Thimbleanna

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46 Comments / February 22, 2011 / Around the House, Bunnies, Swaps
  • It’s Official!  Spring has sprung in ThimbleannaLand.

    Duck Couple

    Our DuckCouple is back.  Yipee!  I love it when our little DuckCouple returns.  They’ll be here for another week or so and then they’ll move on.  I wish they’d have their babies here.  Apparently, we’re good enough for a stopover, but not the nursery.  I hope they’ll be safe while they’re here, too.  We got a neighborhood notice that someone a few streets over lost a small dog to coyotes.  The fact that we have coyotes around here is always startling to me — I’m mostly from out west and I thought coyotes were a western thing.  I mean think about it — you always read about coyotes and cowboys, not coyotes and cornfields.

  • Last month, I participated in a spring/fall swap hosted by the ever so lovely Trashalou.  It was a really fun swap for me, as my partner was new to me — the very sweet Catherine of Calidore.

    Spring Swap

    I made a little bag for Catherine to keep her hand sewing things in — scissors, thread, needle, thimble, etc.  I have a little stitchery bag and I carry it everywhere.  I drew up the pattern for this one — if I were to do it again, I would use Janet’s fantastic tutorial — I LOVE her little bag.  She published her pattern just after I finished this bag.  Catherine got better pictures of the goodies than I did and she wrote me such a wonderful thank you.  Thank YOU Catherine!  The package to me is on it’s way — I’m not sure if it will be from Catherine or someone else (the partners were a surprise), but I’m excited to find out!  Thanks for hosting Trashy!

    Spring Swap

  • Flat Stanley has paid us a visit!  Beth’s young son’s class is doing a Flat Stanley project and I offered to host him here in ThimbleannaLand.  While he was here I took him to see Johnny Appleseed‘s grave.  It was a beautiful day and I think he rather enjoyed it (I certainly did)!  If you’d like Flat Stanley to come and visit you, I’m sure Beth could hook you up.  ;-)

    • Flat Stanley

  • Finally (!), Make Life Bunny is so excited about the giveaway, he’s all packed and ready to go.  And look!  In addition to that 1/2 yard of fabric, he squeezed a card of those cute Make Life Simple buttons into his suitcase!  Don’t forget, if you’re interested in a chance to win him you have to make sure the giveaway appears on your local evening news just have to comment on the giveaway post.

Make Life Bunny

I hope you’re all having a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

Fun Times

31 Comments / February 22, 2011 / Books, Swaps

Ok, was that hysterical laughter I heard out of all you Siggy Swappers when I wondered out loud whether I could finish all of my siggy blocks in one day?  So. Not. Funny!  Boy, what was I smoking?  Those little suckers are taking forever.  For one thing, whose bright idea was it to put a thimble on my blocks?

Siggy Swap Block

‘Cause once you start, you can’t quit, right?  These thimbles are really taking some time, even though they’re machine stitched.  All that thread changing takes time.  {Sigh}  I will say though, that I’m really enjoying making these little blocks.  You have to love a block that gets cut to size after it’s pieced.  I love that technique — it hides a multitude of sins.  Anyway, I only got 20 blocks done on Saturday.  I have almost another 20 ready to go, and hopefully, I’ll have the rest of them done by the weekend.

Siggy Swap Block

In addition to the siggy swap, I’m participating in a scrap fabric swap with a small group of ladies.  This should be a fun swap — we’re exchanging fabrics and then the challenge will be to make a quilt with the fabrics before October 1st.  Or I should say a quilt top, in my case.  There’s no way I’d have a whole quilt done by then.  These are the packs of scraps that I sent out yesterday.

FabricSwap

That will conclude my swapping for awhile.  And that’s enough LOL!

In non-quilt related news, I met a few of my book group members last night to hear Geraldine Brooks speak.  I can’t even tell you how cool it was — what an interesting woman!  As you know, her Year of  Wonders is one of my favorite books.  And now I’m more excited to read People of the Book.  Her presentation was fairly short, lasting only about 30 minutes.  Then she had about 15 minutes of questions, and then a book signing.  I was in and out in just an hour, as I didn’t have to wait to buy a book for the signing — I brought mine along with me.  Here she is speaking.  Isn’t she cute?

Geraldine Brooks

We discovered a fun fact about her last night — she got engaged right here in Ft. Wayne! Apparently, she was a journalist in Cleveland and her now husband worked at one of our newspapers. On one of her visits here to see him, he popped the question. There were a lot of gasps when she revealed that little tidbit — I think we collectively, suddenly felt a little more important LOL. I mean, she grew up in Sydney, has traveled the world as a journalist, and she’s a “Pulitizer Surprise” (as her young son called it) winner. Don’t you think that makes us a little more worthy???

What a charming woman!  While she was signing my book I asked her if she had a relative in Australia that likes to quilt.  (Because some time ago when I mentioned on my blog how much I loved Year of Wonders, someone commented that they were related to her and I couldn’t quite remember who it was.  We figured it out though.)  She thought for a minute and said, “Well, I like to quilt.”  Ha!  I knew I liked her!  I wish I’d had the presence of mind to ask her more about that, but we went on to figuring out the link and then I needed to move on so she could get to the next signature.

Oh, and for you book lovers out there, someone asked her who she likes to read.  She said her current “crush” is Marilyn Robinson.  She loved Gilead and is currently reading Home.  Which is so funny, because MeMum and I had just had dinner together and MeMum told me how much she loves Gilead and that she was now reading Home too. {Insert Twilight Zone music here.}

So, if you ever have the chance to hear Ms. Brooks speak, go do it!  It was really enjoyable.  And if you ever have the chance to embroider 60 thimbles on exchange blocks, that’s really enjoyable too, but you might want to pass.  ;-)

XOXO,
Anna