Thimbleanna – Page 22 – My little online diary.

A Sewing Weekend

25 Comments / July 24, 2016 July 24, 2016 / Chat, Sewing, Store

Happy Sunday! Now that it’s over haha. And, it’s even Monday for some of you. I’m late as usual ;-D.

Oh well, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was great, even though it’s hot outside. Not much happening here — it was nice and quiet, so I escaped summer’s heat and spent a lot of time sewing in the dungeon. I finally finished piecing the second Little Red Riding Hood quilt top for my Grandma room. The pieces have been on my little portable design wall for several months, and every time I’d walk by, half of them would fall on the floor. I’m so excited to have that project finished! I’ll hand quilt this second quilt just like the last one, but I’m in no hurry — maybe I’ll put it on the frame sometime this winter.

After finishing the quilt top, I started playing with a new little quilt for FinallyAGirl. Pink!, of course. When I told TheManoftheHouse what I was working on, he said “Doesn’t she have enough quilts already?” Silly Man. Probably, but that’s not the point. Each one of MY babies will have a little hand-quilted baby quilt from their Grandma — you know, one that’s more traditional, and maybe a little keepsake. I made a few blocks to test out the pattern and then proceeded to cut lots of little pieces.

I’m really excited about it — it should be a fun little project. I’m going to take my time and enjoy the process. Here’s the scrap-pile of yumminess so far. ;-D

I also finished some of my little vinyl project bags. Some of the fun prints from the Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements collection have arrived and I couldn’t help myself. You might remember how much I love a good map fabric, and I thought these fabrics would be perfect for project bags. I cut these a little bigger than the ones in my instructions too — 11 x 14 instead of 10 x 12. It’s fun to have different sizes.

I LOVE them. I even used recycled vinyl because I couldn’t find my vinyl stash (er, one piece LOL). Of course, I found it after I had these little bags sewn together. For probably more years than some of you have been alive (!), I’ve been saving those fancy vinyl zippered bags that new mattress pads and comforters come in — do you know the kind I mean? I was thrilled to be able to cut one up and recycle it! Two of my bags have already claimed projects — a new start on some socks and a little something for a certain little baby girl which is almost done and ready to be blocked.

So, that was the weekend here. Pretty boring for most, but exciting for a quilter! Off to bed now — have a wonderful week!

XOXO,
Anna

Baby Bibs

22 Comments / July 17, 2016 July 17, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Sewing, Store

Ok, I gave you a break from baby stuff with the little backpacks on my last post, so, now I’ll make you suffer again LOL. Really, it will slow down after this because I haven’t been working on any more baby stuff.

I made FinallyAGirl a few bibs before she was born. I love to make bibs — you can do almost anything with them. When TheFirstChild was born, someone gave me two really cute little homemade bibs and I loved them so much that I traced around them to get a pattern that I’ve been using for many years. I was going to say that I used my embroidery machine on a few of these bibs, but, as it turns out, I used it on all of them. First up — some elephants that I’ve used before on terrycloth with a simple bias binding.

Next, simple cotton with a ric rac edge. SweetiePie loves polka dots and monograms. I think this one might be her favorite.

She also love pompoms. This little bib is like the tied quilt that we made at the baby shower. I don’t think those pompoms will last very long, but they’ll be easy to cut off if they start to look ratty. ;-D

And this last little bib is my favorite. A little pink plaid ruffle, some big stitches, and a Peter Rabbit embroidery. I know it looks like Mama Bunny is putting Peter to Bed, but she’s actually feeding him. Poor little Peter must be sick. I Love Peter Rabbit!

Now it’s back to regular programming. I’ve been working on a new shirt and I need to get started on FinallyAGirl’s quilt (I keep saying I’m going to get started!) It’s also that fun time of the year when market purchases start to trickle into quilt shops. These fun crochet-edged double bias tapes arrived last week. They’re SO cute and I’m looking forward to using them on clothes and quilts.

Have a great week — it’s supposed to be blisteringly hot here by the end of the week … Think SNOW LOL!
XOXO,
Anna

Drawstring Backpacks

23 Comments / July 11, 2016 July 11, 2016 / Sewing

Happy Monday! Did you have a nice weekend? We had a nice quiet one here in ThimbleannaLand — a little sewing and cleaning and not much else. These cute fabrics recently arrived in my little shop, so I had to get busy and make a few fun things. These are some of the prints of Trinket by Melody Miller for Cotton and Steel.

