Chat – Page 2 – Thimbleanna

A Little Catch Up

7 Comments / July 19, 2020 July 19, 2020 / Chat, Recipes

My Oh My. I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. Or desire to be online. Or will to live LOL. These last few months have been somewhat painful and I’m sure a lot of you have been feeling it. I’ve been plenty busy, but just haven’t really wanted to blog about it much. Plus, when I spend time online, I want to be inspired by beautiful projects but this last little bit it seemed like so many blogs and instagram pages turned into their version of the news and it was just too much, so I just turned it off for awhile. Just call me an ostrich. Life is just too short, and the older I get, the shorter it gets, so, I followed Nancy Reagan’s advice and Just. Said. No. LOL.

We’ve tried to have as normal as possible spring/summer here, considering we can’t go really go anywhere. I spent most of the spring in the yard – cleaning out flower beds and then spreading 15 yards of mulch around. I love the years we mulch because after all the hard work, the beds remain relatively weed-free. My little Etsy shop has kept me busy too — who could have predicted what covid would do to the fabric industry? Thank you SO much for your orders – lots of new fabric has been arriving and my third order/restock of Liberty in just a few months is due later this week. There must be a lot of beautiful Liberty masks out there!

I’ve been spending lots of time with the grandbabies (now that we aren’t isolated from them), trying to help SweetiePie and give her a break now and then. Those three little girls are busy! When I look back over my iphone pictures, I realize we really have been having fun. We’ve had some pool days (luckily, we’re in a small neighborhood with an uncrowded pool), lots of games and puzzles (seeing FinallyAnotherGirl learn how to play Hide and Seek is just too cute!), walks and bike rides (my favorite are the walks after the sun goes down to beat the heat), and even a day at the Zoo when they were letting members-only sign up for time slots so it wasn’t so crowded. Feeding the “giraf-fez” is ALWAYS a hit!

In the kitchen there have been the usual cupcakes and cookies, and because it’s summer, I’ve tried a few batches of ice cream. A friend gave me some fresh peaches, so I made some peach ice cream. The ice cream wasn’t very good (WAY too much cream) but I made some ice cream sandwiches with it, and the cookies for the sandwiches were a big hit.

A U-pick berry farm has popped up along the route between our place and TheFirstChild and SweetiePie’s home. I’ve watched it the last few years, wondering about it, and this year, I decided to take FinallyAGirl and check it out. We picked little baskets of the most beautiful blackberries and we’ve had blackberries running out of our ears. (Because it doesn’t take long to pick them and we kept picking more because we were having so much fun. ;-D)

FinallyAGirl and I made blackberry freezer jam (using my favorite recipe and substituting blackberries for raspberries).

I thought the jam would use most of the berries but didn’t even use half of them. So, I decided to make some blackberry ice cream which turned out great. There are still blackberries left, so I think I’ll be making another batch of jam. (And I’ll definitely be making these Almond Raspberry Bars using blackberry jam instead of raspberry jam, making them Almond Blackberry Bars ;-D).

On the sewing/quilting front there have been several projects. A few masks, of course. And a few little girl dresses which didn’t get photographed before they were treated to a trip to the beach. I spent most of early spring working on a wedding quilt for CuteNiece1. I completed some applique and 80-or-so blocks. I can’t really show much of it, but here’s a peek at the applique:

And then, Covid struck and the weddding has been postponed until next year, so there will have to be some unpicking. I was just getting ready to sash all the blocks when the postponement happened, so I’ve lost my steam and the project now sits as a UFO. What’s the hurry? I have a year left, and I work best under pressure LOL. I’ve also been working on FinallyAnotherGirl’s baby quilt. When I finish the current row of quilting, I’ll be a little over half-way finished. I’m hoping to have it done by her second birthday in September. We’ll see!

So, that’s probably enough for now – hopefully I’ll be back before too long with a little sewing. In the meantime, I hope you are all having a good summer (or winter, as the case may be) and staying safe!
XOXO,
Anna

Whoa!

