Two years later

This is easily the biggest project I've ever made. 124'' x 124''. I started working on it sometime in the spring of 2011. By the time my annual pilgrimage to Oregon rolled around in the summer, I had it partially pieced together. I brought it with me, hoping to finish piecing it together while at my parents in Oregon, and quilt it in Utah at Paul's aunt's house (on our way back to Utah.) So I slaved away while on vacation, hurrying to finish it up before my return to Texas. And I did! I finished the top just in time. But as luck would have it, Paul's aunt wasn't going to be in town on the same dates I was, so I wouldn't be able to use her amazing industrial-sized machine quilter :( I was in a bind. There was no way I could quilt it on my tiny machine. I am very anti tying quilts with yarn...I think it's tacky. And I knew it would take me a decade to hand quilt it. So I bit the bullet and paid someone to quilt it for me. It was worth. And I love how it turned out. So ever since August of 2011, I have had a beautiful king-sized quilt tucked away in my closet - with everything done except the binding. Since we don't have a king-sized bed (on the wish list) I haven't been in a hurry to do the binding. Finally, 2 years later and suddenly needing a project, I finished it up. It is back in my closet, but at least I can check it off the 'to do' list.

Quilting, again

2012 marked the sixth year that I made a quilt for one of my siblings for Christmas. And it's also the last year. I need a break. Although I love making them every year, it gets hard and harder to give them away! I am ready to make one for my family now...it has been too many years!

A blanket for Niels

I've always tried to make a quilt for my babies, so here is what I made for Niels. It is the same design as Anna's, only different colors. I started it just 6 days before we had him, and was scrambling to sew the binding on Thursday night before surgery. I like to close the binding by hand, so that gave me something to do while sitting around the hospital all weekend. It was a fun project and I hope it likes it!

Latest quilting project

So it's December again...5 years ago I decided to make a quilt for whichever sibling I had for Christmas (Mark, Val, Laura, and Lisa so far). This year I have my little brother Spencer for Christmas. He is currently serving a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tallahassee, Florida. And being that he's 24, single, and will be going to college when he returns home in a month, I didn't think my usual patchwork quilt would be his style. So I bought a cotton Florida flag and added a border...the easiest quilt I ever made, and hopefully it'll be a good reminder of his mission. I did hand-quilt the middle where the woman and the boat are, something I've never done before. And since he's still in Florida and won't be reading this blog, I can post it before Christmas!

Quilts of 2010

Remember how I've told you about my quilting hobby before? Well here is the quilt I made for Lisa's family for Christmas (the pictures uploaded sideways...why I don't know, but you get the idea).


Again this one was lots of fun, and thanks to my marvelous mother-in-law who lets me "shop" at her supply of fabric, I hardly paid anything for the fabric.

I just realized that I never posted pictures of a quilt I made for Anna. It was pretty simple, with large blocks. I made it a texture quilt, so there is corduroy, chenille, minky, and silk along with the cotton fabrics. I'm proud of this one because I did it without a pattern...I designed it myself! Granted, it's super basic, but it was new for me to figure out all the little details on my own.

Highlighting my hobby

I've mentioned before that after marrying Paul, I started quilting. Paul's mom is a great quilter and got me interested. For the last three years I have given my siblings quilts for Christmas.

For Mark and Kerri, 2007


For Val and Jonny, 2008

This one has a great story. I mailed the quilt to my mother in the box our DVD player came in. She wrapped it for me and handed it over to Val and Jonny. On Christmas morning they opened it, wondering why in the world we gave them a DVD player. They were totally perplexed, since we knew that they had a DVD player. As they were cleaning up the wrapping paper and presents, they were talking about returning it to Wal-Mart when they realized that it probably didn't have a DVD player in it. Can you imagine if they had returned it to Wal-Mart? I would have died.

For Laura and Aaron, 2009

My new favorite! This one was made mostly from leftover scraps from Mark and Val's quilts, so I didn't have to buy very much fabric at all. That's one of my favorite things about quilting...you can make something beautiful out of your leftover pieces that would almost seem worthless.

It's always so satisfying to complete a big project like this. Each one is more fun than the last, and each one is harder to give away! I'm working on a blanket for Anna right now that I'm really excited about...hopefully I finish it sooner than later.

And to Lisa, Spencer, and Sharee...I hope this doesn't ruin the surprise of what you'll be getting from us!

Welcome the New Year

I suppose it's time I catch up a bit...the holidays seem to slow everything down a bit. We got to spend 6 days up in Ontario with my side of the family, and gratefully didn't have horrible roads. I must say I felt spoiled by Mom's wonderful cooking and many willing hands to hold Hattie. It seems like some days my interaction with her consisted of nursing! And even now, back in Spanish Fork, Paul has stayed home the last few days, so I'm still spoiled by splitting the daytime responsibilities with him.

Christmas was great...we were still able to fit in a bit of caroling with Val, Lisa, and Natali, and of course get some quality time with nieces and nephews. It was a white Christmas after all.





Other developments: Hattie has starting sucking her thumb pretty consistently! I think it's adorable and now she needs the pacifier less.