I’m hoping to do a little hiking later this summer, and I’ve learned over the years that it’s best to travel as lightly as possible when hiking. I used to take plenty of food and my big camera and just too much stuff. Not anymore. Now it will be lots of water, a little lunch and my iphone for pictures (ha, if I can stand not having the big camera with me). Anyway, we only have bigger backpacks and that just adds unnecessary weight, so I decided to make a few little drawstring backpacks to replace the regular backpacks. Trinket arrived just in time!

I didn’t really follow any one pattern. If you google “drawstring backpack” you will find lots of information out there. I got basic dimensions and then just did my own thing. I have a ton of old jeans that I’ve saved for recycle sewing, and I was happy to finally be able to use them. It was fun to even use a few of the belt loops for the drawstring loops at the bottom of the little bags. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the denim with these trinket prints.

But I think my favorite part was adding just a teeny bit of embroidery to the denim. I took the “5 (where’s the cent mark on my keypad?)” from the whistle print, but I had to think a minute about what to put on the telephone print. Then it was obvious. Hello??? Very Fun.

Hopefully these little packs will do the trick. It’s a lot easier to climb a mountain if you don’t have a lot of weight on your back! ;-D

Ok — I’m off to work — have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

Baby Sweaters

26 Comments / July 1, 2016 July 1, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Knitting

Thank You so much for all of your very sweet comments about FinallyAGirl. I’ve been missing her terribly this week and luckily, we’re going to see her this weekend. Yay!

I’ve been busy over the last few months making a few baby sweaters that I couldn’t show you until they were given to SweetiePie – which we did when the baby was born. I love little knitting projects because I can take them to work and knit at lunchtime a few days a week. The first sweater is the famous Baby Surprise sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This was a super fun sweater to knit, but boy, the first time, it takes a leap of faith. This is what the sweater looks like when you finish knitting.

Does that look like a sweater to you? Me neither. But, have faith, a little change-o presto and it looks like this:

I don’t even remember how I twisted it to put it together, but I do remember that the only seams are along the top of the sleeves. No side seams, so that was nice! My only frustration with this pattern was that there was no indication as to what size the finished sweater would be — maybe it’s because you can use this pattern for babies all the way to adult sizes, depending on the size yarn and needles that you use. I was hoping for a 3 – 6 month size, but I think this is more like a 0 – 3 month size. For those interested in the details, I used US size 3 needles with a Koigu yarn. The pattern has been published in several books and all the details, along with pictures of other Baby Surprise sweaters, can be found on Ravelry, here. Not included in the pattern is the little picot edge along the front and bottom of the sweater and around the sleeve edges. My buddy Bonnie mentioned that she had a friend who did a picot edge on her baby surprise sweater, so I googled a picot edge and crocheted it when the sweater was finished. I think this makes a really fun baby gift and I’ll definitely be making it again!

The second little sweater I made is the Nouveau-né by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot). This was another fun little knit, and oh, what a pretty little sweater pops out at the end! This sweater is knit in a much more traditional manner — top down on circular needles, so there are no side seams, which I love. I also LOVE that beautiful little honeycomb stitch on the yoke and around the sleeve and body hems. It’s so pretty and and it’s fun to run your fingers along the top to feel the bubbly texture.

The pattern also has instructions for little booties, so I made them too. It only contains instructions for a 0-3 month size — oh, how I wish it also included larger sizes. I’d definitely make it again for when our little miss gets bigger. The booties seem large to me — more like a 6 month size, but what do I know — it’s been a long time since I’ve been around little baby feet.

For those interested, I used US size 3 needles and the yarn is Millamia Naturally Soft Merino. Both little sweaters have flower shaped buttons (sorry, the whites aren’t showing up very well — white is so hard to photograph!). Yarn and buttons for both sweaters were purchased at my LYS, Knitting Off Broadway.

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I LOVE baby knitting and I’ve started on another new project — a few lunch times a week, week after week, add up to some fun finished projects!

And now … it’s the weekend. T minus 2 until I can cuddle that little baby — Yipee!!! If you’re an American, I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!!!

XOXO,
Anna

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Baby, Oh Baby!

49 Comments / June 24, 2016 June 24, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby

Oh Boy, what a week we’ve had here in ThimbleannaLand! Our sweet little FinallyAGirl has FINALLY arrived. She was 8 days late, but she’s arrived safe and sound, and for that, we are very grateful! Waiting, Waiting …

… and, at last, at 10:43 p.m. on June 21st, our cherub was born. At 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long, she’s the perfect size. And, well, just all-around perfect. Or, as my buddy Brigette would say, she’s perfect in every way.

And, of course, there is nothing in this world to rival the sight your child holding his first child.
The Unspeakable Joy of the Amazing Miracle of Birth.

XOXO,
Anna