9 Comments / April 16, 2020 April 16, 2020 / Bunnies, Chat, Holidays, Knitting

It was Easter. Then it wasn’t! What the heck happened? I seem to have lost the last few days — well, as you know now, they all seem to run together. I hope you had a nice Easter even though it was so different this year. Ours was quiet and very uneventful. The highlight of our day was to facetime with the kids while the girls opened their little Easter gifts we had dropped off the previous day. They were so cute when we stopped by — they were jumping up and down in the window screaming and laughing — I wish I’d taken a picture!

Anyway, after years of dreaming, I finally knit some of Julie’s Little Cotton Rabbits. They were such a fun project, but boy oh boy, are they ever time consuming!

Or, more likely, I’m just a slow knitter. In either case, Julie is a genius. Her instructions and pictures are so thorough — it’s as if she’s sitting next to you while you knit. I had so much fun deciding on the dress patterns, color combinations, leg styles, etc. I can’t even imagine how Julie has knit so many — it must be a case of practice make perfect. I’m hoping that with these first ones under my belt, the next ones will be a little quicker.

I can’t wait to make more bunnies – not to mention some of the many other patterns she has developed. And I know this sounds like some sort of an ad, but it’s not. I just love these little patterns and I think they’re so cute. I’m not the only one either — I was goofing off the other day on the internet and came across this post of quintuplets who received some Little Cotton Rabbits in their Easter baskets. It made me wonder how many other children around the world received some of Julie’s little animals. We Love You Julie!!!

I had to put the little rabbits on the rocking horse before they went to their new home. Horsey is sooo lonely these days without his girls around. He’s counting the days until the quarantine comes to an end.

Back to Easter – in addition to the bunnies, I gave the girls each a storybook and the traditional Grammy Surprise Boxes. I struggled a little coming up with things to put in the boxes, since shopping was limited to what I could find in the grocery store while grocery shopping. I ordered some little Meri Meri hair clips and decided to make some felt finger puppets. I forgot to take pictures of all the little puppets ;-8. FinallyAGirl received Little Red Riding Hood with her Grammy, the woodsman, the big bad wolf, and a tree (to represent the woods.) FinallyAnotherGirl received Peppa Pig, Mama Pig, Daddy Pig, her brother George, and the sheep.

So, that was Easter. The other highlight of the week has been that FinallyAGirl has learned how to call Grammy from her ipad all by herself. (WooHoo!) The first time it was such a fun surprise! I answered the facetime call to see this:

Then I heard this whispering little voice: “Grammy. We have to be very very quiet. Daddy doesn’t know I’m calling you. I’m in our secret clubhouse. Tell Grandpa that he and Ma (that’s what she calls MeMum) have to be very quiet too!” Ohmygosh. Be still my little heart. The secret clubhouse is under her Daddy’s desk – that’s the underside of the middle drawer behind her head in the picture above. Since that first call, she’s called almost everyday and cheered us up. We’ve done puzzles, read books, had tea parties — all the usual stuff we’d do if we were actually together. How lucky are we to live in the age of facetime? I love our afternoon visits and I know I’ll miss them when life returns to normal and she and SweetiePie are too busy with real life for these calls. I suppose they’ll be replaced with real life visits though, so all phases have their benefits.

Ok, enough chitchat from me. Thank you for all your lovely comments — sorry if I haven’t responded to them — they haven’t been forwarded to my e-mail account. I think the last comment was forwarded though, so I’m hoping the problem has been solved.
Hope you’re having a Good Week!
XOXO,
Anna

Walk Jog Run

8 Comments / April 6, 2020 April 6, 2020 / Chat, Quilting

Hello! A few weeks ago my cute friend Dara asked me if I’d review her new book “Walk Jog Run: A Free-Motion Quilting Workout”. I met Dara many years ago at a Quilt Market. She’s adorable and I had so much fun talking to her. I think she was just learning how to machine quilt back then and I’ve had such a great time watching her grow — and now she’s sharing all the valuable lessons she’s learned in her new book. Here’s a peek at the little project I made from her book …

… but more on that in a minute. First, the book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. She’s so full of wisdom and really great tips about free-motion quilting.

The book starts off with all the basics you’ll need to know for free-motion quilting. She goes into great detail about sewing machines, thread, fabric, batting and other supplies. Then she talks about setting up your workspace, setting some goals (Dara is an expert on setting goals and, in addition to being a talented quilter, she’s a life coach), and building basic skills. I think my favorite part of the book is how she compares free motion quilting to doodling and all the many exercises to help you build your fmq skills. Then, with the basics out of the way, Dara has an extensive section of projects in order to build your skills and get lots of fmq practice. Here’s a listing of the projects from the table of contents — lots of fun stuff in here!

