About a year ago, I started thinking that I needed a master index.  Ina has an index but the reviews weren’t the greatest.  There’s this funny poster on Pinterest that says “Pinterest  – when your husband is watching something dumb.”  We have a lot of dumb tv around here and I discovered that it’s also good for making an index to Ina’s cookbooks.  I worked at it slowly over time, and it’s finally done.  Finally, no more searching – Yipee!  Just in case you’re an Ina fan too, you can download a copy of the index HERE.  I’m not a professional indexer ( ;-) ) so, keep that in mind.  It’s not perfect — I didn’t index everything the way Ina does and I added some of my own links.  I’m sure there are typos and remember that the recipes in How Easy Is That? aren’t included.

In other news, I managed to get a little garden planted in the new space created by the retaining wall that I built last fall.  The next day, as if to laugh at me, the local chippies convened a convention on the edge of the wall.  I’m pretty sure they’re plotting what to eat first when the seeds come up.  I’m thinking that the chippies are going to be moved to luxury condos when I return from quilt market.

Speaking of market, I leave in just a few days, so I’m going to take a break for a few weeks.  Hopefully, when I return there will be lots of fun market news.  If you’re going to market, please stop by and say hi — I’ll be in the Don’t Look Now booth with Kellie.

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

So, no real quilting to speak of. I’ve been hankering (yes Barb, that’s my inner Ellie Mae speaking LOL) to start a new quilt project. Something that will be portable and fun. But I can’t seem to make a decision. I finally decided this might not be a great time to decide — maybe I should wait and see if something strikes me at market. So, I dug out the old yoyos and figured out how many I’ll need to make a quilt. I’ve made about 750 so far and I’ll need about 810. Not too bad — I should be able to whip those out in no time — I just need to sneak into the dungeon and cut up some fabric.

I also managed to bake a batch of cookies for BigDaddy. This weeks choice was a recipe I found on Pinterest. They’re Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies. They’re sort of crunchy and dry like the original Biscoff cookies, but with oatmeal in them. They’re perfect with a cup of tea. Or Diet Pepsi. ;-D

And finally, our ducks are still hanging around this year. I love it when they show up every year ’cause I know spring has truly arrived.  They’re usually only here for a week or two, but it’s been 5 or 6 weeks this time. About three weeks ago, we found a nest with broken eggs tucked up under the ugly tree. I think they’d been nesting in there and something got the eggs.  Nasty Critters. I was really sad, ’cause we’ve never known them to nest here — they sort of hang out and then leave. So I’m wondering if they’re confused by our long spring or lost nest or something. Three days ago the hen was wandering around quacking like she’d lost the drake.   Then, the last two days, he’s been wandering around quack quacking like he’s lost her. It’s kind of sad. I’m hoping there’s a nest somewhere and they really know where the other one is and they’re playing decoy.

So, now that I’ve psychoanalyzed the ducks, it’s back to work. Have a wonderful week!

XOXO,
Anna

For May Day I made a little quilted bag for MeMum.  Just a little something to hang some pretty flowers from her doorknob this morning.

It’s hard to see from the picture, but there are grommets in the sides so that I could tie the ribbon to the bag.

And what better flower for May? Lilacs are a favorite of ours — I’ve often wondered if it’s because the name contains the name of MeMum’s mother — Lila. So pretty!  (And they smell soooo good!)

Anyway, that’s not the only reason I made this little bag. If you remember correctly, it’s May. And I’m Miss May in the Aurifil Block of the Month. I’ve created the little Maypole embroidery for the May block and I wanted to work it up in a different colorway just for fun. Here’s my block in the fabric and Aurifil colors that were provided to us for the Aurifil quilt.

You can read more about my block and get the pattern on the Aurifil blog.  (If the post isn’t up yet, it will be soon).   And don’t forget, if you’re making the Aurifil blocks, you can post your block (and see lots of other pretty blocks) on the Aurifil Flickr page.

And Scruff would like to say Thanks for your visit — but he’s busy trying to get a whiff of those flowers.  Have a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

They’re terribly comfy, but now I have a dilemma.  Nothing to go with them.  I plan on wearing them with jeans, but clearly, I’ll need a top that coordinates.  I thought a little check or gingham might look cute, so I went to my stash to try a few things out.  I do love the red gingham.

But the pink is cute too.

Or maybe my aqua gingham?

The aqua gingham is from my Children at Play stash and I discovered that most of my “children” fabrics would possibly work too.  The meadow….

Or dots.  I have several dots.  Red…

Aqua….

Or pink on pink.

I even like the pink in the hopscotch print with the pink in the roses.

Decisions, decisions.  It’s going to be a VERY tough choice — but a good problem to have, don’t you think?

