Just Had To Freshen Up A Bit

Good morning friends
Like many of you I am often re arranging things in my home, giving it a fresh look, removing some things, adding others. Sometimes I leave it for awhile but then go back to how it was before, but it's always fun to have a change .
This is our front hall yesterday.
Here it is now.

I made these slipcovers for our wing chairs several years ago and they have been in our living room all that time with a ragged unfinished edge at the bottom. So I added this pleated skirt to finally finish them. (Karen K, if you read this, you'll be proud of me!) I also flipped the seat cushion over because there is a different pattern on it, just for variety. I love lots of different patterns mixed together. Do you?
I think my furniture would look right at home in this house don't you? It's new but has lots of charm. I took a picture of it when I was out and about yesterday.

We had a wonderful visit with our son and daughter in law. I've missed my visits with you!

We're having a painting party at a friend's house on Saturday to paint all the walls and trim on the first floor of her home. What are your plans for the weekend?

Rhondi xo


Someone asked me about the quilts in the pictures today.

The first one is from a pattern by Maggie Walker. I appliqued it by hand and quilted it by hand.

Inspired by Maggie Walker, I designed the blue and white one myself. I drew things from our home: teapots, teacups, roosters, planters etc and tried to use fabric that was similar to the patterns on the actual objects. It's all done by hand also. I'll do a post on it sometime and show you more.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that our son and his wife who live in Boston are coming to visit for a few days. I am very excited because we haven't seen them since July. I am going to enjoy every minute !What are you thankful for today?

Rhondi xo

I'm going to take a break from posting for a little while. I apologize to those of you who usually particpate in thankful Thursday. I just didn't have the time to get you listed this week.

I'm Not Addicted, I'm Really Not

Yesterday Linda at Linda's Blue Gate blog gave me this Dishaholic Award. It got me thinking that maybe there needs to be a group for dishaholics, not an award.... So the rules were I am to show my favorite dishes, tell the dishes I'd love to own and show my favorite accessory.
This is our everyday blue willow. Every time I see a piece of it that is $2 or less I pick it up, so I have enough to feed at least 30 people. These have been our everyday dishes for over 30 years and I never tire of it!

This is my favorite set, Dainty Blue by Shelley. You've seen it before if you visit very often. It's a tea set. I used to have 8 cups and saucers but over the years they have broken and I still have 8 saucers, I only have 4 cups now. I just love to serve tea in it.

The dishes I'd love to own are red transferware.

My favorite accessory is any kind of blue and white china.

This is the china that I picked out as a young bride. My mother said to get something classic, so I chose this Wedgwood set, plain white with a gold edge. It is so boring looking but food looks great on it!

This is the oldest set of dishes I have. My mom bought it at an antique store years ago . It's well over 100 years old, made by Royal Worcester. I don't know the pattern name.

Here is a close up.

I have lots of odd bits and pieces.... Lots of mismatched plates..I like to display my dishes in this red hutch in the kitchen.

On the wall and shelves in the kitchen.... On lots of walls...the dining room....I hide, I mean, store extra dishes in bedroom closets. So as you can see I have quite a few dishes, but I don't think I'm a dishaholic. I mean really, I can walk in to any china department in a big department store and not buy a thing. I can pass by a display of dishes at a thrift shop and not buy anything. Well maybe if it was blue and white and very cheap I'd have to buy it. I mean it would be a crime to let someone else get the deal wouldn't it? And what's one more piece of china, now really! No I don't think I'm a dishaholic. I can control myself. So Linda I think I should return this award because I really don't qualify. Guess I'm just in denial!

Rhondi xo

Dishaholic Award

I received another award today and I know I deserve this one. Yes, I have an obsession for dishes! Tomorrow I'll show you why I deserve this award.The rules are:
Name your favorite set of dishes.
Name the set of dishes you'd love to own.
Name your favorite accessory.
Pass this award on to five deserving recipients.
I am going to answer those questions in tomorrow's post, but I'm giving out the award today.

