Thimbleanna – Page 14 – My little online diary.

Finally A Quilt

19 Comments / July 11, 2018 July 11, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Quilting

Ooooh Look! I made it back here in less than a month’s time LOL.

AND, I actually have a finish — a big finish for me. I Finally finished the baby quilt for FinallyAGirl. Behold, The Proof:

I took pictures outside the other day and the sun was pretty bright, so these pictures leave a lot to be desired. But hopefully, you can see some of the details of the quilt. It’s very traditional — I do love an Irish Chain style quilt. And, of course, I had to use Pink. Scrappy Pinks. It’s mandatory after years of sewing non-pink things! It’s all hand-quilted and it took a little more than a year to finish all the stitching. (Because I’m sl-o-o-o-w). I quilted it pretty traditionally too — heavily with lots of 1/4″ quilting around the shapes.

I filled in the spaces around the stars with little hearts, and then I put a little star hanging from a moon in the middle of the stars. Apparently, I filed the little moon idea away years ago, because SweetiePie and I were looking at the baby quilts that MeMum made last week, and she’d put that same moon with star in a quilt for TheSecondChild when he was a baby. Here’s a terrible picture, but, you can see the details of the quilting on the star.

The back and binding are adorable little prints from Lakehouse/PamKittyMorning. Oh, how I LOVE those prints! I sure wish Lakehouse would start making fabrics again!

I gave the quilt to FinallyAGirl last week when they were here. Here she is (wearing her piggies!), wondering why I’m making Grandpa hold the quilt up LOL.

And I have an amazing Grandma Tip for you. ‘Cause us Grandmas need to stick together. This isn’t an original idea — I get my best ideas from other Grammies and Grandma Extraordinaire, Ms. Farmhouse, was the first to tell me about this gem. The Bouncy House. If you need a great gift for your littles, This. Is. It. We got this for FinallyAGirl (and her future sister(!)) for her second birthday and it was a huge hit. We had SO much fun all weekend playing in it. It’s rated for up to three children up to 8 years old, but Ms. Farmhouse said it’s ok for an adult to sit in there. So we took turns LOL. FinallyAGirl was so shy and careful at first, but by the end of the weekend, she was jumping like the crazy two-year-old that she is. Anyway, highly recommended!

Must run and make dinner — Hope July is treating you like a million bucks!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Oink!

17 Comments / June 16, 2018 June 16, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Family, Sewing

Really? I popped by to check in, and it’s been two (TWO!) months since my last post. I feel like I should have started with “Forgive Me Father, it’s been two months … “. I think that’s the longest break I’ve had in my eleven years of blogging and it makes me so sad. I’d like to promise (at least to myself) that it won’t happen again, but, for the foreseeable future, it will probably, certainly be spotty posting. We’re dog-sitting our cute little Winston this week, and he definitely disapproves too!

The year is speeding by and I feel like I’m missing most of it. I do have a good excuse though — MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I have started cleaning out MeMum’s house and it’s been a LOT of work. Mummy has been living with us for a year and a half now and we decided that it just doesn’t make any sense to keep her house any more. Empty houses are very sad — they need families and people living in them to keep them happy. ;-( We started going through things in early spring, but it’s taking forever, mostly because a) we both work full-time, and b) it’s a big house stuffed full. Mummy loved collecting pretty things (downsizing was NEVER in her plan) and it’s been fun and hard and sad all at once to go through everything. There have been lots of tears (and smiles) and we still have lots to do. We’ve found lots of gems too — this is one of my favorites discovered last weekend —

All this sorting really makes you think about stuff. What to DO with all of it??? I can hardly bear to part with any of it — especially things that have been handed down through the family. It’s hard though because, at least for now, the grandkids don’t seem to be interested in any of it. I’d like to be able to save them from this same fate when my time comes, but will I be able to??? Maybe I’ll just keep it all in hopes they’ll change their minds as they, um, mature LOL. Oh, the dilemma …

Anyway, in happier news, I have been sewing a little here and there. I made a new little top for FinallyAGirl last weekend.

