An Heirloom for Olivia

Olivia, my gorgeous rosy cheeked baby grand daughter would need an exceptional dress...an exquisite dress...an heirloom gown for her special day.

I found the perfect pattern in an Australian smocking magazine.

 My sweet friend Leisa of Deer Hollow has an authentic pleater machine.

She helped me stitch in the pleats and then held my hand while I attempted smocking for the first time.

This was such a fascinating process to watch...21 needles with 21 different colors of thread to mark each row.

Smocking began in England around the 13th or 14th century. But it wasn't until about 1940 that the pleater was invented...eliminating the tedious process of making row after row of pleats.

After MANY, MANY hours of smocking, it was time to block and steam the bodice. I've always enjoyed handwork in various needle arts, and this was so satisfying...I'm addicted. 

And to finish it off...some tiny beading.

I had exactly one day to construct the dress once the smocking was complete. Not to worry, I work well under pressure. Cass was never worried, she has faith in me.

Yards of exquisite lace, entredeux, and silk ribbon....

and finally...my first heirloom dress.

Only the very best for Olivia!

The Desk

Upstairs, is where the teenage boy lives.  Different than it was a couple of years ago, it's typically very quiet up there...unless the electric guitar is in play.  I popped in one evening recently to check on homework progress.  The teenager was sprawled across his disheveled, quilt laden bed scratching out Geometry problems.  The dim overhead designer light cast long shadows across his notebook. "Buddy, how can you study like that" I asked.  In true teenager form, he just shrugged his shoulders.

Somewhere in the past couple of years, the boy with coloring and word search homework had grown into the teenager with geometry theorems.  It seems just a blink ago...or quite possibly my eyes have only been partly open.  

It was time to purchase a new desk and lamp, to prepare the teenager for the next stage in homework progression.  With sleek jet black paint and perfectly wood-worked drawers Pottery Barn had just the answer and could get it here in less than a week.

Dad made a trip to the dreaded basement storage room and came back with an idea... his Grandpa Chet's old wooden desk.  We have been hauling that heavy wooden thing around with us as we bounced from house to house and across the country.  I first became acquainted with the desk when I was a newlywed. Sadly, I would never meet Grandpa Chet as he had passed away just before Dean and I met. I knew however, the desk was very special to my new hubby. Between Dean and I, three college degrees were earned on that very desk.  Lawyer Girl even found it comfortable when she moved into her first apartment at USU.  

Over the years, many aspiring scholars have studied for hours on it's rough, slightly ridged wooden top. And like a good friend...Grandpa Chet's wooden desk stands sturdy and at the ready...just waiting for the call to assist again. As I finished off the polishing and dusting of the wood surfaces, I could faintly hear the memories of the desk being uncovered as well.

Chester Owen Garlick known as Chet was born in 1902 in Richfield Utah.  He and his lovely and stylish wife Lila firmly planted their roots in Farr West Utah.  Dean distinctly remembers the desk being carried directly from his Grandpa's study room in his house, across the back yard and down into his own basement room. That must have been pretty exciting to live next door to your Grandpa.

After some further conversations with Dean's father Owen...it turns out that Grandpa Chet got the famous wooden desk from his father Joseph Elsbury Garlick. Joseph who is the teenager's great great grandfather was born in 1872 in Fairview Utah and somewhere, somehow he acquired a wooden desk.

And Chet my teenager...I believe this old wooden thing will do just nicely...I think you're in good company. Now get back to Geometry.