Thimbleanna – Page 23 – My little online diary.

Five on Saturday

23 Comments / June 18, 2016 June 19, 2016 / Chat, Crocheting, Knitting

Because I can’t get my act together to post Five on Friday! Ooops! Anyway …

1. No baby news yet. There’s still a little making o’ baby stuff going on while we wait. A little princess has to have a little pink crown, right? (Pattern available here.)

2. Are you a multi-tasker? Of course you are. You can walk and text right? Or cook dinner and help with the homework? Or do a million different things at the same time? BUT. Are you a Super Tasker??? Take the quiz and find out Here. It takes about 40 minutes and fair warning … it’s not easy. At least it wasn’t for me. There are three parts — audio, visual and audo + visual. I did great on the visual (confirming what I already knew about being a visual person — I even scored 100% a few times) but not so hot on the audio (I can just hear TheManoftheHouse now — “You never listen to me” LOL), so my combined scores put me just below the line to be a Super Tasker. Darn It. You’d think I wouldn’t have time for these games. But No. We’re Waiting on a Baby! Anyway, Give It A Try!!!

3. If you’ve been around for awhile you know I’m not a big fan of facebook. It REALLY honks me off that every time I comment or like something or whatever, it feels the need to inform the planet. And don’t get me started on the Ads. So, a few weeks ago, I had a new interesting facebook experience. When TheManoftheHouse was in the rehab hospital, he had an elderly roommate. The roommate had a daughter and granddaughter who are just beginning to learn the ins and outs of taking care of a parent at home. Having recently been through that experience with BigDaddy, I told the daughter to call me if they needed any references. About a month later, the granddaughter called and we had a nice conversation and I gave her some information. Then, about a month after that, facebook suggested that I friend the granddaughter. Wow! Granddaughter lives 4 hours away from here and we don’t have one. single. friend in common on facebook. How on earth would facebook know to recommend that I friend her? I’ll tell you how. Facebook is snooping around in my phonebook. WTF???? They’re snooping around in your phonebook too. #ieffinghatefacebook (Facebook and effing both start with “F” — need I say more?) (Gratuitous cat picture — #scruffhatesfacebooktoo).

4. More trying to keep busy knitting. A few little pacifier holders for baby. The pattern is in the book Itty-Bitty Nursery by Susan B. Anderson. (That’s not an affiliate link — I don’t get squat.)

5. A few beautiful Tula Pink fabrics have arrived in my little etsy shop. I LOVE this beautiful Chipper line and this colorway is even prettier in real life. I’m hoping to sew a little with it tomorrow. But, maybe the baby will come! ;-D

Hope you’re having a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Rustic Carrot Cake

24 Comments / June 13, 2016 June 16, 2016 / Recipes

Boy, I was sure hoping I’d have big baby news to post by now! Our little baby doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry to put in an appearance — she seems perfectly content to stay right where she is. The latest plan is that she’ll be here no later than next Monday/Tuesday, whether she wants to come out or not! ;-D

In the meantime, I’ll console us with cake. Carrot Cake.

You probably have a family favorite carrot cake recipe — I know our family has one. But, a few weeks ago, when we were in Utah for Quilt Market, we stopped at the little German restaurant in Spring City for lunch. My cousins were raving about the carrot cake, so we all split a piece (because, after one of their delicious lunches, you don’t really have room for dessert.) The carrot cake was chock-full of nuts and raisins and coconut and was really moist. And delicious! So, a week later, when I needed a birthday cake for a friend at work, and just happened to stumble upon this similar recipe, I decided to give it a try. {Swoon. And insert the eyes rolling in the back of head emoji here.} Everyone who had a piece LOVED it. Our old family favorite Carrot Cake recipe is still really good, but it’s much more “refined” than this recipe (i.e., not as chunky). If you like your cake all loaded with the goodies, you’ll love this recipe!

Rustic Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups finely shredded carrots
1 – 8 oz can crushed pineapple, well drained
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Rustic Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 (8-inch) or 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with oil and flour and set aside. (I love 3 layer cakes, but I only have 2 8-inch pans, so I made 2 9-inch layers. I almost think the frosting to cake ratio would be too sweet with three layers — and that’s really hard for me to say, because I have a huge sweet tooth! )

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add oil and eggs and beat at medium speed until well blended. Stir in shredded carrots, pineapple, coconut, pecans and vanilla. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 – 40 minutes, or, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove to wire racks to let cool completely.

4. Frost between layers and on top and sides of cake with Rustic Frosting.

Rustic Frosting

2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth. Stir in coconut, raisins, and pecans until combined. (Since I made the two layer version of this cake I had about a cup of frosting left over.)

Enjoy! And don’t blame me for the extra poundage you’re going to gain — just plan on extra workouts the week after you make it!

