29 March 2013

. . . row row row nine . . .

. . . twinkly winter stars . . . 
. . . introduced 9 january 2013 . . . 
{i WILL finish this quilt this year ~ mark my words!}

{some points did not match up very well ~ grrrrrrr . . .}
{as peg says: "it's good from far, but far from good!"}

. . . this little row will finish 
at just three inches tall . . . 

{total number of pieces in row 9: 144}
{total number of pieces in rows 1-9: 1122}
{lori loves it when i count!}


28 March 2013

. . . march quilt group . . .

. . . or as i like to call it ~ 
the best day of the month . . .

{and please forgive my lack of blogging lately}
{instagram is soooooooo much easier!} 
{you can see my silly posts [ifyouwantto] @stuphfromsteph}

. . . so . . .
. . . my friends make really cute quilts . . .


. . . here's peg's adorable version 
of "belgian waffles" . . . 
. . . hello, SPRING! . . .
. . . i love it . . .

the fabric i used makes it look like a completely different quilt.} 


. . . and the machine quilting
 {all the way from idaho} 
is fabulous . . .



. . . holly is in the beginning stages 
of a raw edge applique treasure . . .
. . . this will be darling . . .



. . . the ruffle edge finish 
vicki is putting on this baby quilt 
is truly a labor of love . . .
. . . this one is for 
a  l.o.n.g  awaited grandbaby . . .



. . . and i started working on 
my row nine stars . . . 


. . . lori's row along quilt 
is all finished . . .
. . . take a look at it . . .
{prepare to be amazed}
. . . i'll catch up some day! . . .

. . . already looking forward 
to april's quilt day . . .


19 March 2013

. . . downsizing and upsizing . . .

. . . the girly version of my
slinkee minkee oops! blankee 
is available in a "to go" size . . .
. . . about 7" x 8" . . .
. . . and cute as a bug . . .
{i would call these teeny tiny slinkee minkee oops! blankees}
{isthatnametoolong?}


. . . bloops! have undergone 
an extreme makeover also . . .
. . . the original size 
was according to dimensions 
i researched . . .
. . . and while they are great 
for brand spankin' newborns, 
i felt like they would be outgrown 
fairly quickly . . . 
. . . not to worry . . .
. . . new batches will be 
biggie sized . . .


. . . as demonstrated in this ↓ photo . . .
. . . they're about 25% larger . . .  


. . . original size oops!
{available in yellow, light blue, navy, red and natural} 
are discounted until they're gone . . .
. . . $8.00 each or two for $15.00 . . .

. . . the new/improved style 
{white, light pink and hot pink, so far} 
will sell for the regular price 
of $12.00 each . . . 

. . . and hallelujah hollywood! . . .
. . . the elusive white ones 
{eight of them} 
are back in stock . . .
{p.s. they go quickly!}


18 March 2013

. . . curse you, google reader . . .


. . . i guess we'll just have to see 
how good bloglovin' is . . .


15 March 2013

. . . slinkee minkee oops! blankees . . .

. . . seems like most kids 
have a favorite blanket . . .
. . . mine all did . . .

. . . amelia was my least picky 
blankie lover . . .
. . . when she was a baby, 
my neighbors and i 
treated ourselves 
to diaper service . . .
{we went green before it was cool to go green ~ save our landfills!}
. . . i can still remember the scent 
of those 
freshly laundered deliveries . . .
. . . seriously heaven . . .
. . . unfortunately, 
i can still remember the odor
{there's a definite difference between scent and odor!}
of the diapers waiting 
to be picked up and returned . . .
. . . i would hate to drive that truck ~
especially in the summer! . . .

. . . i digress . . .

. . . amelia's favorite security blanket
 was a cloth diaper . . .
. . . any cloth diaper . . .
. . . and so, 
i must confess, 
i probably never returned 
as many diapers 
as i received . . .
. . . she toted those things around
 everywhere she went . . .
. . . my neighbors most likely still have 
in their stash of cleaning rags 
the remnants 
of an abc diaper service prefold . . . 
. . . sorry abc diaper service . . .

. . . anyway . . .

. . . amelia called a few days ago 
to say that her little guy, colby, 
is very attached to his blankie . . .
. . . he may or may not 
stand at the dryer door 
and cry on laundry day . . .
{the apple does not fall far from the tree}
. . . and could i please make him 
a backup taggy blankie . . .
. . . a little larger 
than the one he has . . .
. . . always up for a challenge, 
i got right on it . . .
. . . and if you buy 
enough fabric to make one
you automatically have 
enough to make three . . .


. . . or six . . .


. . . or twelve . . .


. . . which means a lot of tags . . . 


. . . and a lot of sneezing . . .


. . . minkee sheds 
and flies everywhere . . .

. . . but we apparently have one satisfied customer . . .


. . . so far . . .

. . . all twelve 
slinkee minkee oops! blankees 
are available for purchase . . .
{except for the one i gave colby, 
and the one i gave cameron, 
and the one i'm sending to hayden}
. . . they are microfiber minkee fleece
 on one side . . .
. . . 100% polyester satin 
on the other side . . .
. . . the boy versions 
are about 17" square . . .
. . . the girls' measure 
at a more petite 15" square . . .
. . . they each have 
about 28-32 satin ribbon tags 
triple stitched for extra security . . .
. . . they are very touchable . . .
. . . and they don't smell bad . . .


12 March 2013

. . . happy twenty-fourth . . .

