Chat – Page 4 – Thimbleanna

Emma & Myrtle

14 Comments / September 20, 2017 September 20, 2017 / Chat, Sewing

Brace Yourselves Kids — I actually have a finish from my sewing room! A month or two ago that cute little CrazyMom sent me some fat quarters from her new fabric line, Emma and Myrtle for Connecting Threads. Soooo Sweet — and I LOVE the name! I’d been wanting a little travel sewing kit for a long time, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make one.

I looked at lots of different sewing kits on Pinterest and then I just made it up as I went along. I decided on a tri-fold style (the size when it’s closed up is about 6″ x 9″) and wanted to do a little applique on the front. When I saw CrazyMom’s cute spool print, I thought it would be cute to use for flower centers.

When the cover is opened, there was another surface to decorate — I took the lazy way out and added a little sewing badge, some hand stitching and called that surface done. When opened fully, there were lots of choices to be made!

I knew I wanted one see-through pouch and I’d planned to put pockets for pencils and needles on the right-hand side, but then I started to think about things falling out of the pockets. So, I opted for another see-through pouch for security. Then, finally the middle. I knew I needed a pin-cushion and a place to store scissors. And something for needles. I had this adorable beehive needle keep sent to me by a sweet friend, so I tucked it into a vinyl pocket and added a crochet edge. And, just in case the scissors wanted to fall out of the pocket, I decided to make a flap to cover everything.

As a bonus, it provided a surface that could be appliqued ;-D. I followed the needle-keep’s lead and went with the beehive theme and added some bees. They really do have little white felt wings, they’re just hard to see.

My sewing kit has already been pressed into service and I’m looking forward to many years of use. Unless I decide to make another one. Haha.

XOXO,
Anna

Waldorf

16 Comments / September 13, 2017 September 13, 2017 / Chat, Sewing

Wow. Can you believe we’re in the middle of September already? My last few weeks have just disappeared — partly because we took a trip to see the kidlets in Utah. We can’t let FinallyAGirl go too many months without seeing her! We had a great time — playing, eating and hiking. I think I may have had a wee bit of altitude sickness on one of our hikes. Or maybe just a bout of outofshapeness LOL. Either way, I had to sit down for a minute and I had a raging headache that started about the time we reached the top of our mountain until we got back down. Hiking is so fun in the mountains — the views are spectacular!

Anyway, back to the title of my post. Waldorf. Are you thinking Salad? Astoria??? Or, if you’re thinking dolls, you’re on the right track. I wanted to make FinallyAGirl a little Waldorf Doll and I decided to make a baby doll, since she’s still so young. It was my first Waldorf doll-making experience and it was lots of fun. The web is full of great information! I found this kit for a doll that I liked — Loetje by Bibidolls.

The pattern is a pdf and the instructions are great — very detailed and with great pictures. I had a bit of trouble stuffing the doll with as much stuffing as was recommended (she tells you by weight how much each part needs) and I feel like my little doll ended up being fatter than the original LOL. The head was particularly tricky — I had to have TheManoftheHouse help me tie off the pieces so that I could get them nice and tight. She explains that the reason for stuffing so tightly is so that the little doll won’t end up too flat as the stuffing compacts over time.

I had planned to get a picture of FinallyAGirl kissing her baby or dragging her around, but she didn’t pay any attention to her. She already has a favorite little baby doll. I’m hoping she’ll pay a little more attention to this little Waldorf baby when she gets a little older. (Oh, and little Loetje doesn’t have lipstick smeared all over her face — the pink around her lips is the reflection of the flower. She has some red cheeks, but I took the pictures before I remembered to paint her cheeks on. Ooops.)

So, instead of a FinallyAGirl-Really-Loves-Her-New-Baby picture, how ’bout a shot of all the pretty fabric that arrived while we were gone? Lots of pretty florals (I LOVE those Chelsea Market prints from Blend Fabrics) and some more Japanese prints. And I couldn’t resist that Sheepie (!) print when I saw it at quilt market. They’re all in my little Etsy shop in case you can’t resist.

Now I’m off to watch a little tv with MeMum before bed. The evenings slip by much too quickly! Hope you’re having a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

The Dog Days

13 Comments / August 9, 2017 August 9, 2017 / Around the House, Chat, Quilting, Sewing

Well, I think I was on a little break again, only I didn’t take a trip this time LOL. I keep hoping something exciting will happen around here so that I’ll have something to blog about. But then I tell myself that these boring Dog Days are good. Very Good.

After a really busy May and June, July has been slow and wonderful. Our weather has been beautiful. Stunning, actually. The hot muggy summer days have been replaced by cool, perfect temps. I’m missing most of it while I’m locked away at work during the day, but I’m sure enjoying it when I get home in the evenings. We’ve had quite a bit of rain this summer and I think that’s why my flowers are doing so well. I’ve been slowly replacing a “vegetable” patch with a flower garden and it’s finally starting to look fairly decent. My favorite flowers are these pretty phlox. I have my gardener extraordinaire friend Pam to thank for these lovelies — I’d never really paid any attention to this variety of phlox until I saw her beautiful phlox when SweetiePie and I visited with her a few years ago.

