26 April 2013

. . . row row row twelve . . .

. . . originally posted 
on 20 february 2013,
i finally got around 
to making these darling baskets . . .
. . . they were quick and easy . . .


. . . and then --- 
taping them all in a row 
to my front porch railing 
just seemed like 
the right thing to do . . .


{total number of pieces in row 12: 110}
{total number of pieces in rows 1-12: 1427}


24 April 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . the east entrance 
of the mesa arizona temple 
is much less used 
than the west . . .
. . . the last of the spring flowers . . .
. . . the olive tree . . .
. . . and that sky . . .


. . . a lovely evening . . .
. . . at a lovely place . . .


23 April 2013

. . . the new neutral . . .

. . . my bedroom window seat's cushion
 is about eighteen years old . . .
. . . it's always been covered in
green and white stripes . . .
. . . and is in desperate need 
of an update . . .
. . . i bought this 
woven upholstery fabric 
about four and a half years ago . . .
(when amanda and i were shopping for elliott's crib bedding fabric)
. . . and i've been trying ever since 
to convince myself that
a) i can do this myself, and
b) it'll look okay . . .
. . . so i bit the bullet . . .


. . . and i bought a zipper . . .
. . . a reallllllllllllllllllllly long zipper . . .
. . . fourteen and a half feet long, 
to be exact . . .


. . . i installed it fairly well . . . 
(it goes along the back side, so . . . whatever, right?)


. . . i made a lot of cording . . .
. . . no, really . . .
. . . i made a LOT of cording . . .
. . . turns out i made 
waaaaaaaaaaay too much cording . . .


. . . and i sewed it along 
all the edges 
of the cushion top pieces . . .


. . . then bill and i literally 
had to wrestle 
the foam pieces inside . . .
. . . it was maybe pretty comical . . .
. . . and HARD work . . .
. . . but i felt like it was 
quite an accomplishment . . . 
. . . and it fit! . . .


. . . and then i was feeling cocky . . .
. . . so i made a couple 
of throw pillows
 to go on the couch 
that used to be 
in our living room . . .
. . . to hopefully tie it in . . .


. . . because cheetah 
goes with everything . . .
. . . right? . . .
. . . it's the new neutral . . .


19 April 2013

. . . 1979 ~ 2013 (so far) . . .

. . . here's what i was doing 
thirty-four years ago today . . .
. . . i posted this photo on instagram
 and got a little ribbing 
about my bouquet . . .
(when what i really deserved ribbing about was this super dramatic pose!)
. . . my bridal bouquet was created 
by a family friend/ward member . . .
 . . . lyman haws was 
the owner of haws flower shop . . .
. . . i told him i wanted daffodils . . .
. . . he said, "are you sure?" . . . 
. . . i was sure . . .
. . . then i think my dad told him 
to be sure it made a statement . . .
. . . i think it did! . . .
. . . i've never seen anything like it . . .


. . . after posting that photo, 
i received an email from a friend . . .
. . . donna told me that 
lyman haws is her stepdad . . . 
. . . i had no idea . . .

. . . she said, "i talked to him today and asked him if he remembered an unusual request for a wedding. he immediately said that he had done a wedding for 'ole jack davis' daughter' and she had a trailing bouquet of daffodils. he even remembers the reception. not bad for a 93-year-old man!! . . . he said that he was good friends with your dad and he was very particular about what he wanted . . . his mind is as sharp as it was 30 years ago!" . . . 

. . . then she shared that 
he now has a quilting machine 
and that keeps him busy! . . . 
. . . here he is on the day 
he was teaching donna 
how to use it 
on her lori holt row along quilt . . .


. . . my mom loved 
hearing this story . . .

. . . anyway . . .
. . . back to the fact that 
today bill and i have been married 
for thirty-four years . . .
. . . that's a long time . . .
. . . but not nearly long enough . . .
. . . this is for better or worse . . .
. . . for richer or poorer . . .
. . . in sickness (him) 
or in health (me) . . .
. . . through thick (me) 
or thin (him) . . .