For my project, I selected the child’s apron. FinallyAGirl and I love to make cookies and cupcakes together (we even recently did a facetime cookie baking session since we can’t see each other right now) and I’ve always wanted to make her a little apron. I’d been saving just the right Martha Negly cupcake print for her someday apron.

Dara’s apron is a patchwork apron, but I didn’t want to cut up the cupcake print, so I opted for a “whole-cloth” apron. Dara quilted her child’s apron with some super cute fmq daisies. I was all set to do the daisies – I got out my paper and went through all the daisy doodling exercises, but when it came time to actually quilt the daisies, I bailed out. The main reason is that I didn’t want the daisies to interfere with the cupcakes (or the puppy print on the other side) and I couldn’t figure out how to place the daisies from either side where they wouldn’t interfere with the design on the opposite side (if that makes sense.)

So, I ended up doing a simple, large stipple on our little apron. I was facetiming with FinallyAGirl when I started the apron and I told her what I was making. I said “What fabric do you think we should put on the back side of your apron?” With no hesitation, she yelled out “PUPPIES!” Puppies? Where did that come from? Well … it just so happens that Grammy had a cute little puppy print in the stash, so, puppies it is. Sewing for someone who isn’t with you is tricky and, as you can see, this apron is a little big. It’s ok though, that just means we’ll get many years of baking out of it.

After I finished the apron, I took it over and left it on the doorstep. Special thanks to SweetiePie who took some pictures for me. Rumor has it that FinallyAGirl LOVES the puppy side and really didn’t want to model the cupcake side. So, the puppies are now the front of the apron instead of the back LOL.

So, another fun project in the books. Dara’s book Walk Jog Run: A Free-Motion Quilting Workout is available from C&T and anywhere books are sold and is currently the #1 seller! If you’re at all interested in free motion quilting, Dara is your girl — you’re going to love her book!

XOXO,
Anna

Checking In

10 Comments / April 3, 2020 April 3, 2020 / Around the House, Chat

Well, how’s it going out there? Are you guys coping with this virus mess? It’s been reasonably gloomy around here, even though I’m a homebody and I have lots of projects to keep me busy. We’ve had the usual slate of activities — a little cooking, sewing, knitting, jigsaw puzzles, walking, and a whole-lot-a Netflix binge watching. I laughed when I saw the meme going around that said “Today, I finished Netflix” — that’s sort of how I feel. TheSecondChild was here for awhile and we took a few long walks. One really long walk, just to see if we could do it. We walked 5 miles to TheFirstChild’s house and then walked back. It was fun, but it took three hours, so that was a bit much.

We’ve finally had a break in our grisly, cloudy weather and the last two days have been beautiful — making me think spring is finally around the corner. I sat out on the patio for lunch today and surveyed the yard — we definitely have some winter clean up work to do. Starting with our patio furniture. If you’re a long time reader, you might remember our squirrel problem. The squirrels have been stealing the stuffing from our patio chairs for many years now — this is my third set of cushions in about 10 years, and I’m finally giving up on them. I’ve left them out for spring nests this year. We need to figure out what to do for squirrel-proof patio furniture — replacing cushions isn’t going to do it anymore. Last year they discovered that the chairs and table are made from aluminum and they’ve been happily sharpening their teeth on them. Not sure where we’ll go from here, but if you have any suggestions, please share them!

We do have a few signs of spring. My little chive patch is growing. I don’t have much of a green thumb, but you can’t really kill chives. Plus, I love not having to buy chives except in January and February.

Our sad little tulip patch is coming up too. TheManoftheHouse loves tulips so I thought I’d plant a few for him this year, even though I know they’re never very successful here, due to our rodent problem. It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the first two little plants that are blurry in the photo below have been nibbled — probably by bunnies. >:o

Oh well, it was so nice to be out in the beautiful weather. Hopefully, we’ll have a few more pretty days mixed in with typical chilly, wet April days. In the meantime, I’ve had lots of projects to keep me busy inside. Easter will be here SOON, so I’ve been knitting. I also finished a winter sweater, but I’ve been too lazy to take pictures. ;-)

On the quilting front, I have a big-stitch quilt on the frame, but I work on it about 30 minutes a month, so it’s going to be there for awhile. I’ve also been making some star blocks for a quilt — this will be a long term project but I’m having fun with it.