I am going to pass this award on to three well deserving recipients:

Carolyn at Aiken House and Gardens
Tina at Cherry Hill Cottage
Pat at Back Porch Musings

Rhondi xo

Blogger Love

Good morning my dear friends
I just want to say how wonderful all of you blogging friends are. You leave such kind and encouraging comments. That you bother to comment at all on some of the silly things I write about it is amazing! It is such fun to check my email and find that you have left a comment. I remember the old days with AOL, when I'd hear those words, "You've Got Mail". Well I don't hear those words anymore but it is exciting every morning to go online and see who has left a comment overnight, or to come home at the end of the day, make myself a cup of tea and see who has stopped by to visit today. I remember the first time someone commented and how thrilled I was. Now almost a year and a half later I still get excited when I see you have left a comment! If you have never left a comment, please do just once because I'd like to visit you too.

You know how you have friends who never call you back, or you invite over for dinner over and over again and they never reciprocate? I feel like that many times because some of you are so faithful at commenting and I am so bad at it. But even so you continue to visit. Thank you.
And if just receiving comments isn't enough, you give out awards.

Riet from The Netherlands gave me these two awards . Thank you for thinking of me Riet!

The blogging world really is a sisterhood isn't it and I have made so many friends here.

It is always hard to figure out who to give these awards to because I don't want to leave out any of you, but I know how fun it is to receive an award so I'll pass it on this time.

I'm giving the "Let's Be Friends" award to some blogs I've just discovered recently:

Wendy IVORY SPRING who is a fellow quilter

NancySOUTHERN LADY who hosted a "flaunt your red" party

I'm giving the "Sisterhood" award to a couple of my North Carolina blogging friends who I met when I first began blogging:

Penny at COMFORTS OF HOME

Mary at ACROSS THE POND

Donna at DONNA'S ART

I really think of all of you as my friends and being a blogger is like a sisterhood to me.

Hope you have a great day today my friends.

Rhondi xo

If you plan to post for thankful Thursday this week please let me know by tomorrow. Thanks!

That's The Way I Like It

I have a round table and a couple of chairs in front of the windows in my studio, which is where have our breakfast every morning. Here is an arrangement of things I had on the table and I showed it to you recently. I really love the way the light shines through the glass on a sunny day, but I also like to change things around. So when the flowers wilted I decided to do a new arrangement. So I tried a few different ideas.

This was the first one. Then I thought I'd put all the blue glass away for awhile and add something yellow to match the forsythia (fake) that I purchased at Michaels. As I said in another post I think forsythia looks very real! I tried this pretty pale yellow lamp with it's yellow, blue and white shade. It looks pretty in the evening, kind of gives a warm glow to the room, but since it's almost spring, "warm glow" wasn't the look I was going for.
Little details can add a lot of punch and I love this pair of birds.
And I really like this little framed poem. And the detail on this Noritake creamer draws your eye in closer.
But something is missing...Some blue and white china of course! So I removed the yellow vase and replaced it with a blue and white one and added some daffodils from the garden in a blue willow pitcher.
That's the way I like it ...for now at least! I'll leave it like this until the flowers wilt again.



We just got home from church and I plan to just relax the rest of the day. It's cold and rainy, a perfect day for curling up with a good book, warmed by one of my quilts and a cup of tea.

Sunday was meant as a day for rest. I hope you get some rest today!

Rhondi xo

Flaunt Your Red

Nancy at Southern Lady is hosting a Flaunt Your Red party today. I love red so I thought it would be fun to join in and "flaunt my red".
Here is our red dining room.

Red pillows on the couch.

Red books on the mantle.

I painted the hutch in our kitchen red.

Sometimes I hang this red quilt I made on the wall in our front hall.

If you have time I'll make us a pot of tea in my red teapot. Some red hearts I made nestle in a white bowl.

Madeleine sits beside a red patchwork pillow.So that's just a little sample of some of the red in my house.

Make sure you stop by and visit Southern Lady to see lots blogs flaunting their red.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Rhondi xo