. . . this is forever . . .
. . . yay! . . .


18 April 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . thirty-four years ago today . . .
. . . the day before 
we were married . . .
. . . i entered these doors 
for the first time . . .

. . . the temple has been 
a blessing in my life 
ever since . . .
. . . so grateful for the opportunity 
to serve here every week . . .


17 April 2013

. . . bloops! i did it again . . .

. . . one day i turned 
yards of cotton gauze . . .


. . . into lots of bloops! . . .


. . . generously sized 
swaddling blankets . . .
. . . with nary a kitty cat 
nor a dinosaur in sight . . .
#yayforprettybabystuff!


16 April 2013

. . . variety is the spice of life . . .

. . . i made a deal 
with our relief society president . . .
. . . i'll make special blessing day oops!
 for all the babies born in our ward . . .
. . . and she'll never ask me 
to teach sunday lessons . . .
. . . score! . . .


. . . pink and grey ~ 
a classic combination . . . 
. . . these flew out the door 
as soon as i got them made . ..


. . . and for shlepping 
around disneyland 
with an infant . . .


. . . you'd be the envy 
of everyone in line 
at mr. toad's wild ride . . .

. . . see? there's an oops! 
for every circumstance . . .


15 April 2013

. . . ric rac paddy whack . . .

. . . in the last couple of years . . . 
. . . ric rac has really come of age . . .
. . . i know it's been around forever . . .
. . . but now there are 
more sizes and colors than ever . . .


. . . i love to hoard collect it . . .


. . . and then the fun starts 
when i try to make 
ric rac/ribbon combos . . .

(we may have had an instagram discussion about this color's name)

. . . i have a fun "job" . . .


12 April 2013

. . . ruffles have ridges . . .

. . . i've always loved it . . .
. . . there's just 
something about eyelet . . .
. . . the holes . . .
. . . the daisies . . .
. . . the scallops . . .


. . . so glad i finally had the bright idea
 to use it on oops! . . .


. . . it looks especially fresh and springy
combined with these trendy colors . . . 
. . . baby gifters 
can't seem to get enough 
of mint, coral, teal and melon . . .


11 April 2013

. . . take me out to the ballgame . . .

. . . every time i go to the ribbon store, 
the pink polka dot section 
is like a magnet . . .
. . . i mean, really . . . 


. . . but i was on a mission . . .
. . . focus focus focus . . .
. . . ahhhhh . . . 
. . . there it is . . .


. . . for a special little sports fan . . .
. . . or probably, more specifically . . .
. . . for the offspring 
of a special sports fan . . .


. . . i'm always up 
for the challenge 
of a special oops! order 
or two . . .
. . . call me maybe . . .


10 April 2013

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . since i'm there 
every wednesday . . .
. . . and because 
it's such a beautiful place . . .
. . . i decided to snap a quick photo
 each week . . .


. . . the flowers are glorious . . .
. . . and the smell is intoxicating . . .
. . . at the mesa arizona temple . . .


09 April 2013

. . . row row row eleven . . .


. . . since i was on a roll . . .
. . . maybe i should say 
i was on a "row"ll . . .
. . . nevermind . . .
. . . i shouldn't say that at all . . .

. . . anyway . . . 
. . . the next row looked like 
it'd be quick and easy . . .
. . . little spools of thread . . .
. . . fourteen of them . . .
. . . so i pulled some fabrics . . .
. . . and lined 'em up . . .


. . . they went together super fast . . .
. . . and i just couldn't resist . . .


. . . putting them in roygbiv order . . .
. . . i have a little ocd obsession 
with that . . .
{technically rpygb order ~ no o; p instead; no i or v either}



. . . another gratuitous yard shot . . .
. . . ivy today . . .
. . . springtime in arizona 
is the best . . .

{total number of pieces in row 11: 85}
{total number of pieces in rows 1-11: 1317}


08 April 2013

. . . row row row ten . . .

. . . after i made it 
to the bottom of my ironing pile 
during general conference, 
i rewarded myself with 
a little "get to" sewing . . .
. . . maybe i should make myself 
a chore chart 
with stickers and prizes . . .