I hope you’re all managing to keep safe and sane. The worst part about this whole isolation thing is missing the grandbabies. I just want to make cupcakes and rough house like we usually do. I can’t wait until it’s all over. In the meantime, I’m going to let you in on my little trick that keeps me from going over the edge. Don’t tell. It will be our little secret. It starts with the view out our kitchen window. This is my view every night at dinner. Except MeMum sits in that chair there. So, I sit and talk to her and TheManoftheHouse while we eat — all the while, staring over her right shoulder. It’s there. Do you see it? Perfectly framed by the window muttons, bird feeder and giant tree in the background.

I stare off at that beautiful little view and pretend I’m in England, walking through the forest and glimpsing a beautiful English Manor house. Every night, just me and my little secret. How fortunate I am to have such a view.

Hang in there — I hope you have a little secret that’s getting you through too!
XOXO,
Anna

Quilted Happy Flowers

25 Comments / January 20, 2020 January 20, 2020 / Chat, Quilting

Well, Happy New Year came and went and, canyoubelieveit, we’re more than half-way through January already! How’s it going out there? My January didn’t start off as planned. I thought it would be a nice quiet, clean-your-closets kind of month — hopefully one with lots of snow and beautiful scenes out the window while I was working inside the house. We did get started on a big clean out of our master bedroom closet. A job that should have taken 2, or maaaayyyybe 3 days if we took our time and enjoyed the process. But then, I screwed it up.

I ran over my foot with the car. All by myself. I told my son that the radiologist said “it’s not uncommon.” But then he corrected me and, what the radiologist actually said was “it’s not unheard of.” So fine. And, we like to be helpful and share here, so, I’ll tell you how I did it. Mostly so you don’t slip up and do the same thing LOL. I was in my car talking to TheFirstChild on the phone and pulled up to our mailbox to collect the mail. Normally, I have to put the car in park and jump out of the car to collect the mail. But I wasn’t done talking to TheFirstChild, so I sat there for a little bit to finish the conversation. When I hung up, I opened the car door, put my left foot out on the pavement and then took my right foot off of the brake. But, I hadn’t put the car in park. By that point, I had shifted my weight to my left leg, so, as the car started forward, I fell out onto the pavement. At which time, my right foot rolled into the path of the car. Luckily (or not), I realized the car was now heading down the street, so I had to jump up and run after it. I managed to jump in and save the car from going down a hill and ending up in a heap somewhere. By now, I know you’re probably chuckling at least a little bit, and, 10 days later, I am too. I kind of wish I had a video of the whole event. You know, for those times when the family is sitting around, “Hey, remember when Grandma ran over her foot?” I immediately called TheFirstChild back and he rushed over to assess the situation. The very worst part of the whole experience was that he made me put my poor throbbing foot in ice water for 2 hours. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch — that really hurt. After the swelling went down a little, he sent me for an x-ray, and fortunately, nothing was broken, which was really lucky.

So, I’ve been lame for awhile and not really able to do a whole lot. I’m just starting to be able to walk around without limping. There’s still some swelling and bruising and I’m sure it will still be sore for awhile longer, but it could have been a whole lot worse. But, silver lining — there’s been lots of knitting and a little stitching. Here’s proof:

I finally got the binding done on my Happy Flowers quilt! It looks a little crooked in the picture, but it’s really not. My hand-quilter had it for about a year and she did a beautiful job on the quilting. Here are a few of the blocks — she quilted them all differently.

I backed the quilt in the cute little Japanese cheater print by Atsuko Matsuyama and the binding is another Atsuko Matsuyama print with flowers and the cutest little deer.

So, all has not been lost with my January. One step forward, two steps back LOL. We’re still working on the master closet, but we’re getting there. If only it would snow a little so I could feel better about being cooped up in the house cleaning!

Happy January — and remember, Put Your Car In Park When You Stop!
XOXO,
Anna