I noticed in quilt market reports that there was a new Korean fabric company at market this year and when I saw this adorable little piggy print, I knew I had to have it. I also loved the sweet little wildflower print in pink, gray and mustard and had to have that too. The little piggies kill me though — I might have to make myself a top out of this fabric. I probably won’t put an Oink! label on my shirt though LOL.

SweetiePie reports that the piggies fit just right and that they look cute with a little pair of denim shorts. Just what I was hoping for!
Have a Happy Father’s Day Weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Fuschia, not Fuchsia

16 Comments / April 18, 2018 April 18, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Knitting

How’s it going out there? I’m seeing a lot of whining out there from those of us in the northern hemisphere about the winter that won’t die. Here it is April 18th and we’re supposed to get an inch or two of snow tonight! You won’t hear any complaining out of me though — I love winter. I can keep wearing sweaters and mittens! ;-D

When we were in Utah a few weeks ago, I dragged SweetiePie to a little yarn shop and asked her to pick a color of yarn so that I could make FinallyAGirl a new little sweater. I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester for a cute little size 2 sweater, designed by an Australian Instagram friend. I LOVED knitting this cute little sweater, even though it felt like I took forever to get it done.

I mis-read the pattern and made a mistake when I got the yarn, so my gauge turned out a little large. It’s ok though because we’re going into summer here, so I’m hoping this sweater won’t fit until next fall/winter. The yarn is Louet Gems in the Fuschia colorway. (And, yes, I know that’s spelled wrong, but that’s the way it’s spelled on the yarn band.) It’s a machine washable and dryable {gasp! I would never!} 100% merino yarn. I was using needles that were really too small for this yarn (trying to get gauge LOL), so it was a little hard to work. I love the final result though — the texture is soft but still firm, so I think it should hold it’s shape well.

The pattern will be released soon and it’s called the Daisy Basket Cardigan. Debby made the original with really cute little daisy buttons. I found some daisy buttons, but I didn’t like their color with this hot pink, so, when I saw these little kitty buttons, I couldn’t resist.

I love how Debby divided the bottom from the top of the sweater. That row of slanted stitches is just so sweet. And the basketweave pattern has such a wonderful texture — I just want to keep fondling it LOL. I think this little sweater will be so cute with dresses and blue jeans — I can’t wait to see it on FinallyAGirl.

And look at this cute little book that I found to give her with her new sweater. It’s all about how much Grandma loves her little Bunny.

When I saw that Grandma knits, wraps her little bunny in pink quilts AND makes cupcakes, well … I knew this little book was coming home with me! I MUST give this book to MY little bunny!

Ok, back to work boys and girls. I’ve been painting trim in the house and as much as I love to paint, it hasn’t been that fun. It’s taking too long — bring on the weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Happy Easter!

15 Comments / April 1, 2018 April 1, 2018 / Holidays

Holyyyy Cow! How can it be that so much time has passed since my last post? And that we’re 1/4 of the way through this year already???

I hope you’ve all had a Very Happy Easter! I had a hard time getting computer time this weekend to post — TheManoftheHouse hogged the computer ALL weekend for Work work. And I was busy in the kitchen all day. We had our usual Easter fare – Ham (I think the troops are all ready to revolt though — half of them don’t really like ham and were voting to discontinue the tradition), Cheesy Potatoes, Carrots, Green Salad, Deviled Eggs and Dinner Rolls. There would have been a beautiful Miette Lemon Debutante Cake too, but I had a MAJOR cake fail. I had to make the cake twice and then, the icing failed too. I’ve made these cakes several times before and never had trouble — I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. It made me sad though — I’ve been craving cake all night LOL!