. . . time to work on
. . . earlier in the week, 
i had selected these fabrics 
for houses and roofs 
and residents . . .


. . . got 'em all cut out . . .
. . . and construction began . . .
. . . here're the first two houses 
on the block . . .


. . . and the whole subdivision . . .
. . . with crazy toddlers 
in the grey and aqua house . . .
. . . identical twins 
in the yellow and red house . . .
. . . visually challenged hat wearers 
in the red and pink house . . .
. . . a cute little top-knotted redhead 
and her sister 
in the pink and green house . . .
. . . and a ballet studio 
in the yellow and grey house . . .


. . . these are, of course, tract homes . . .
. . . everyone has the same floor plan,
 door and chimneys . . .

. . . how about 
a gratuitous geranium shot 
of the whole row? . . .
{note to self: blue painters tape 
definitely shows through white background fabric}


. . . this row was pretty quick 
to put together . . .
. . . ten rows down . . .
. . . three to go . . .

. . . plus a few other things 
that make this quilt 
over the top amazing . . .


{total number of pieces in row 10: 110}
{total number of pieces in rows 1-10: 1232}


07 April 2013

. . . conference weekend . . .

. . . this was one of 
my favorite two weekends 
of the year . . .
. . . i love listening 
to the inspired words 
of our church leaders . . .

. . . and . . .
. . . i love to get 
to the bottom 
of my ironing pile . . .
. . . it's my general conference
tradition . . .

. . . and it keeps me awake! . . .
. . . especially if i arm myself 
with diet coke 
and leftover cadbury eggs . . .


. . . i'm always on the lookout 
for my hometown girl, 
tricia hyde swanson . . .
. . . we grew up in the same ward . . .
. . . she has a spectacular 
first soprano voice 
and has been in the choir 
for a long, long time . . .
{top row, center, dark hair ~ she and her voice are beautiful}


. . . tv screen photos 
in fluorescent lighting 
are awful . . .
. . . but let's take a vote . . .
. . . and i'm sure 
you'll all agree with me . . .
. . . periwinkle dresses 
are waaaaaaaay better 
than mauve . . .
. . . and it's good to see 
everyone in their assigned seats 
two days in a row . . .


. . . president uchtdorf 
makes all the foreign names 
of general authorities 
sound fantastic 
with his awesome german accent . . .


. . . and funny internet people 
make me laugh with 
{maybe slightly inappropriate ~ yet true} 
sayings like this . . .


. . . after the first hour 
of the morning session, 
and several white shirts . . .
. . . the congregation and choir 
stood to sing a rest hymn . . .
. . . "let us all press on" . . .
. . . and maybe it made me laugh . . .


. . . after the first two-hour session . . .


. . . halfway through 
the afternoon session . . .


. . . and i was finished 
after four hours . . . 


. . . i never claimed to be 
a super fast ironer . . .
. . . but i AM good! . . .


. . . my favorite 
{are we allowed to have a favorite?}
 speaker . . .
. . . if i had to choose one . . .
. . . is nearly always
. . . it seems like every talk he gives 
is a masterpiece . . .


. . . another true funny . . . 


. . . after the final session ended . . .
. . . it was time 
to get my skewers on . . .


. . . and chris was a great sport 
and worked hard 
at grilling them up . . .
{sorry about all the smoke in your eyes, chris!}


. . . while tyler had his hands full
 keeping colby entertained . . .


. . . and yes, we did 
have an easter egg hunt . . .
. . . a week after easter . . . 
. . . bill filled them with candy . . .
. . . then addi and halleigh 
hid all the eggs . . .


. . . elliott didn't mind a bit 
that we were a little tardy . . .


. . . and tagg was happy 
to show me his treasures . . .
. . . while brent napped on the lawn . . .


. . . feeling the spirit, 
being productive, 
good food, 
and family time . . .
. . . that about sums up 
one of my favorite two weekends 
of the year . . .
. . . i'm already looking forward 
to october . . .