Thimbleanna – Page 21 – My little online diary.

The Aunts Are Done!

36 Comments / September 25, 2016 September 25, 2016 / Quilting, The Aunts' Quilt

Well…How was your weekend? Mine was great — I finished the Aunts’ Quilt!

Ta-Dah!!!

Oh, how I loooove this quilt! It was SO fun to make! This quilt took a year to piece the top (it’s been almost two years since we started the Aunts’ Quilt Quilt-a-long) and then I sent the top to a hand-quilter (because I think a quilt with that much work deserves hand-quilting ;-D )and it took her almost a year to finish the quilting. As always, she did a beautiful job! My very favorite part is the cross-hatching on the applique blocks.

The pieced blocks aren’t as heavily quilted, but that’s ok — the applique blocks are really the stars of the quilt. We basically did 1/4″ quilting around the flying geese and large cross-hatching in the corners. We debated making the cross-hatching smaller on those corners, but I like the contrast between the larger cross-hatching and the smaller cross-hatching.

For the backing, I used the same Japanese honeycomb dot fabric that I used in the border — just in a different colorway. You can also see how the border was quilted in the picture below. The clamshells were quilted both in the ditch and 1/4″ in from the edge. I know some of you don’t like that clamshell border but I love it. I love looking at all the different fabrics that were used in the interior of the quilt. And for the binding I used a Bonnie and Camille diagonal stripe from their April Showers line. It’s funny, when I bought the stripes in that line, the teal was my least favorite color and I thought I would never use it. I think it worked out just right for this quilt though.

So, now what to do with her? I’m still pondering my options. For awhile, I’ll probably just spend a lot of time just looking at her. I do so love a scrappy quilt! She looks pretty folded, sitting on a bench (look at those fun fabrics on those two middle folds!).

But she really looks pretty, all spread out with someone sleeping under her. (Speaking of which, what is it about cats and quilts? Within 5 minutes of sitting down to start the binding of the quilt, both cats tried to climb up on my lap and curl up under the quilt. Stubborn Scruff even tried twice!)

Now I can get back to work on the baby quilt. I’m hoping to finish the quilting by Halloween — it’s lots of work, but it sure is fun!

Have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. The pattern for The Aunts’ Quilt was designed by Australian Gina Gregory!

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Five on Friday

14 Comments / September 16, 2016 September 16, 2016 / Chat

Happy Friday! Here are a few things happening around here this week:

1. It’s Candy Corn season again — Yipee!!! I Love Candy Corn mixed with salted peanuts. It just makes me want to sew lots of Halloween fabrics. I probably won’t this year, but I WILL eat lots of Candy Corn! ;-D

2. Fall always makes me want to knit sweaters for some reason. I pulled this stripey project out of the UFO closet last week for my lunch time knitting. I started this last year, but it is s-l-o-o-o-w going, so it ended up being shelved for spring and summer. Maybe I’ll finish it in a few years haha. The stripes are made by knitting a variegated colorful yarn and a variegated neutral yarn every-other-row. I love the pattern it’s making and the drape of the “fabric” is just wonderful!

3. I finished piecing the baby quilt for FinallyAGirl last week and started quilting it this week. I’d forgotten how much I love to hand quilt (sore fingers aside). I’m loving working on this project in the evenings.

4. Remember this quilt??? She comes home from her year-long hand-quilted spa trip tomorrow and I can’t wait to see her! Hopefully there will be some binding happening next week — if I can tear myself away from the baby quilt.

5. A few new fabrics have arrived in my little shop. A re-stock on the famous black and white binding stripe and two new little Japanese prints. The knitting print is a lightweight canvas and will make some adorable knitting bags. The little Paris Girl print is so darn cute I had to get her. She’s having a very busy day — shopping, cleaning, baking, sewing, and lots of pampering!

Have a wonderful weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

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Beutahful

28 Comments / September 10, 2016 September 10, 2016 / Travel

Aha! I was right when I said it would be September before I would post again. Don’t worry though — I’m not clairvoyant, I just had a little insider information. We took a little family trip to Utah — our favorite place to visit. We were all together — TheManoftheHouse, both boys, SweetiePie and FinallyAGirl. Everyone just wanted to have a relaxing vacation, but TheSecondChild and I wanted to do some hiking, so, on the second day we were there, we hiked the Timpanooke Trail.

We didn’t get to the trail until around 9 a.m. and we took the wrong trail right off the bat. After about a mile, I realized that something was wrong so we turned around to go back to the parking lot. Halfway back, we ran into three hikers and while I was asking them where the right trail was, I realized that the 3rd hiker was Amber! What are the odds of meeting someone you know out in the middle of nowhere??? That was a fun surprise, and of course, provided teasing material for the boys for the rest of the trip — they think this whole blogging thing is pretty funny.

Anyway, we lost 2 miles and an hour, but we finally found the right trail and hiked away. The scenery and views were gorgeous!

By 2 p.m. we made it to the meadow just below the saddle and stopped for a little snack and rest. We kept on going, but when we came to the bluffs, just below the saddle, TheSecondChild decided that he’d had enough. The trails along the bluffs were steep and rocky with a few washed out places and he was worried about how we’d get back down. So, with just a half-mile to go, we turned around. So Sad! In hindsight, and as I look at the pictures that I took on the way back down, I think that little bluff area was very short and we should have kept going. Oh well. I hiked it when I was in college, so, I’ve seen those stunning views from the top. I hope maybe TheSecondChild will try it again some day.