In other news, it’s a fun weekend here in ThimbleannaLand.  Yesterday was MyDadLovesMeBestSister’s birthday.  (Happy Birthday Weinerhead!)  She’s 29.  Again.  We had a little get-together for her last night (not quite as exciting as this birthday) — look at the beautiful Italian Cream Cake that MeMum made for a surprise!

Yum Yum Yummy!  And, to add to the excitement, TheFirstChild has surprised us with a weekend visit.  So…I’m outta here!  Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

One little bit of excitement happened this weekend when MeMum and I put one of her antique quilt tops on the basting frame. I’d forgotten how much work it is to baste a quilt. We could just quilt it on this frame, but she has another quilting frame that tilts, which makes the quilting a little easier on the back.

We basted for a few hours today and there’s still a bit more to do. There was a little debate over whether we should quilt it at all, but in the end, we decided it might help protect the quilt. This is a very old, hand-pieced top. Some of the seams aren’t even 1/4″ wide, which makes them pretty fragile.

It’s been a fun basting job and I’m really looking forward to the quilting.  I love looking at all the different fabrics.  There are several pieces that were cobbled together — I always think that’s a fun thing to see in an older quilt.

And there are two or three tiny holes.  We’ll be doing a little research in how to best handle their repair as we do the quilting.  I’m looking forward to working on this quilt — I hope we finish it in this lifetime.  Our basting has been so slow, I’m beginning to worry a bit!

Alas, another weekend gone.  They always whiz by.  ;-(  Have a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

After pouring through the book, I decided to try a few of the recipes for our Easter dinner.  These are small cakes — only 6″, so I reasoned we’d need two cakes for our family.  I decided on the Lemon Debutante Cake and the Tomboy Cake (aka, the cake on the cover.)  (Don’t they look cute with my Little Cotton Rabbits?)

Oh.Emmm.Geeee.  These cakes were SO fun to make and they were really good.  They’re not for the faint of baking heart however — they’re very labor intensive.  But Oh. So. Worth the effort.  In case you love to bake like I do (Hi Linda NoBlog and Brigette!), or if you’ve landed here looking for info on these cakes (the internet was really helpful to me with info about these cakes), I thought I’d share a few observations.

• When I went to buy the 6″ cake pans, instead of buying 2 – 6″ x 3″ pans, I bought 3 – 6″ x 2″ pans.  Each recipe makes 2, 3″ high cakes and then you split each 3″ cake into 3 sections.  Since I had three pans, I decided it should work to make three of them and split each in half, still having 6 layers in the end.  One of the biggest complaints on the internet about these recipes is that they sunk in the middle.  Both of my cakes also sunk a little, but I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as if I’d been using the 3″ pans.  The white (lemon) cake didn’t rise nearly as high either, so I didn’t really end up with a second set of three layers, which was fine.  Either way, I think I’ll stick with making the layers in the shorter pans.
• I heard that someone on cupcake wars tried to make the European buttercream frosting and ran out of time. No Kidding! I’m thinking they should have been disqualified for even trying it. It is very time consuming and patience is the key. The recipe said to add the boiling sugar water slowly to the meringue and then whip at high speed for about 10 minutes while the mixture cooled down. The whole time, I was thinking “How is this going to cool down? Whipping creates friction, right?” After 10 minutes, it definitely wasn’t cool enough to add the butter, so I turned the mixer off and just let it set for 20 minutes. Then you add the butter 1 Tbsp. at a time. Patience.  If you rush it, your buttercream will be ruined. The recipe was surprisingly easy, if you just follow the instructions — and your instinct!
• The pink frosting in the Tomboy Cake is actually raspberry flavored.  (And boy, is it ever good.  When you take a bite of the cake, you taste the deep, rich chocolate first, and then the raspberry hits you.  Yummmo!)  You have to boil raspberries to get some raspberry juice to add to the frosting. While my juice was cooling, my arm accidentally caught the sieve and the juice flew everywhere. Try not to be such a klutz like me!
• Our local cake shop is a great resource for the 6″ cake pans. Much more reasonable than amazon.
• These cakes may be small, but they’re rich. One cake would probably serve 12 people and would have been plenty for the 9 of us.

So, this little cookbook is a BIG hit with me! The recipes are very detailed, with lots of tips to help you be successful. Plus, they’re delicious. I took the leftovers to work on Monday morning and everyone loved them.  If you decide to get the book, be sure and get the errata sheet — one of the errors is in the buttercream recipe.