It’s been a busy six weeks here in ThimbleannaLand. Work, work, and more work. TheSecondChild has been back at home for several months and we just moved him to a new apartment and job in Indy — I’m so excited for him. And us too — he’s only 2 hours away, which is SO much better than 16 hours away. I’m looking forward to seeing him a lot more often.

Then, in the middle of it all, we went to see TheFirstChild, SweetiePie, and our little cherub for a week. We had a really relaxed week — I didn’t even take my big camera! Oh how fun it was to play with our little doll — she’s 20 months old now and so much fun. I made her a little dress before we left and I was so excited that it fit her just right. Here are a few iphone pictures that I posted on Instagram.

The dress is the Aliana dress from The Freckled Pear and the fabric is from the new Kinder line by Heather Ross. I had this cute little apple print in my etsy shop but it sold out right away, so I should have some more (plus the red apple print) arriving this week. (Btw, I have sooo many cute new fabrics that have arrived this spring — I need to find more time to sew!)

I’ve been working on other projects too, but no big finishes yet. I’m doing a little test knitting for an instagram friend. I’m hoping to finish up this cute little project in the next week or two.

And, after a too-long break, I’ve been working on the little quilt for FinallyAGirl again. I’m about 3/4ths of the way through. I’m such a slooooow hand-quilter. I need to get with the program though — FinallyAnotherGirl is due to arrive this September, so I’m going to need to start another quilt! We’re SO excited!!!

Hopefully it won’t take me so long to get back here this next time. Maybe I should just post on holidays. Or chocolate holidays LOL.
Happy April!!!
XOXO,
Anna

A Little Valentine Cardigan

13 Comments / February 14, 2018 February 14, 2018 / Knitting

Happy Valentine’s Day Little Lovies! I hope your day is full of CHOCOLATE LOL.

I finished the little sweater that I made for my littlest Valentine this week. It’s been a fun, fairly quick project and hopefully it will fit her ;-D.

The pattern is from the book Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss and it’s the “jacket with moss stitch bands” in the 12-24 month size. The pattern calls for size US2 and US3 knitting needles, but, because I’m a fairly tight knitter, I had to go up one size to US3 and US4. I went to my local LYS to choose a yarn, and they recommended Bossa Nova Sport by Molly Girl Yarn in the Sandcastles colorway. It’s a superwash merino mix, so it’s very soft and the finished knit has a really nice drape. But, to be honest, I’m not really a fan. I would have preferred something, I don’t know … maybe a little more “crisp”? If that makes any sense at all. The stitches don’t seem very well defined, and to my eye, just not as pretty as, for example, the little baby dress I knit for FinallyAGirl a few months ago. Plus, the yarn had a few little green marks in it that I couldn’t get out. I would have taken the yarn back, but I didn’t discover them until I was half-way through knitting the back of the sweater. It looks like someone took a little green ink pen and pressed it into the back. Oh well … no picture, but if you see it in person, don’t look LOL.

I love the simple look of this little cardigan, and hopefully FinallyAGirl will be able to wear it with some of her adorable little dresses and tops. I tried a new-to-me technique for sewing up the seams. I usually just hold the pieces right sides together and hand stitch them, like you would fabric, but I’ve never liked the way the seams look. This new method is a bit tedious and time-consuming, but it gives a seamless look and I love it. I’ll definitely be using this method again.

Also, I thought I’d made a mistake in knitting the buttonholes, as they’re to the side of the seed stitch button band instead of the middle, but I double checked the picture in the book, and that’s the way they’re supposed to be. My OCD self is a little bugged by it — I like that they’re off center, but then I don’t. Not sure if I might change that if I were to knit this little cardigan again.

This project is a little Valentine present for our little cherub. I played around with a few different ideas for wrapping it up before I sent it off to her, but in the end, there wasn’t enough room in the mailer with the other little goodies that I sent, so I just sort of squished it into the envelope. Wrapping Fail. ;-(

Oh well. Everything can’t be perfect LOL.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
XOXO,
Anna