Simple Living.......continued

Happy 25th Birthday to my oldest son!

Seems that most of the blogs that I follow all have the same idea......"Simple Living".  I know that I mentioned a while back that I would do a series, well I really feel like I am just striving to do what most of you are already doing or in the process of doing, just in our own individual ways so I will just post things as I go through life, how's that for simple!  I really enjoyed reading this post from Elizabeth she has wonderful ideas.  I have to say that great minds must think alike.....Elizabeth mentioned not saving things for "someday".....well on Thanksgiving morning I climbed up the attic stairs and brought down the set of china that belonged to hubby's grandmother and we used it for dinner.  After washing them I decided that I would find a place in the pantry for them so they could be used frequently for family gatherings.....what point is there is having these dishes if they are in a box in the attic!  Here are a few of the plates and bowls, the rest are still in the box waiting to be washed once I find a place for them!  BTW they are Crookville - Wild Roses, in case anyone is curious.

I put them up there many years ago when we had to take the china hutch out of the kitchen and really had no place for them, it is a setting for 12.....so I have 12 dinner plates, salad plates, dessert plates, saucers, cups, and many of the serving dishes.  I also have a set of dishes that I got from Princess House many years ago, I have always loved them but never finished buying enough for daily use since we were family of 5..... now that number is smaller so I am going to use those and donate my current ones to a local shelter.  Here are the PH ones.......

I took this photo this summer when I was trying to sell them online, guess I need to keep the since no one else wanted them, LOL.

Our discussion this morning was what to name the "girls", since they are red I thought maybe naming them after famous redheads.......like Lucille Ball and Maureen O'Hara, maybe Lu  & Mo, not sure yet???  So far things are going well, they are still laying, every morning I let them out and give them some "treats" from inside, on the colder days I have been putting warm water in the waterer in the AM and PM, it is getting cold enough for it to freeze now.  I hope that they do okay in the cold, others have told me that they will be fine, hope I do all I should to make the coop warm for them. 

Yesterday was the fourth Saturday of the month so I had my "Fat Quarter Quilting" class, we all shared what we got done from last months.....mine was the "Little Fall Quilt", we had some goodies to eat and began working on the next project.  Here are three blocks I completed yesterday and the fabrics I am working with for this project........

Selection for the next block, subject to change, LOL.

As I mentioned before these quilts are from Lori Smith's book Fat Quarter Quilting (just want to make sure I give credit where credit is due) Here are the fabrics I am "working" from for this project, but I could also dig into my stash if I choose to!

Off to enjoy this beautiful Sunday!

First Little Quilt

I have been wanting to make a "little quilt" for quite some time now and since my UFO pile has gotten smaller I decided that it was time to start another project. I found this one in a 2009 Quilts & More Magazine, I am using scraps so the colors will be dependent on the number of prints that I have left in Pink Chocolate scraps.

As I started cutting I wasn''t sure if I was going to use the lighter fabric with the triangles on the front (might use for backing) so I cut and sewed a few and decided that I didn't like it right next to the other patterns. So....I have to confess that I did go buy 1/2 a yard of Moda Marble(the tan block in the layout picture) since there was nothing that would match in my scraps.

So here is what I have completed so far, I sewed the first row together but I will do the rest when the other nine patches are completed so I can move them around. One reason I decided to try this now is because there are lots of small pieces in month 7 of the Civil War Quilt and the practice would be helpful.

I have been having trouble keeping up with blogging this past week and am trying NOT to get stressed about it and remember that this is an enjoyable part of life. Blog to you all soon!