The hardest part was the 3 hours coming back down. The trails are really rocky and uneven and hard on the feet. I didn’t have my boots tied tightly enough, so I have lots of bruised and blistered toenails that will be my souvenirs for a few months. Ouch! The upside of the whole hike were the gorgeous views and the mountain goats. We saw several of them and there are so many people that do this hike that they don’t seem to be afraid of us. Not that they’re friendly, but they don’t run and hide! I think mountain goats are SO amazing — how do they climb those rocky cliffs with hoofs and not plummet to their deaths??? (This is not a zoomed in picture — we really are that close. This is the bluff area where we turned around — the mountain goats and lots of other people could handle it, but we couldn’t LOL.)

My sore toes hampered any other hiking that I wanted to do for the rest of the week, so we just took it easy and hung out. One morning, we went to the Olympic Park and watched the ski jump practices — always fun! That afternoon, TheManoftheHouse and TheSecondChild went to a gun range where they had a great time playing with machine guns. Men!

The rest of the time was just spent loafing around. I didn’t even take very many pictures.

My very favorite thing was spending time with this little cherub. I got lots of cuddle time and the best part was several times when I got to walk with her and sing her to sleep (no rocking to sleep for this one — she likes to be on the move!) There’s nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby in your arms!

Here’s a shot of her in her new little Liberty bonnet. It fit just right, with a wee bit of room to grow. She’s getting so fun now — she’s a smiley girl and loves to lay out and kick and squeal. She’s growing too quickly!

Now we’re back home and I’m having trouble with re-entry. I spend my days aimlessly looking at quilt pictures, dreaming of all the quilts I’ll never have time to make in this lifetime. There’s SO much inspiration out there! I need to work on lots of UFO’s though. Speaking of — it’s dreary and gloomy here today, so I’m headed to the dungeon to try and make some headway on a certain baby quilt. Happy Weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

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Dog Days Baby Bonnet

26 Comments / August 21, 2016 August 21, 2016 / Chat, Sewing

Poor, poor little blog. It’s just been so neglected. I’m blaming it on the Dog Days of Summer. It’s been so slow around here with not very much happening. The days are long (work, work, work) and the weeks flash by. I have no clue where summer has gone — it seems like we were just thinking that FinallyAGirl would never get here and now she’s two months old already!

Just the girls in the family snuck off for an afternoon last weekend and we had a quick visit with our little princess. It was short and sweet and oh so fun. And we weren’t the only ones being sneaky — SweetiePie snapped this pic of us ladies oooohing and aaaahing over the baby.

I love that picture so much. It says so much about our little family. And how thrilled we are to have that sweet little girl join us!

I’ve also done a little bit of sewing here and there. I’ve barely started to work on the blocks for a quilt for FinallyAGirl. And, this afternoon, I made her a quick little bonnet for some up-coming trips she’ll be taking in the next few months (Don’t Look Pie!).

She probably already has several little sunbonnets. But you know what they say. Makers gonna make. Especially when the maker is a new Grandma. I just couldn’t help it. A few months ago, a really sweet woman started buying lots of Liberty fabrics from my little etsy shop. I finally asked her what she was making with all of her Liberty, and she told me she has a new little granddaughter too. Then she told me I really should make the sunbonnet from Purl — it’s so sweet and easy to make. I used Pheobe in pink for the print and Moda Bella 97 for the white. And the little bonnet is fully reversible, in case SweetiePie wants a mostly white bonnet with just a hint of color.

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TeddyBear decided to model the bonnet, even though his head is the wrong size. (And mostly because I can’t find my little doll model, who I hope will turn up as mysteriously as she’s disappeared — I need her modeling help!)

Hopefully I won’t be gone for so long next time, but who knows. I’m guessing it will be September by the time I post again. September! I just can’t believe it already!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. In the event you’re in need of fabric, there have been lots of new arrivals in my little shop — some new Liberty, some of the very popular Rifle Paper Co. prints, and some Santa fabrics (’cause I’m not saying the “C” word in August!)!

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The Princess and the Pea

31 Comments / August 4, 2016 August 4, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby

I had baby cuddles last weekend! We visited FinallyAGirl and her parents and mostly just laid around. And took some pictures! SweetiePie saw a baby picture months ago that we liked, and we decided when the time came, it would be fun to try and re-create it.

I’m generally of the less-is-more camp when it comes to pictures – especially for babies. But, once in awhile it’s fun to play, so we did. First, a few tools were required. I scavenged some old pallets from work (well, I didn’t really scavenge – they cost me $5 – the only part of this project that I didn’t have at home), gathered the tools, and cut the pallets up and re-sized them.

It was time consuming, but, really not that hard (except for a few stubborn nails). After the pallets were cut to size, I covered the fronts and sides with fabric that I raided from my stash/etsy shop.

We hauled those pallets with us on our little visit, set them up, and then, Ta Da! The Princess and the Pea.

Fun, huh? Kind of a lot of work for just a few pictures, but I figure the bed can be used for dollies later, right? Or, if you need a picture of your little princess, you know who to call for the bed LOL.
While we were playing, we took another fun shot.

It was a little nerve-wracking to have the baby hanging there, but we hurried, and protective arms were never far away.

Ok – that’s all I’ve got. The weeks of summer are flying by – I hope you’re having a good one!
XOXO,
Anna