Where To Begin...?

...with the good! ~ This person turned 13 this week! He's always hanging around with his shirt off! Our neighbors gave him that great basketball book.

...more good! ~I received a great package in the mail from my apron swap partner! She is so great~~take a look at this vintage apron~~chicken scratch stitches~~the waist band is pleated I love it!!! Black too! SLENDERIZING!!! I need that in the kitchen ~~and in the kitchen only. :)

...more good ~This Raggedy Hearts quilt is just sitting here waiting to have it's binding stiched down. Material Girls have made this quilt to donate to breast cancer research next month. I have the opportunity of making the binding, applying it to the quilt and finishing this pretty quilt!
...more and more good ~Amber and Tanner get married two weeks from today. Looking forward to the day, it should be a lot of fun. Hopefully, not too cold in Utah~

...not so good~ a curve ~Our great and longtime friend, Emil Drzayich passed away suddenly two weeks ago tonight. We are very very sad. Emil was a great person with a great family, wife Peggy, four sons and two daughters in law. My dear husband was honored to play the organ at the funeral services. Emil was a baseball player as are all of his sons. Take Me Out to the Ballgame was one of the songs played before the service began, along with Going Home, Theme Song from The Natural and Morning Has Broken. Emil will be missed tremendously every day.
Take Care~~~

Flowers, Flannel and Fabric

These lovely flowers greeted me mid-week from Mr. Anonymous. I like....them and him!

Six new flannels for more baby blankets. Pinks are so sweet~easy to find, dots much fun, blues hard to find! Two blue baby boy blankets are needed for two nephews having/had a boy. Coordinating two matching flannels is challenging most times, also.

Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish a bag with these Bohemian Manor fabrics by In The Beginning. I find making bags to be challenging also!

ALSO, I find purchasing fabric is stressful. So many options...what would be best???...how much to get?...which for lining? which for backing? binding? Usually, I'm by myself and really want a college daughter's opinion, BUT she/they are off chasing their dreams and more! It's alright tho' because they'd be discontented hanging out at home for the rest of their lives, and I'd probably start to wonder what is wrong with them! I do miss them though. Speaking of chasing, college daughter #1 is getting married! May 9th!

Take Care.

Southwestern Sights

Our winner is...

... May Britt! Congrats to you! We've never sent anything to Norway before! She'll receive: a paper globe, a vintage fat quarter, 4 corner book marks, a 6" ruler, a pack of needles, a table linen embroidery, a pair of handmade earrings and Arizona chocolates. Hope you enjoy the items we send and that the chocolates stay fresh through the long journey. Thanks to everyone for entering our giveaway and sharing your stories with us. We enjoyed learning a little bit more about each of you, a couple of those stories were tear jerkers.


Cactus flowers blossoms are so amazing, they are big and certain, considering what they come from...



We took a hike this evening on Thunderbird Hill. The sun was just disappearing, so pretty up there, we could see almost all of the Valley of the Sun. This morning found us trekking out to Fountains Hills, what a lovely community out there, we saw the highest fountain in the world AND a quilt store!!!!! I purchased a few delicious pieces. Take Care. ~
D Spack~

Arizona Adventures

Have you been to In and Out??? B man (ds) wants to eat there everyday we are here. I do love the fresh french fries. We will go there for lunch again tomorrow.

Have you seen the desert in bloom??? I admit it! Scenery is pretty here~the blossoms and plants are intriguing to me. I've photographed several. I think this cactus is the Scarlett Hedgehog Cactus. Thanks Dave Boizelle

Have you eaten Cerreta's Chocolates??? While visiting the candy factory in Glendale, we indulged in the samples and brought son-in-law a chocolate covered red pepper. It was hot, but he ate the whole thing! Our giveaway (previous post) includes some Cerreta's Chocolates, if you haven't commented do so very soon!!!

Have you been to Tortilla Flats??? pop. 6 We drove through the gorgeous Sonoran Desert~~whew yellow, green, light green, purple and orange! Our only food indulgence was Prickly Pear Ice Cream! There is $80,000 one dollars bills attached to the walls of the two buildings up there. Upon returning back to the valley we were treated to a lovely evening barbeque - poolside in Mesa at relatives-thank you D and S, with more relatives from Albuquerque - yeah L and C.

Take Care. ~D Spack~

Spring Break in Arizona and a Giveaway!!!

Posting from Arizona. Dear Son and I are finally with this cute girl and hubby (we are pictured in front of a Bullseye quilt that was a joint effort between us). As promised we bring you our mother daughter giveaway. The picture below shows a small sampling of our crafting tendencies that we want to send to you. To win, comment with a favorite story about your mother or daughter. Post your story in comments below or over here at Nancy's. The winner will also receive some choice sweets from Arizona. We will randomly select a winner on Monday 3/31 at 8 pm. I just received a nice award from Nanette. Thank you Nanette, oh and go to her 'blodge'! she's doing a giveaway also.

My story: Over Christmas while attending church, in class with college daughters, the instructor mentioned blogging, its growth and popularity. Her concluding statement was, "how great a thing blodging can be." On the back row, flanked by those two cute girls, wondering if I/we heard right...? covert glances left and right ~~left us struggling to stifle our mirth. "Blodging" quickly became the joke of our holidays. {Due to the confusion my brother suggested that blodging is a lodge for bloggers.}

Easter Egg/Baskets Production

...wondering why I started a no sugar diet yesterday!!!??? Why does Cadbury have to make those mini eggs so darn good? AND pastel jr. mints~oh so good. I hope by now you all know to open your peeps packages several days ahead and let them dry out. They are the best that way-so chewey. Eat them with the mini eggs, yes at the same time. I found those neat big eggs at Winco. I'm sending them in the mail today, to college girls and their guys for Easter~ All kinds of items are on my kitchen counter this Monday. I'd better get candy in those eggs and get things cleared up. I hope the two girls don't read my post here before the packages arrive in the mail!
Take Care.