Another accomplishment of December was that I finished another quilt, one that I started in July as a Christmas gift for Mark and Kerri. Of course it was pretty slow going with being very pregnant and then having a newborn, so it's a good thing I started early! I finished the binding on Christmas Eve :) Here are some pictures of when we quilted it....Paul actually did ALL of the quilting...I just watched to make sure the bobbin didn't break. Paul's aunt has a machine quilter, and I've tried to explain how it works to some of you before, but always unsuccessfully....so check it out. He just had to keep the stylus in the grove, and the needle created a nice pattern for us.

We also went out for our anniversary, and got our first babysitter. It was a success, especially since Hattie is getting much easier to take care of.

Upon becoming an Iverson

As I approach our 2nd anniversary, I was thinking about the things that have changed about me since I became an Iverson...

1. I love rock climbing - Paul grew up rock climbing and wanted to rekindle his old hobby last fall. The first time he took me I wasn't so sure about his suggestion that we become climbers, but I found it immensely satisfying. After going twice, we decided to purchase memberships to the local climbing gym. We climbed about 2 or 3 times a week...which slowed down by the time I was 7 months pregnant. But we've started it up again and I'm slowly gaining my finger strength back.

2. I make pies on a regular basis - Paul's favorite dessert is apple pie, so about once a month we make pie together. Paul has become a master crust maker...I don't really try it anymore now that I've trained him.

3. I am aware of brands of cookware - My mother-in-law loves finding bargains on nice cookware, like Chantal and Le Creuset. At first, these words simply sounded foreign. I remember Jessie telling me to grab the Chantal dish, and I just looked at her confused. I've since come to appreciate nice cookware...it definitely makes a difference in how your food comes out.

4. I get packages regularly - My mother-in-law is the queen of sending packages...we love it! We can expect one on birthdays, of course, but also Valentine's day, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween! And every once in a while just because. It makes me feel like a kid again.

5. I'm a quilter - For our first anniversary I thought I'd surprise Paul by making a quilt for him. I had just received my sewing machine, so I was ambitious. It turned out well, but looking back, I'm not so pleased with the fabric selection. I've since made three others, and find I really like it. This is one that I made for Hattie. But I'm not going to let her use it til she stops spitting up all the time.

6. I travel standby - Paul's dad works for American Airlines, so we get to travel standby. We still have to pay a bit, but it's better than full-price. But it certainly increases the anxiety when traveling...never knowing if you are going to make the flight or not until just moments before take off. And sometimes your bag gets on the flight and we don't, leaving us without toothpaste and deodorant! I now feel spoiled when I have a purchased ticket with a guaranteed seat.

7. I've been backpacking - Another Iverson family tradition is going on a backpacking trip every summer. So back in '06 I successfully completed a 30-mile hike over 5 days. As odd as it sounds, by the end of the week, my pack actually felt comfortable...granted it did get lighter as we got rid of food and as Paul helped lighten my load, but still, I never thought I'd say that a backpack was comfortable. This last summer I couldn't go obviously because I was due in 3 weeks, but I hope to be able to go this coming July!

8. I know most of the major constellations and could give a decent tour of the night sky - What do you expect when you are married to an astronomer? I was even an active member of the BYU Astronomy Club for 2 years.

9. I'm a James Christensen fan - Paul's mom is a huge fan, who converted Paul, who converted me to his art. Paul has purchased a few prints for me over the years, the newest addition being "The Responsible Woman."

10. I have almost every cooking utensil imaginable, and probably 20 spatulas - Every Christmas my stocking is full of fun cooking things - there's usually 2 or 3 spatulas (and 2 or 3 in Paul's as well), some unusual utensils like a "folder", a cake tester, or a honey scooper, and common things like a garlic press or knives. I always know at Christmas that my kitchen quality will be improved.

11. I enjoy watching Sports Center - When we lived at my uncle's house in American Fork we enjoyed having satellite. Paul loves being up-to-date on the sports world, and I found that watching Sports Center every night got to be fun (well, at least during football and basketball season....when it's just baseball, I loose interest really fast). I would even watch it when I was home alone.

12. I discovered the Brian Regan is one of the funniest men alive - Among the Iverson's, we can carry on complete conversations from the comedy of Brian Regan; here's one of my favs:
Teacher: Brian...what's the "I before E" rule??
Brian: Um...I before E......always.
Teacher: What are you, an idiot Brian?
Brian: 'Parently
Teacher: No Brian, it's I before E, except after C. And when sounding like "eigh" as in neighbor and weigh, and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May, and you'll always be wrong no matter what you say!
Brian: That's a hard rule.

13. I can say that I have a pro basketball and hockey team - Growing up where I did, there weren't any big pro sports teams in the area, so I was pretty unaware of professional sports. All I watched were BYU football games. But now I follow the Dallas Stars (hockey) and Dallas Mavericks (basketball). We went to a Stars game last Christmas in Dallas, and are looking to buy tickets to a Jazz vs. Mavs game here in Salt Lake.









14. I celebrate St. Patrick's Day - Yup, we set a trap for the Leprechauns the night before, attracting them to the trap with a lot of green stuff, like green apples, Apple Jacks, or Andes mints...really, anything green works. In the morning, they've left a candy trail of everywhere they went in the house and have turn everything green! The milk, the bread, and even the toilet bowl! (The bread is green, if you couldn't tell)