Have a Great Week — and Think Baby ;-D!
XOXO,
Anna

The Grandma Quilt

28 Comments / June 5, 2016 June 5, 2016 / Quilting

I finally finished my Little Red Riding Hood quilt and managed to get some pictures taken. Did you notice in the post title that I don’t call this The Little Red Riding Hood Quilt? That’s because this little quilt is for me. The Grandma. ;-D

When the grandchildren of BigDaddy and MeMum were little, MeMum had two bedrooms where the children could stay when we came to visit — a boys’ room decorated for boys and a girls’ room decorated for girls. Now that I’m on the cusp of Grandmahood, I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing. Only, I didn’t want to give up two rooms — just one. I’ve been wondering how to decorate for both the girls and the boys. And then I saw her. Grandma.

Isn’t she just the cutest? And she looks just like ME!!! ;-D She’s part of the adorable Little Red Riding Hood fabric line created by Cori Dantini (long time readers know how much I LOVE Cori Dantini). Grandma is just perfect, so, I’ve decided I won’t have a boys room or a girls room. I’ll have a Grandma room! It will have Little Red Riding Hood quilts on the beds and Little Red Riding Hood pictures on the walls. I haven’t started to do all the furniture moving and re-painting that will be required, but I have the first quilt done — and that’s the most important part, right?

The other characters in the fabric are pretty cute too. There’s the woodcutter.

And the Wolf. He certainly doesn’t look like he’d eat a little girl.

Here he is dressed up like Grandma. I used pearl cotton and big stitches for the quilting stitches. I mostly did 1/4″ quilting around all the seams, except for those sweet little characters — I quilted around their shapes and through their middles.

I used the woodgrain print for the background. The other brown print looks like the rings of tree sections that have been cut and I chose pinwheels for the ax blades. Fun prints to represent the woods that Grandma and Sweet Wolfie live in! Oh, and there’s Little Red peeking out of the bottom of this picture.

I love the way this quilt quilted and washed up. So much krinkly goodness and she’s all cozy — I wish you could feel her. I’ll be making another one for a second twin bed, but it will have a green border, instead of a blue border. This was a super fun project and I can’t wait to make some accessories for the new room. I’m thinking there needs to be a little dress-up cape out of that red fabric! Anyway, I have a little fabric left over and I put some quilt kits (with the pattern) in my little etsy shop in case anyone needs a Little Red/Grandma quilt for themselves. ;-D

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Oh! P.S. See my quilt holder there? It’s at MeMum’s house and TheManoftheHouse thinks it needs to be taken down since no one needs the swings anymore. Hello??? What would I do for a quilt holder??? Hmmmm??? M.E.N. Sheesh!

Spring Quilt Market 2016

22 Comments / May 27, 2016 May 27, 2016 / Quilt Market Report

Well Hey Kids! I’m back from quilt market and VERY slow about posting pictures. By now you’ve probably seen lots of pictures, which is a good thing ’cause my pictures just didn’t turn out that great. I was gone for a week — I took MeMum out to visit her sister, the Best Aunt in the World, Aunt Annie. So, I only spent one day at market (+ sample spree – because you have to!) and it was all a blur. I really only saw a few of my invisible buddies, and a few of those were just because I happened to run into them. Ms. YellowFarmhouse was my Sample Spree/Lunch buddy (Thanks Karen!) and I got to meet a long-time reader which was super fun (Hi Dara!). And, before market I had lunch one afternoon with the Super Sweet CityHomeCountryHome and she helped me choose some yarns and patterns at the little yarn shop where she occasionally works.

So…my market visit was very short and I don’t have a lot of pictures. (I have mostly different shots on my Instagram account.) I miss those days when we were doing booth setup and I could take pictures before the crowds descended on the booths. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures that I did get —

There are always a few quilts displayed at market and I loved the mix of applique and patchwork on this quilt. Not to mention the hand quilting.

This quilt is by Susan Gorder of Green Valley, Arizona. Such beautiful work!

Here’s Melissa Mortenson in her Wonderland booth. I love those cute rabbits!

Sue Daley does amazing hand piecing and applique. I always love to see her new quilts.

This is Simple Simon and Company. I’ll bet I saw at least 4 little teepees at market, but this one with the ruffle fabric was my favorite.

Fiberworks was new to me, but everyone else seemed to know about her. Very interesting and beautiful quilts!

I mentioned on Instagram that I think the pending arrival of FinallyAGirl (it’s getting VERY close now — eeeep!) had me checking out baby items like never before. Sweet Melody Designs is a new designer with Shannon Fabrics. Their cuddle fabrics are sooooo soft — I love them for quilt backs. They were also doing a cool thing for little baby quilts — they put four layers of double gauze together to make the softest, most cozy little quilts. They would be pretty pricey, but so worth it!

Here’s one where they put double gauze on the front and cuddle on the back (and wrapped around to create a border). I could see a lot of possibilities with this technique.

This booth had cute baby clothes made from recycled denim. I’m debating whether a few of those prints will appear in my little shop — they’re really soft and I think they’re pretty cute!

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the Carina Gardner camper — very cute!

