October Leaf Peeping Enjoying an autumn drive I know autumn isn't a holiday, but it got me out of the house for a couple of days. It's still fairly warm here in the afternoons even though we're well over a month into this beautiful season, so I actually grilled hamburgers one night. And we went leaf peeping one afternoon. See the pictures below of some of the beauty I captured with my camera as we drove around. Beautiful sun in the clear October sky Autumn in the backyard We don't have to drive anywhere to experience the beauty of autumn though. I love our backyard . I tell my family I would miss our backyard and large deck more than anything if we had to move. One of life's secrets is having a nice place to get away from the daily grind. My place for that just happens to be our backyard. Even when the roses slowly stop blooming, the hummingbird feeders come down, and the other birds stop nesting, I still enjoy spending time on the deck or in the backyard. The pink

 After 3 weeks of piecing a quilt top - and a day piecing the quilt back, very little housework got done. So, that was top priority as soon as I had a couple of normal days to recuperate. First on my list, was a chore I had been putting off for a while, which was to clean out the fridge. And since I was going to do that, I wanted to do the front, back, top, underneath, and sides as well. That was a good week to clean the fridge since most of our groceries were gone. Less food inside and fewer overflow snacks on top always makes cleaning the fridge easier . Countertops, cabinet doors and drawers, and stove top, front, underneath, sides, and back also needed to be cleaned. So, I spent 2 days cleaning in the kitchen. That also included vacuuming the curtains, ceiling fan, blinds, and windows. The fridge magnets were a mess on the fridge. I just placed them on the doors as I got new ones without any sense of direction. So, first of all, I removed all the magnets, calendar, and to-do list o

The last time I visited, I told you about the quilt top I was making from the soft book panel , Twas the Night Before Christmas. I finished piecing that quilt top and the back for it. However, I'm not sure when the quilting will actually begin. Below are pictures of these finished sections so far with better close up pictures to follow. Click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see more of the details. The quilt top itself was made using the book sections of the panel, strips and blocks of matching fabrics, and quilt blocks made from 3 1/4 inch 9-patch blocks, diamond-square blocks, and fill-in squares. Quilt top The quilt back was made from a Christmas patchwork print that was framed with green and red strips. Quilt back Below are some close-up pictures from different sections of the quilt top. I wanted a touch of blue in the quilt because of the touch of blue in many of the pictures in the quilt. So, I used that for the very top "sky" portion of the quilt top. I

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