Thimbleanna – Page 38 – My little online diary.

Dogs and Balloons

33 Comments / November 4, 2014 November 4, 2014 / Family

Ohmygosh you guys. I’m sure this isn’t news to anyone, but it’s November. Already. I’ve been cruising along thinking that I won’t be making much for Christmas this year, and then last night I remembered a gift that I really want to make. I had a mild panic attack when I realized that there are only 50 days to make a project that’s going to take some calculating and work. Ouch!

Anyway, while I slowly breathe in and breathe out to calm myself … I had some questions about the picture I posted of Winston the other day, so I thought I’d try and answer them. Our little picture taking adventure all started when MyDadLovesMeBestSister asked me if I’d take some senior pictures of CuteNiece2. We’d all been thinking about what we wanted to do, and at the last minute, I suggested that we grab the dog and some goggles that I gave CrazyBIL last year for Christmas and see what happened. We ended up with this fun picture of a girl, her car and her dog.

I love that picture! (Oh, and hey — while we’re on her pictures — CuteNiece2 went to all the work to become a certified Yoga instructor last year. Hey all you yogis out there –can you do this pose??? My arms hurt just looking at it!)

Anyway, back to the dog pictures. The next week Winston came to visit and we thought we’d try to get some more fun goggle pictures. (For those of you having trouble keeping up (ha!), Teddy is 4 years old and belongs to MyDadLovesMeBestSister and Winston is 1 year old and belongs to TheFirstChild and SweetiePie. They’re both F1 Goldendoodles.) So, we put the dogs where all dogs love to be, near a fire hydrant. With balloons and goggles. (Teddy on the left, Winston on the right.)

Winston did NOT want to wear those goggles. Like the senior photo, we tried the dogs in the car. First with both dogs in the front seat. That definitely wasn’t working. However, we did get proof that Winston would wear the googles over his eyes for a minute or two. Teddy on the left, Winston on the right.

This was my favorite dog photo that afternoon. Both dogs happy. Teddy driving his good buddy around for the day. (And by the way, it wasn’t totally ridiculous to get balloons for the dogs — they were both celebrating their birthdays that week!)

Hopefully, dogs in goggles with balloons brightened your day a little.
Btw, how are you Auntlets (that’s what I’m going to call you if you’re participating in the Aunts’ Quiltalong!) coming with your quilts? Have you made a good start? I’m almost done with my assignment this month. Plus, I made a list of those of you participating over there in my sidebar. I KNOW I’ve left some of you out. I know for sure that I’ve forgotten one of you — I can see your e-mail but I can’t find it and I can’t remember your name. I’m SO sorry. PLEASE e-mail me and remind me and I’ll add you to the list.

XOXO,
Anna

A Birthday Tote Bag

30 Comments / October 30, 2014 October 30, 2014 / Sewing

If you were reading here at the end of August, you may remember that I had plans to sew with some leather purse straps, linen, and fabrics that didn’t match each other. I couldn’t show you what I was making because they were for a birthday gift and I had to wait for the birthday to occur. The birthday happened while I was in Australia and now that I’m done telling you about my trip (whew! aren’t you glad that‘s over!) I can show you the bag that I made.

A few months ago a little friend of SweetiePie’s was joking with me and she mentioned how much she’d like to have something made by me. She’s a cutie and conveniently, her birthday was coming up, so I came up with a plan. She lives in NYC and she walks a lot and she mentioned that if I made some sort of a bag it would be nice if it was big enough for her tennis shoes. She also mentioned that she loves pink and aqua, and she loves to go to yoga classeses, so I decided to make her an over-sized bag with a yoga theme.

I chose the Reversible Sunday Sling pattern by Amy Butler and I raided my little etsy shop and used Up Parasol by Heather Bailey, Surprise Birthday in Pink, and an essex linen in flax. The biggest problem that I have with bags is that the handles wear out too quickly, so I replaced the fabric handles from the pattern with some leather handles. Then, I highlighted some circles on the front of the bag — yoga symbols from embroidery library, a flower from Up Parasol and an M for her first name. (I think the peace sign is my favorite. Rumor has it that she liked the yoga girl the best.)

I left the back of the bag plain, to save her some embarrassment, in case the front was too much for her. I’ll admit, this bag didn’t turn out exactly the way I pictured it in my mind. That aqua (teal?) fabric is a leeeetle bit bright (I think I would have liked a subtle lime green better, but I was trying to deliver on the aqua preference). And, while I love that Up Parasol print, it looks like it’s screaming at you when you look at the bag.

But. I LOVE those leather straps and the style of the bag. When it’s slung over the shoulder it’s SO comfortable. So, I decided I could overlook the irritants. Especially, when you consider it really hurts the eyes to look inside the bag. The Up Parasol and the Happy Birthday REALLY don’t go together, but I HAD to use the Happy Birthday print. It was a Birthday Present! I figured my little friend is the only one who will see the inside, and I hope she smiles each time she looks in there and remembers that this was for her birthday.

I also personalized the inside of the bag with a “This bag belongs to ____” embroidery. The inside pleat gets in the way a little, but it’s ok.

This was a really fun bag to make and I’m hoping to make another one sometime for me. It’s such a comfortable bag to carry around and I love the little pleats here and there. I hope my little friend will get lots of use out of it!

XOXO,
Anna

Australia – Fabric and Friends

26 Comments / October 25, 2014 April 18, 2015 / Quilting, Travel

Oops, I meant to post in the middle of the week, but it was kind of busy around here this week. I blame it on this little guy:

TheFirstChild and SweetiePie were gone for a week and we got to dogsit. Cute little Winston is still a high-energy puppy and he took up all of my extra time. We had lots of fun taking walks, playing with his cousin dogs, and taking a few pictures. He did NOT want to wear those goggles, poor little guy! (But, ever the gentleman, he’s always wearing his bow tie.)

Anyway, one last post from Australia. I saved the fun stuff for last. Kellie took me to some beautiful shops. First up was Sunspun — not a fabric shop, but since I love to knit, just as good!

What a fun little shop — packed FULL of pretty yarns and samples.

Yarn shops confuse me. I can’t buy yarn like I do fabric — maybe because I’m not a scrap knitter like I’m a scrap quilter. I have to have a specific project in mind when I buy yarn. So, in spite of all the beauty, I walked away with just a pattern book. I’d like to chalk it up to self control, but confusion is the true story! It was a wonderful stop though.

Then we were on to Amitie where we met up with Jan. And I met Louise — SO fun! Oh, and Judy Newman was there too, so it was really fun to meet her. I know I’m forgetting someone else — I was in a fabric stupor.

Look at all that gorgeous fabric — and all in Amitie style. Shelves of Liberty!

A pile of fabulous quilts, with our star, The Aunt’s Quilt on top of the pile. I don’t know what I was thinking — WHY didn’t I get a good picture of THE quilt??? Or any of them, for that matter!

Here’s a shot of the lucious quilts in the front window. I was so busy looking at everything and just enjoying it all and I’m sad that I didn’t get more pictures. ;-( It was SO amazingly inspirational though — I was overwhelmed. Amitie certainly lived up to her reputation!

After Amitie, Kellie, Jan and I had a fun lunch catching up and then Jan took me for the afternoon and evening. I have to stop here for a minute and rave about the food that Kellie and Jan made for me while I was in Australia. We don’t eat much lamb (well, any, really), but in Australia they have it quite a bit. The first night Kellie made delicious lamb chops (I bought some for TheManoftheHouse to try when I got back and they’re not called lamb chops but that’s what they look like — it’s more like a roast) and roasted potatoes. Later in the week, Kellie also made lamb strapback (I hope that’s what you call it) with the most delicious fruit salad I’ve ever had — she drizzled it with some sort of basalmic molasses (that I sadly can’t find here). Words just can’t describe those delicious meals!

Then, the night Jan took me to her house, she plopped this jumbo bowl of grilled pineapple and prawns in front of me. I thought it was our main meal, but it was the appetizer. And, being from the landlocked midwest, it was my first experience actually peeling the shrimp, which Jan’s girls thought was hysterical. They were probably wondering how I escaped from my corn field! Dinner was a delicious roasted lamb (which I thought was beef until the next day) with roasted pumpkin and vegetables. And THEN, Jan had invited Meredithe to dinner and it was so fun to meet her. We were so busy talking that I didn’t get any pictures of all of her beautiful quilts. (And trust me, that’s a tragedy. Because, you guys. These girls are all Australian quilters. By default, all their quilts are beautiful!) Since we were having an all Aussie dinner, Jan requested that Meredithe bring an Aussie dessert, and what’s more Aussie than Pavlova? It was amazing — I LOVE bananas and raspberries — maybe I was an Aussie in another life!

Such a fun night and I was sad to leave the girls, but time was short and there was much to do. The next day, Kellie took me out to the country. We had the best day and went to another beautiful little quilt shop.

Mill Rose is just full of fabric. Feast your eyes on all that Liberty! There was some serious drooling and fondling going on in this room.

Another big room of fabric — behind that brown row of fabric is another double-wide aisle of beautiful prints.

What a fun little quilt shop. After all that fondling and shopping, we were parched and hungry, so we went next door and had a delicious lunch in the Mill Cottage.

I didn’t buy much fabric. It’s easy to be restrained — not that I didn’t LOVE all the fabrics, but we’re so spoiled with prices here in the states — we pay less than half of what fabric costs in AU. I couldn’t resist buying just a little though, so, here’s a picture of my purchases.

From Mill Rose, the six prints on the left are Terra Australis by Emma Jansen. Can you see the boomerangs, kangaroos, and Australian continents? I had to have a little souvenir! And the prints on the right and across the bottom are from Amitie — just some low volume prints that I loved.

So, that’s it. Whew! What a fun trip, made all the better because I was able to see Australia with friends. Kellie is always so good to me, and I miss her and her cute little family.

Oh, one last picture. You can’t take all those road trips and fondle all that fabric without some sustenance. I now have two new candy favorites (which I can’t find here boohoo!) — The fantales are sort of like a big milk dud — caramel and chocolate, what’s not to love? And the Babies are like Gummi Bears — only WAY better. Way, way better. And, in case you didn’t know, they’re pronounced “Baaayyyyybies” — as in “The Dayngo ayte mah Baaayyyyyby!”

XOXO,
Anna

The Aunts’ Quilt

21 Comments / October 19, 2014 October 19, 2014 / The Aunts' Quilt

I’m interrupting my last Australia post so that we can get the Aunts’ Quilt quiltalong started. Are you ladies that are playing along ready? Most of you should have your patterns by now, so, let’s lay out a plan, shall we?

I originally thought we would do one pieced block and one applique block per month until we were done. But, upon further inspection, it looks like we need to do two pieced blocks and one applique block per month if we want to finish this quilt in a year — and we DO want to finish in a year, right? That way, you can be done and ready for quilting before Christmas, next year.

So, here’s a schedule that I thought we could follow:
Month 1: Block 1 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 2: Block 2 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 3: Block 3 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 4: Block 4 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 5: Block 5 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 6: Block 6 and 2 pieced blocks
Month 7: 4 inset triangles
Month 8: 4 inset triangles
Month 9: 2 inset triangles and 2 corners
Month 10: 2 corners and construct quilt and attach border background
Month 11: Side scallops
Month 12: Top and bottom scallops

I’ll be here to remind you of the schedule each month and generally cheer you along. We’ll base our months on the 15th of each month — so the first month will be Oct. 15th – Nov. 15th (we’re late already!). I debated about taking a month off during the holidays, but instead, I think we’ll just keep a schedule and if you get behind, you can use the slow winter months (I don’t think we have any participants from down under, do we?) to catch up.

I’ve also debated about ways to share our progress. For those of you who have blogs, let me know you’re playing along and I’ll add your blog name to the side bar. If you don’t have a blog and you want to send me pictures each month, I’ll be happy to share them here, on my blog. AND, if you have instagram, let’s post progress under the hashtag “#theauntsquilt” — there are already a few pictures from Australian quilters under that hashtag.

Also, a few of you mentioned that you are new to applique, so I thought I’d show you my favorite way to make the bias strips that we’ll need for the stems on our applique blocks. Years ago, I used to do needle turn stems and, one day, MeMum showed me this technique and changed my applique world. It’s SO much easier than any other method I’ve seen. You’ll need a set of bias bars. I’ve seen them in metal and nylon and either kind work just fine.

You need to cut bias strips of your stem fabric. To calculate how wide to cut your bias strip, take the finished size of your bias stem, multiply by two, and add 3/4″. So, if you’re making a 3/8″ bias stem: 3/8″ x 2 = 3/4″ + 3/4″ = 1 1/2″. You would cut your bias strip 1 1/2″ wide.

Here, try another one. If you’re making a 1/4″ bias stem: 1/4″ x 2 = 1/2″ + 3/4″ = 1 1/4″. You would cut your bias strip 1 1/4″ wide. Make sense?

Fold your bias strip wrong sides together. (Don’t make the mistake that I make when I’m on auto-pilot and sew right sides together or you’ll be unpicking.) Then, stitch a generous 1/4″ from the raw edges.

If your finished bias stem will be 3/8″ or smaller, you may need to trim your 1/4″ seam just a little bit.

Insert the rounded end of the bias bar into your tube of fabric and shift the seam toward one side of the bias stem. Press the seam flat, shifting the bias bar along the length of the tube as you press.

When you flip your bias stem over, you won’t be able to see the seam. In the blurry picture below, the wrong side of the bias stem is the top strip, and the right side is shown in the bottom strip.

Pretty slick, huh? When you applique your strip down to your background fabric, the raw edge of the seam will be enclosed by your two rows of stitches. I love this method because there’s no fabric turning involved — it’s quick and easy!

Ok kids — get to work. I hope choosing fabrics will be easier for you than it is for me. The only decisions I’ve made so far are the green stripe for the stems and the same Kei dot fabrics that Gina used. I’ve pulled a bajillion fabrics from my stash and can’t decide on anything. Also, if you have any suggestions for the quiltalong, I’m all ears! Good Luck!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh P.S. — Here’s a little tip — when you have your fabrics pulled each month, you might want to cut a few of the scallops — it will save a lot of time at the end when we’re making the scalloped borders!

Australia – Uluru and Kakadu

28 Comments / October 14, 2014 October 14, 2014 / Travel

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kellie and her family invited me to go on their school break holiday (that’s vacation for us in the US!). The holiday started out in Uluru where we spent 5 days, followed by 5 days at Kakadu — both National Parks, for those of you not familiar with Australia. I debated giving you a blow-by-blow accounting of what we did, but one can only endure someone else’s travel pictures for so long. So, I’ll just hit the highlights here, and, like I did with my Iceland trip, I’ll eventually post more details in the travel section of my blog.

If you’re like me, I didn’t really know what Uluru was and I certainly didn’t know that Australia is mostly desert. My Australian friends don’t live in a desert, so I didn’t really have any reason to suspect that such is the case. Anyway, Uluru is a big red rock smack dab in the middle of Australia and it’s a sacred area to the Australian Aboriginal people. We were in the area for five days and it was Oh. So. Hot! We mostly did things in the mornings, hung out at the pool in the afternoons and then did things again at night.

We saw and hiked around Uluru:

Went on a camel ride: (Did you know Australia has the world’s largest feral camel population? I thought it was all koalas and kangaroos!)

Had a dinner in the desert, watched the sunset and enjoyed a spectacular evening under the stars:

Hiked around the Olgas:

And saw a hat tree out in the middle of nowhere.

What we didn’t see were kangaroos, in spite of the traffic sign!

After Uluru, we flew to Darwin and spent 5 days in Kakadu. Kakadu is at the northern end of Australia and if Uluru was Oh. So. Hot., Kakadu was Hotter. Than. Hades. It was around 100 degrees everyday and because it’s pretty tropical, it was humid. Our schedule here was much the same as in Uluru — afternoons near the pool! A wetter climate in Kakadu means that there was a lot more wildlife to see, which I loved.
The first day we were there, we took a river cruise. There were two boats on our cruise — the other boat was full of cute little aboriginal children who were being taught about their heritage:

We saw LOTS of crocs in the water and on the river banks:

The rest of our outings at Kakadu were hikes in different beautiful areas.

We saw a TON of bats hanging from trees:

Amazing birds:

Enormous termite mounds: (Look! Native Australian Children!)

Stunning scenery:

Warning signs everywhere:

Aboriginal art:

And, on our last day in Kakadu, I asked a park ranger where oh where could we go to see a kangaroo in the wild. He said they only had wallaroos in Kakadu and they generally didn’t come out until dusk. So, we headed to a billabong at dusk. It. Was. Divine. It was so fun to see all the wildlife that seemed to hide during the heat of the day — it was like a scene at an african water hole that you see on National Geographic (minus the big animals!). We even saw a few wallaroos!

Whew! Tired yet? Thanks for sticking it out through all the pictures. My pictures don’t even come close to doing justice to the beauty that is Australia!

Just one more Australia post left — Fabric — and Friends!
XOXO,
Anna