. . . we only have one son . . .
. . . thank heaven 
we got the best one ever . . .

. . . he turns twenty-four today . . .

. . . drew really is a joy . . .
. . . he is smart . . .
. . . he is responsible . . .
. . . he is sensitive . . .
. . . he is an amazing husband 
and father . . .

. . . and he is very, very funny . . .

{sorry, son. since you don't live nearby, i had to recycle a mission photo. 
one of my favorites.}

. . . thank you for always 
making us proud . . .
. . . your dad and i sure do love you . . . 


11 March 2013

. . . {don't} pinch me . . .

. . . the dumbest holiday of the year 
is nearly here . . .
{okay, tyler, i know it's your birthday. 
still ~ st. patrick's day is lame}

. . . but just in case you're worried
 about your sweet baby 
getting pinched . . .
{more than usual ~ i mean ~ baby cheeks are simply irresistible}
. . . here's surefire insurance 
against it . . .

. . . chevrons . . .

 {pastels, including green. these are admittedly more easter-ish. 
and i swear the one in the middle is closer to teal than aqua. 
i blame the camera}

. . . stripes . . . 

{shamrock and emerald} 


. . . polka dots . . .

{jade and lime}


. . . or maybe you just want to hide 
and wait till it's over . . . 

{i'd go with the camo}

. . . in any case . . . 
. . . it's your lucky day . . . 
. . . call or email me . . .


08 March 2013

. . . moses and aaron . . .

. . . i went yesterday to see/hear 
a pretty awesome presentation 
in a high school classroom . . .
. . . i just wish i had 
taken a photo of my niece, courtlyn,
 giving her book report . . .
. . . she read "deaf like me" . . .
. . . then she did 
a really smart thing . . .
{the teacher apologized to all the other kids in the class because she said
 courtlyn's report "was going to blow all of theirs out of the water"} 
. . . she brought in her cousin, amber,
 as a guest speaker . . .
. . . amber knows a thing or two 
about being deaf . . .
. . . she told her story . . .



. . . then she fielded questions 
from class members 
for over half an hour . . .



. . . questions like "can you talk?" . . .



. . . "how do you know 
when your babies are crying?" . . .
. . . and "if you could choose - 
would you be deaf or hearing?" . . .



. . . she is a remarkable girl . . .
. . . and she is lucky, because
since she was three years old, 
she's had a pretty incredible sister . . .
. . . who very early on 
became her spokesperson . . .
. . . that's amanda there ↓ 
on the front row, right side, 
signing to amber . . .
. . . amanda is a really fun voicer . . .
. . . she puts lots of emotion and humor
 into her sister's signs . . .
. . . they really are 
like moses and aaron . . .
{minus the parting of the red sea ~ so far!}



. . . and extra points 
to amanda yesterday . . .


. . . she was interpreting 
through the pain . . .


06 March 2013

. . . testing one two three . . .

. . . my poor husband . . .
. . . the human pincushion . . .
. . . especially today . . .
{i'm just the designated driver}

. . . first up this morning was 
a trip to the hospital for a 
{dye was injected into his spinal column, 
they waited for it to flow up into the cervical area, 
then they pretty much stood him on his head and took images}

. . . and then just for fun, 
while they were at it, 
{more like an MRI - lying on a narrow table 
that slides into a narrow tube 
where xrays beam in a spiral around you}

. . . all of this because it appears 
the cervical fusion he had 
about eighteen years ago, 
following a car accident 
that caused a disc to rupture, 
is starting to collapse, 
causing neck pain, 
knots under his shoulder blades 
and headaches . . .

. . . in the words of my brother-in-law,
 "bill's life {stinks}" . . .
{i changed that last word}
. . . my brother-in-law is right . . .

. . . after that fun morning 
at the hospital, 
this afternoon's highlight 
was an episode 
of blood spinning . . .
{all the cool professional athletes do this ~ 
i'm talking about you, tiger and kobe}
{they also cheat on their wives ~ not cool}

. . . this time the focus 
was on a slightly lower portion 
of his spine . . .
. . . a large vial of blood 
was drawn from his arm . . .
. . . then it was spun 
in this fancy machine . . .
. . . the best part of the blood ~ 
known as PRP {platelet-rich plasma} 
~ was then injected 
into the injured area . . .
. . . in my husband's case ~ 
his dumb tailbone . . .



. . . here's bill telling me 
"you don't need to blog about this" . . .
. . . ummmm ~ has he met me? . . .



. . . here's the amazing 
. . . he checked the ultrasound screen
 for correct placement . . .



. . . then there was
that really large needle . . .


. . . no one can ever accuse bill 
of not trying anything and everything
 that might have the remotest chance 
of healing him . . .
. . . the man is a saint . . .
. . . a saint who is in tremendous pain
 every single moment 
of every single day . . .

. . . please forgive this departure 
from the usual posting 
about sewing, cooking, yardwork,
 parties and grandkids, 
but this is a big part of my life, too . . .

. . . unfortunately . . .


05 March 2013

. . . 'tis the season . . .

. . . i know of one baby 
born yesterday . . .
. . . i know of one baby
being born today . . .
. . . i'm invited to baby showers 
the next three saturdays . . .
. . . something must be in the air . . .

{todays's batch ~ brown. so cute with pink or blue}

. . . i'm just trying to keep up! . . .
. . . are you feeling the baby rush? . . .
. . . i'm here to help . . .