In Leiu of Flowers

The flowers are looking a bit orange in this photo, they are really more on the peachy pink sherbet side
See in the top left corner "Easy", well see about that

First off let me thank Carla over at http://halfdozendaily.wordpress.com/ for spotlighting this little blog last Friday. Carla is a young mother with a large family who oozes creativity and has nailed this whole frugal living thing. Thanks Carla!

We received a letter last week from a long time friend of my Dad's informing us of her husbands death. Jim had been having a few health problems typical of his age, he went in for gall bladder surgery and unexpectedly passed away. His wife Marty has been one of the many mentors in my life who has filled the gap of living without a Mother. I quickly got a card in the mail with a copy of "Heavens For Real" off to her but it's been on my heart to do something more. His burial is at Arlington cemetery in late August, we would love to attend but with Rambo mans crazy work schedule it's iffy at best. I started thinking maybe I could make her a quilt, if we can attend the services I will give it to her then, if not I can mail it so when she arrives home it will be waiting for her. I began searching for a pattern that was geared towards beginners when I landed on "Aromatherapy", it seems simple enough for my limited abilities without looking like a beginners quilt. They moved to FL years ago when Jim retired from the military so I need to make it lightweight, I'm thinking I will use the flannel diaper material like I did on our beach quilt instead of standard batting. The fabric I found feels happy and girlie to me. The shop I have been taking most of the sewing classes at has offered to show me some techniques that will make the quilt just a little more special and assure me its in my ability range (if they say so). If I can stay on task I believe I can get this finished and in the mail on time. Thinking outside the box a bit I hope to have come up with a more memorable useful gift that will bring years of comfort to Marty instead of overpriced funeral flowers that will be thrown out in a day or two.

I feel gifting Marty a quilt falls right in line with our more frugal living this year. Frugal living doesn't mean chepo living to me, it's more of being a savey shopper, purchasing quality items that will last a good long time and giving a bit of yourself to others.

Ah but I'm not crafty you say, then take a few classes in something you would like to have for yourself, invest in you, everyone can learn. Sewing is a life skill that is fading away, people are sending good items of clothing to the dump because it has a missing button or hole in the sleeve, learn to sew and save yourself some cash, you can eventually parlay that skill into gift giving saving your family even more money