The moda booth is always fun. They went with a camping theme and each designer was handing out little merit badges. I didn’t realize it until it was too late though — doh! They’ll be selling the badges, but it looks like the one I really want isn’t available (hopefully, it will be eventually.) It’s hard to see it, but they had cute little mason jar lanterns hanging from their “trees”.

Here’s the Erin Michael quilt that you’ve probably seen by now. Super Cute! (Sorry for you cat haters out there!)

Amy Sinibaldi’s pretty booth.

Little Dickens, by new Moda designer, Lydia Nelson. She has a must-have sheepie print!

And hey – look! It’s our invisible friend Helen Philips and her beautiful book, Modern Vintage Gifts.

I always look forward to Brenda Riddle’s pretty new collections. She’s had so many lately that I can’t keep up.

And, you can’t really see the Bareroots booth, but I’ve just always loved their cute embroidery – they’ve been around forever!

So, that’s all I have for quilt shots. Utah was absolutely gorgeous this year — I don’t remember ever seeing her so beautiful. They’ve had lots of rain this spring and the mountainsides were lush and green, which is unusual. And the lilac bushes! Every time I turned a corner there was another huge lilac bush just full of blooms — absolutely gorgeous!!!

Have a wonderful weekend — and for you in the US, a Happy Memorial Day!
XOXO,
Anna

Tied Baby Quilts

12 Comments / May 14, 2016 May 14, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Quilting

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the Baby Shower. As I mentioned, the other activity we had was to tie some baby quilts for SweetiePie. Long-time readers will remember that it’s our tradition to tie a quilt for the new couple at a bridal shower, but we’d never done one at a baby shower and it never really even occurred to me — probably because they’re so small and it’s hard to get a group around a little baby quilt.

To back up a bit, the babies in our family all had little tied quilts with prairie points on them. (I blogged about them years ago, here on my old blog.) I knew that SweetiePie doesn’t care for prairie points, so I didn’t plan on making any tied quilts for the baby until she’s a toddler. (Because ALL our toddlers MUST have a tied quilt! Out of the five babies between MyDadLovesMeBestSister and me, four of them dragged their tied quilts around until they were worn out.) But, a few weeks before the baby shower, SweetiePie asked if we could talk to MDLMBS about tying a baby quilt at the shower. I was surprised at her request, but she said she loves the quilt that we tied for her at the bridal shower — she loves the idea that the people she loves all had their hand in making a quilt for them.

So … how could we refuse? Especially, since I was thrilled LOL! Even though we were a small group, I realized that we were too many to squeeze around one quilt, so I decided on two. I raided my little etsy store for fabric and then, the next issue was those prairie points — I knew they would have to go. SweetiePie LOVES pom poms, so I decided to put them around one of the quilts and just do a regular binding around the other one. I took my trusty quilt frame over to MDLMBS’s house and set the quilts up — coincidentally, in the same room where we tied the bridal shower quilt.

Look at that teamwork! I was so proud of the ladies who don’t normally sew. One of the girls told me I needed to take her picture and send it to her mom, because her mom would never believe that she was sewing LOL!

The best part about these little quilts are the ties. They’re kid-tested and definitely kid-approved. My very favorite part about the baby shower was when CuteNiece1 arrived a little late (after driving in from Chicago) and walked into the room where we had just started tying the quilts. She yelled out, “NUBBIES!!!” That’s what our children all called the little ties. And she was so thrilled that the next generation will be brought up with nubbies too. She said she still keeps one of her little quilts with her but that, by now, all the nubbies are missing. (Of course, I told her to bring it back to me and I’ll fix that!) The children love to rub those little nubbies between their fingers when they’re falling asleep. One of the little rascals rubbed them so much that he would pull them out, so we gave him a little jar to save them in ;-D.

This little quilt is made with Art Gallery’s Floral Dums Punch on the front and Sarah Jane’s Wee Wander print on the back. We had so much fun tying this one. Instead of tying in our usual grid pattern, we decided to just randomly go with the print and put a tie on each of the big flowers. And, for the first time, we used more than one color for the yarn. It’s bound with the famous Timeless Treasures stripe fabric.

The other quilt is the pom pom quilt. I don’t really expect the pom poms to hold up to years of toddler abuse, but it will be really cute for wrapping up that little baby, and then, at some point, if it gets too raggedy, it can be replaced with a regular binding.

The front of this quilt is Blend Fabrics Born Wild Patchwork on the front and their Born Wild Woodland Creatures {Looove} on the back. The patchwork on the front provided the perfect grid to use for the quilting — it was nice not to have to mark out squares for the ties.

So, that was fun, and now, I want to make a cute, tied PINK quilt for ME! Baby girl is all set for quilts — in addition to a few other little blankets she has at home, SweetiePie and I worked on a big-stitch quilt the last time she was here. It’s finish was interrupted by the fact that Hester had to go in for repairs, but it will get finished in a few weeks. And, of course, Grandma will be making a little hand-quilted quilt for her. No rush on that one — it will be a longer term project because I’m a slow quilter!

Ok — must dash — I’m leaving this weekend for a family visit + quilt market and there are a million things left to do! Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna