. We eventually had to take down the bird feeder and remove the birdbath, because the squirrels, crows, pigeons, and grackles discovered our little bird paradise and would leave nothing for the birds we wanted to attract. Since removing those items, we still have the occasional cardinal, blue jay, goldfinch and house finch drop by - just not in abundance like we used to. And the woodpeckers that came around frequently stopped coming by when we took down the feeder and bi