Off to pack my gym bag for tomorrow — I need to make a feeble attempt at working off that buttercream!
XOXO,
Anna

We had the family over for Easter Dinner this afternoon. We had our traditional Easter Dinner — Ham, Cheesy potatoes, a few vegetables, a few salads, Easter cupcakes and some other cakes that deserve a post all their own. Oh, and we usually have deviled eggs, but I ruined them. Too much mustard. Blech! Even CrazyBIL wouldn’t eat them and he’ll eat most anything!

Anyway, it’s over for another year so now I can get back to some of my other projects. Speaking of which, have you all seen the April Aurifil block of the month? Miss April is Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs. I got the biggest smile when I saw her adorable block. When I found out I would be Miss May, I was going to contact Miss April and see if she wanted to do an April Showers Bring May Flowers combo. But then I realized that Gail is from Austrailia where they are going into fall, rather than spring, so I reasoned that the April Showers/May Flowers thing doesn’t apply down under and I gave up the plan. Oh well,  I love Gail’s cute little block — it’s perfect for April!

Don’t forget to check out the Aurifil Block of the Month Flickr pool too — lots of cute blocks appearing there.

Have a good week — I’ll be back soon with a Tale of Two Cakes!
XOXO,
Anna

Buttons:

Words:

Street Name: Does every city in the U.S. have a Washington street?

Half of a Face:

Fashion: Does is have to be this century?

City: Shot of Indianapolis from the roof of the building that TheFirstChild and SweetiePie live in.

Landmark: The I-65 bridge over the Ohio River.  When the boys were growing up, they were always so excited to see “the big bridge”.  It meant we were almost half-way to Grandma’s!

Fancy: Easter Bunnies!

Square: A beautiful hand-made T-square.

Morning: 7:22 a.m.

Kitchen: The kitchen ceiling was painted today.  (And I’m sorry, I inadvertently led you to believe that I painted the entry hall.  Not me!  I only stripped the wallpaper there.  I didn’t paint this ceiling either!)

Theatre: The historic Embassy Theatre.

That’s it for this month! And Happy April! I sure wish I could think of a fun April Fool’s prank to play on TheManoftheHouse. I feel like a big joke has been played on me — how can it possibly be April already???

XOXO,
Anna

2. A month or two ago I caught BigDaddy buying some awful grocery store cookies, so I’ve been trying to replenish his cookie supply on the weekends. And because a batch is too much for just one person, I make the sacrifice and help him eat them. He requested something with raisins, so this week’s selection is Martha Stewart’s Raisin Bars.

3. Entry hall painting in progress — WooHoo! I was REALLY worried about the color when looking at the little sample, but I love it. It’s Latte by Sherwin Williams.

4. We had such a mild winter that the parsley in my little herb garden has come back. That never happens and I’m thrilled. (Please ignore the fact that I haven’t cleaned out my little herb garden yet. Thank You.)

5. I’ve started a new little project. Can you tell what it is? There’s not much time to get it finished!

6. Shoot. I really don’t have six things. I just said I did ’cause Five on Saturday isn’t alliterative.

Oh Wait! I do have a 6. Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

The trees are leafing out SO early this year. Last year, we didn’t really see leaves until MyDadLovesMeBestSister’s birthday and if you’ve been a longtime reader, you know that’s at the end of April. The good news is that I’ll be able to enjoy the beautiful crabapple blossoms this year — last year they popped out while I was at Spring Market, so I missed them. The bad news is that mowing season will be starting earlier. I’m soooo not ready for that weekly grind. ;-).

The first day of spring is a big deal here in ThimbleannaLand ’cause it’s also TheSecondChild’s birthday. Happy Birthday BigBoy!!! I made a quick little birthday trip to see him over the weekend. We had a nice dinner, cleaned the bachelor pad a bit and did some birthday shopping. On St. Patricks Day, we enjoyed a St. Patrick’s Day bagel for brunch. Love that green!

Then, on the way back home I stopped in for a quick visit with TheFirstChild and SweetiePie. More shopping and fun. I LOVE visiting my kids and I miss them terribly. I try not to think about it most of the time, or … well, I don’t know what, but it’s not happy.

Anyway, back to the routine. Now that the applique quilt is done, I’ve been trying to decide on which UFO to tackle next. Plus, I’d like to start a new project just to mix things up a bit, but I’ve been a little overwhelmed by all the inspiration out there. Analysis Paralysis.  In the meantime, I’ve dragged the old bow-tie quilt back out. Maybe I’ll actually get it finished in this round of quilting. Only 3 more bow ties to go and then the borders. It really shouldn’t take THAT long — just need to buckle down and do it.

Can you tell that Bow Tie quilt is from the same decade as the applique quilt? What was your first clue? The wine and forest green LOL???

Ok. Off to quilt. Have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna