Holidays – Page 2 – Thimbleanna

Happy New Year 2022!

3 Comments / January 1, 2022 January 1, 2022 / Holidays

Here we are again — can you believe it? As is our tradition, we have a KittyCat Happy New Year wish:

Sadly, as you know, The Scruffster isn’t here for the traditional greeting and PaulKitty is hiding under the bed. He hides because of “that cat” up there. That’s Simba. Number one kitty belonging to TheSecondChild who has been with us for awhile. Simba is an amazing cat and we love him like crazy. He’s more like a dog and he’s a lot of fun. Unfortunately, he’s built like a panther and he likes to pounce on PaulKitty, so we have to keep them separated. So! Happy New Year from SimbaKitty and the rest of us!

Our other New Year tradition around here is to look back on the past year’s makes and family events:

It was a good year here in ThimbleannaLand. We had a lot of fun with our three little cherubs and we managed a few trips this year too. Michigan, Maine and Peru — so fun to get away and regroup. I had a good sewing year and I managed three quilts this year. That’s a lot for me — I don’t know how some of you who make double digit quilts do it! You haven’t seen that yellow quilt yet — it was a Christmas present and I need to post a little bit about it. And there was knitting too — I almost completed my goal of one sweater for each of the granddaughters. HurrayAThirdGirl’s sweater is almost done — the sleeves are half-way there and when they’re done, she’ll have a new little sweater (or as Pam says I must call it, cardigan – and I think she’s right, it’s only proper.) We ended the year by making that cute Snoopy — another post coming up too.

So, on to a new year! Whatever will it bring us? It’s so fun to dream and speculate — and a little scary too. I hope you’re dreaming all good things. And I hope you will have a new year of Good Health and Much Happiness. And, as always, LOTS of time to quilt and knit or do whatever your hearts desire. HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. I hope you win the lottery too! ;-D

Tonie Bags

4 Comments / December 27, 2021 December 27, 2021 / Holidays, Sewing

Ohmygosh! It came and it went. And it’s over so quickly! It all happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to hop on and post my traditional Christmas morning breakfast. I did take the picture, just didn’t get it to the computer. So Sad.

Nothing new really. Just the traditional big three cookies — Angel Slices, Sugar Cookies and Grandma’s Brown Butter Cookies. This year I added Snickerdoodles to the mix because TheManoftheHouse loves them, although I don’t really consider them a Christmas cookie. Darn, I should have used red sugar — maybe that would have made them more festive. And, once again, I didn’t get caramels made. I love to make them, but oh, how we don’t need them! Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had our whole family here and we had a great time — we’re so lucky to have such a fun group of kids to play with!

There was also some sewing this year. My favorite project was the last minute bags that I made for the grandbabies. About 3 weeks before Christmas, I was discussing Christmas gifts with another Grandma friend and I asked her if she had any great ideas. She said her grandkids’ other grandmother had bought her grandson a Tonie Box but the oldest granddaughter loved it so much that she was using it all the time. So, I decided to investigate, and we ended up getting them for the girls. They’re sweet little devices that play stories and songs — all audio, no video. I think they’ll be amazing for bedtime. Anyway, I decided to make them each a little carrying case for their boxes and the little “tonie” characters that are used to play the stories and songs. I raided my stash of story fabrics and started piecing.

It was so fun to choose all the fabrics, but I was in a hurry (by now it was only a few days before Christmas) so the stitching seemed a little tedious. I tried to get all the characters for the tonies that I gave them. I think I was successful with the exception of Peppa Pig.

Each tonie comes with a little piece of paper that lists the stories/songs on that tonie, so I put a little pocket on the inside of the lid where those papers can be stored. I’m sure they’ll get lost though LOL. (Hopefully the tonies won’t get lost or end up at the bottom of a toy box!)

The boxes are all the same except for the binding color. I also embroidered each of their names on the front of the lid, just above the handle. Just to be sure there’s no arguing over who owns each bag ;-D.

So, that’s it for the Tonie Bags! I also made one other project for a gift, but I’ll save that for next time.
XOXO,
Anna

An Easter Party

22 Comments / April 2, 2021 April 2, 2021 / Family, Holidays

Happy Almost Easter! TheFirstChild and SweetiePie had a little spring getaway and I was lucky enough to be able to take care of our three grand babies while they were gone for 6 days. Amid the usual routine, I decided to have a little Easter party and we had so much fun! I invited MyDadLovesMeBestSister and MeMum for the festivities, and having extra adult helping hands was a huge help!

We started off the party by decorating cupcakes the way MeMum decorated cupcakes with MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I when we were little. We colored some coconut with green food coloring and then made little bird nests filled with eggs (jelly beans) on top of the cupcakes. (I should add here, FinallyAGirl (age 4) loved every minute of this party — she was so excited and had so much fun doing all the activities. FinallyAnotherGirl (age 2) didn’t really understand some of what we were doing, but still had lots of fun, and HurrayAThirdGirl (age 1) was completely oblivious to the party LOL.)

After the cupcakes, we decorated Easter bonnets. I bought little paper bowls for the base of the hats and had lots of Easter grass, ribbons, lace, pompoms, artificial flowers, plastic eggs, and little bunnies and chicks for the decorations. FinallyAGirl had the best time decorating her hat — she was so into every little detail. She planned where every item went and then I attached the items with a hot glue gun. After she had everything on her hat, she saw some lace that she really wanted to use, so we put it around the edge and it made a cute ruffle. MyDadLovesMeBestSister helped FinallyAnotherGirl and they made a really fun little bonnet. FinallyAGirl also insisted that we make a hat for HurrayAThirdGirl too — maybe because she wasn’t ready for the decorating fun to be over LOL. Here are our three little pixies in their Easter bonnets:

After the hats were all decorated, we had a little Easter Parade. Earlier in the week, I told FinallyAGirl that we were going to have a party with a little parade and she was just beside herself with excitement all week over the thought of a parade. She was SO cute and led the little parade out the front door, down the sidewalk and all over the driveway. Everyone (MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I had bonnets and were in the parade too) had noise makers and luckily it was a beautiful day outside. I didn’t really get any good pictures, as we were enjoying the moment, but this one provides a little bit of an idea. The girls, of course, needed to wear princess dresses for a parade!

For the last of three activities, I planned a scavenger hunt. We’d had a Halloween scavenger hunt last fall and the girls loved it, so I thought it would be fun to do it again. On Halloween, we used the Belle and Boo Halloween scavenger hunt print-outs and luckily, Belle and Boo have a darling Easter Egg Hunt print out available. I gave the girls a copy of the map and they loved coloring in the little eggs on the map as they found each character on the hunt.

At each stop on the hunt, there was an activity or a surprise. Activities were things like do 5 jumping jacks, hug each other, and call Uncle TheSecondChild and sing Happy Birthday to him (because it was his actual birthday.) Surprises included bunny hair bows, bunny treat bags (filled with animal crackers), and, because it IS that time of the year, Easter Grammy Surprise Boxes.

I also made each of the girls a Little Cotton Rabbits mouse. I REALLY wanted to have the mice finished in time to be a surprise that they found at one of the steps of the scavenger hunt, but I couldn’t get them finished in time, so they were a few days late. (Silly me, I thought I might have a little knitting time during the week while I was watching the girls LOL.) I LOVE Little Cotton Rabbits patterns — they take me forever to knit, but they are so darn cute.

I took the mice to the girls a few days after our party. They were busy driving their little pink car around the driveway, so, of course, they had to load up their little mice and give them a ride too!

I’m almost recovered from my Grammy week and I had a great time — these little girls make life so fun! Maybe an Easter Party will have to be on the schedule every year!

Have a Wonderful Easter!
XOXO,
Anna

Happy New Year 2021!

10 Comments / December 31, 2020 January 4, 2021 / Holidays

In Kitty Cat Tradition, PaulKitty has donned his festive attire and he would like to wish you all a Very Happy New Year!

And Wow. Was that a year or what??? In spite of everything, it seemed to fly by and we were very lucky here in ThimbleannaLand. We had a relatively good year and certainly can’t complain. Limited exposure to other humans has resulted in less colds and other nasty germs, so there has been a silver lining to the dumpster fire. (I’m sorry, I really dislike popular phrases, but that one is just too funny. Plus, I like how “dumpster” rolls off of the tongue LOL.) Anyway, here is the traditional look back at the projects and travel that happened this year:

Travel? Did I say travel??? Hahahaha! 2020 sure took care of travel. We did squeak in one trip to Utah with the whole family and we had a great time. The rest of my travel this year was in my head, which is why I included the picture of the beautiful house out of my kitchen window — it reminds me of a house I might see in the UK, so I gaze at it frequently and dream. As for projects, another year of not-a-whole-lot, but some fun projects anyway and enough to keep me busy. I really should have more pictures of the grandbabies, as I feel that I spent more time playing with them than I did quilting or knitting — and I loved it! I also loved sewing the bags and project rolls — quick makes are always fun. And, there were a few projects started that still aren’t completed. If you remember, the “2020” was appliqued for a wedding that was supposed to occur in August. It was postponed, so I’ll be changing the 2020 to 2021 — but not until we’re closer to the date.

On to a new year at last! It’s so funny to look at posts from last year and how everyone dreamed of what 2020 would hold for us. No one saw THAT coming LOL. What does 2021 hold for us all? I feel like last year should have come with some sort of warning — you know, like Mr. Doubtfire always said: “Brace Yourself, Effie!”

So, off we go — hang on! I hope the new year brings you first and foremost, Good Health. Hopefully this pandemic will be over soon. And then, may you find peace and contentment — with a LOT of time to quilt and knit or do whatever your sweet hearts may desire. HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Go check out my Instagram page for a sale code in my little fabric shop. It’s a great time to stock up for winter projects! XO

Merry Christmas!

3 Comments / December 24, 2020 December 24, 2020 / Holidays

Merry Christmas in a year to beat them all! It’s time for my annual posting of the Christmas Eve breakfast — luckily, some things stay the same. I’m so glad I’ve kept this tradition, as I can look back and see the sort of Christmas we’ve had. This year things are pretty quiet and low key — I only made 3 different types of Christmas cookies. Sugar Cookies, Angel Slices and Grandma Hill’s Browned Butter Cookies always make the cut — it wouldn’t be Christmas without them. I thought maybe this was the year that I’d made the least number of cookies, but I’d forgotten about the year that it was just MeMum and Me. That year, the Browned Butter Cookies were replaced with caramels. I’m definitely missing the caramels this year — maybe I’ll make them for New Year’s. ;-D

I didn’t really make any gifts for Christmas this year, so I haven’t had the crazy late nights trying to finish projects, like I have some years. I was knitting sweaters for FinallyAGirl and FinallyAnotherGirl but I ran out of yarn with 1/2 of a sleeve to go on FinallyAGirl’s sweater, so I lost steam. I bought the yarn in Iceland and I’m having trouble getting more of it. I hope she’s not grown by the time more yarn arrives.

So, that’s the jist this year. Low and Slow. I hope you have a Wonderful Christmas — and that you’ve been able to preserve some of your traditions even if your Christmas looks a little different this year. And if you’re still sewing (or will be after the kids go to bed) I hope Santa brings you time to finish your projects!
XOXO,
Anna