My garden will never be as beautiful as Pam’s, but if these flowers look like this every year, I’ll be a happy camper. My little garden has taken a lot of experimentation — it’s hard to figure out what the rabbits won’t eat. So far, so good on the phlox. The asters and sweet william haven’t fared so well though — they’re mowed down regularly by the bunnies. Nasty Wabbits. These pretty little coreopsis are doing well too — I didn’t think I’d like this flower because they’re so little and wispy, but I love them!

In addition to little bits of gardening and pulling weeds, there have been lots of routine boring jobs around the house. We’ve cleaned a few closets and done some long overdue painting. And I’ve managed to sneak in a little sewing. I made myself a shirt from the Rifle Paper Co. fabric that I used to have in my little shop. The pattern is Simplicity 1279 — I took my time, enjoyed the process and I’m really happy with the results — it fits just right.

I also finished up a little throw quilt just for me and the tv. A year or so ago, I saw this adorable deer fabric at Hawthorne Threads (I was going to link to the fabric but I don’t see it listed anymore) and I HAD to have it. I LOVE deer. Among my best childhood memories are watching Bambi at the movie theater and sobbing while I read The Yearling, one of my very favorite books. Now I have a little quilt and I can cuddle some deer!

For the rest of the fabrics, I raided my little etsy shop and used the japanese dots for a border, some cuddle for the backing, and that fun japanese stripe for the binding. I think that stripe is just perfect — it matches those cute little black deer noses. The quilting is just some random machine quilting — easy peasy.

So, that’s it for an update — just wanted to check in. I hope you’re having a great summer!

XOXO,
Anna

Cookies I Don’t Want to Forget

18 Comments / April 24, 2017 April 24, 2017 / Chat, Cookie Monster, Recipes

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was short and sweet. Mostly cleaning and doing odd jobs around the house, but I did squeak in a little time for sewing. And if a girl’s going to clean and sew, she needs some sustenance! I was cleaning out the pictures on my iPad and ran across a picture of the recipe for some iced oatmeal cookies and they hit the sewing spot!

Usually, when I try a new recipe and like it, I tell myself it’s a keeper and I’ll make it again soon. The problem is, when “soon” comes around, I can’t remember where I found that really good recipe. So, I’m trying a new trick. I’ll file it here on my blog … and hope I can remember that that’s where I put it when the time comes. (Unfortunately, I have no idea where I first saw this recipe, so, if it’s yours — Thanks LOL! No, really, tell me in the comments and I’ll give you credit!)

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until soft and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, mixing until combined. Stir in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients, scrape the bowl as you go, and mix until just combined. Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.

Using a standard, medium-sized cookie scoop (about 2 Tbsp.) drop cookies onto a baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Bake for 10 – 11 minutes or until edges start to turn a light golden brown color. If you like a crispier cookie, leave them in a minute or so longer. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cookies are completely cooled, drizzle with the icing. Store in an airtight container.

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
Whish together until combined completely.

And, next to having a cookie (or three) while you’re sewing, there’s nothin’ better than cookies in the cookie jar!

XOXO,
Anna

Save

Six on Saturday

19 Comments / October 22, 2016 October 22, 2016 / Chat, Five on Friday

1. Well hey — what’s going on out there??? Is it just me, or has it been extra quiet on the internet lately? Could be me — I’ve had my head down and needle up a lot — working … working … on FinallyAGirl’s little quilt. I quilt on it almost every night after work and I’m really enjoying the process. In spite of all the work, I’m just barely half way finished — hand quilting is a LOT of work!

2. Have you seen these adorable apothecary jar labels? They’re used in a really clever Halloween idea — by collecting a bunch of old jars, you can create a fun/creepy Halloween display of potions and brews. If you click on the link, there are lots of free labels to download and it’s a fun article to read — if, for nothing else, to find out how the author filled her jars to look like snake venom, vampire’s blood, and coffin nails just to name a few.

3. TheFirstChild sent me this fun picture the other day. How cool is this poster? You can get a free download of this (can be printed up to 20 x 30) and lots of others at jpl.nasa.gov. I think space travel is so interesting and I love to think of all the possibilities our grandchildren and great-grandchildren might see in their lifetimes!

4. I’ve had another little project I’ve been working on this week. I’m using felt and Liberty and it’s been a take-a-long project for me to work on at lunch time each day. Someday I’ll be finished LOL.

5. Warning: Politics for item#5 LOL. Are you c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y sick of this election in the US yet? As one of my friends at work says — “I’m going to vote on Nov. 8th and then come to work and gnaw my arms off.” I sure wish we could be proud of our next president. I hear a lot of people talk about how excited they are that their little girls will be able to see our First Woman President, but it makes me really sad that the title won’t belong to someone more worthy. No matter who wins, I don’t think our children will be looking up to anyone. On a lighter note, SweetiePie sent me these two pictures last week:

6. WooHoo! It’s Quilt Market next weekend! I’m really excited because I’ll be seeing the little sprite on the left in the picture below. I miss the days when she had a quilt market booth, but I’ll take a visit any way I can get it.

Have a great week — quilt market report when I return!

XOXO,
Anna