Thimbleanna – Page 39 – My little online diary.

Australia — Melbourne

25 Comments / October 9, 2014 October 9, 2014 / Travel

Ok kids, this is the part where I tell you about my trip to Australia and you very politely try not to nod off. (Or, just skip it altogether!)

It’s so hard to even know where to start, but my trip sort of neatly divided itself into parts, so I’m going to follow it’s lead.

Some of you may remember that last fall, Kellie and her family visited the states and I met them in New York City for a few days and we had a blast. So, when Kellie invited me to come on their Australian vacation with them, it was an offer that was too hard to resist. I spent the first four days of my trip in Melbourne, seeing a few of the sights and just playing and having fun with Kellie and her family. I was also thrilled when it worked out that I was able to spend an afternoon and evening with Jan (who came to market with Kellie three times) and an hour or so with Kathy (who came to market with Kellie once). The best part of the trip was visiting and catching up! So, I’ll tell you about the Melbourne part of the trip first, and save the vacation, fabric stores, and food for another day.

Kellie picked me up from the airport in the morning and immediately took me to a super cute little garden center that had a tea shop. We had scones with jam and clotted cream and I was in heaven — I felt like I was back in the UK! Did I take any pictures? No. I was too busy rolling my eyes over the delicious mile-high scone!

We did see a kookaburra right away though. At least Kellie assured me that it was a kookaburra (and it sure looks like the ones on the internet) but I was skeptical. I mean, does that look like an old gum tree to you???

After our morning tea, Kellie took me to Williamstown where we walked around and saw some beautiful views of the harbor and Melbourne across the bay. We also had a delicious lunch of fish and chips while in Williamstown — fish and chips … scones … where am I???

I loved seeing all the houses — the architecture is so different from ours here in the midwest. The only thing I knew about houses in Australia is what I saw decades ago on The Thornbirds (ha!) so it was fun to see so many verandahs with fretwork.

The next day, we went fabric shopping and met up with Jan. Jan then took me on a whirlwind tour of downtown Melbourne. More confusion with the mother country — London style shopping arcades.

And c’mon — tell me this doesn’t look like a European pastry shop. Oh My!

Lots of fantastic artwork in downtown Melbourne. I didn’t get a lot of pictures — it was crowded and we were hustling. I did want to remember the flying pig and the one-eyed monster though.

The third day was a fun fabric excursion (more later) and on my last full day in Victoria, we left Melbourne for the country to see some animals. When Kellie asked me what I wanted to do while in Melbourne I jokingly said “Hold a Koala and see a kangaroo in the wild” (Yeah, yeah — you Aussies can make fun of me now!) My wish was her command, although the kangaroo in the wild part proved to be a little problematic.

Anyway, I have no idea where we went (I really should have paid attention), but we went to a small animal park somewhere out in the country. You’re not allowed to actually hold koalas in Victoria, but you can get close to them and pet them. The picture below is my very favorite, even though it’s blurry. (It’s a running joke with my camera — whenever someone offers to take a picture of me, the focus almost always ends up on the background. If you’re the person who took the pictures (and you know who you are LOL), in your defense, the others were in focus but I look much better blurry ;-D ).

Lots of kangaroos — even if they’re not in the wild.

And we think we have problems getting our kids to leave home. This little guy was really crowded in that pouch — no room for his feet in the house!

Is that an Australian Emu?

Because this is what Americans think of as an Emu. ;-P

And sheepies. Australian SHEEPIES!!!! Look how cute. That one in the front has a little curly top and the one in the back must be the male — he’s bald.

The scenery in the countryside was beautiful. Unfortunately I didn’t get very many pictures — I was always too busy talking.

And back to Melbourne — I’d had no idea it’s such a big city!

I know that doesn’t seem like a lot for four days, but there was a lot of fabric and talking tucked in there. More on those later. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. All you Aunt’s Quilt ladies should be starting to get your patterns in the mail. Use this week to gather your thoughts and fabrics and whatever else you need and we’ll get going in ten days or so. If you didn’t get a pattern and want one, don’t despair just yet — I still have a few that haven’t been claimed, so we’ll see what happens in the next few days.

Jet Lagged

25 Comments / October 5, 2014 October 5, 2014 / Chat

Holy Cow Kids — I’m Tired!!! DIDYAMISSME LOL???

This jet lag is killing me. I’ve been home now for 6 days and I’m still pooped and waking up a lot in the middle of the night. Going to somewhere as close as Europe is jet lag child’s play compared to this. According to Wikipedia, you’re supposed to allow one day per time zone difference for recovery. Since I’m pretty sure I traveled through 500 time zones, it might take awhile. Actually, according to their calculations, it should take me 10 days, so, maybe I’ll be alive by next weekend.

I had a great trip and I’m planning to tell you about it, but I’m still weeding out pictures. In the meantime, I have a few housekeeping items that need to be tackled. (Not counting the shambles of the real house — SOMEone needs a maid!)

First up — I brought The Aunts’ Quilt pattern back from Australia! I really want to get the quiltalong going by the middle of this month, so these patterns need to get mailed. If you expressed an interest (via blog comment) in joining the quiltalong, you should have received an email from me about your pattern. If you sent me an email, I’m sorry, but it’s been eaten, and you need to let me know again that you’d like a pattern. I didn’t bring very many patterns back with me and I’ve put the extras in my little etsy shop. First come, first served until they’re gone. More patterns can be ordered from AU, but international postage will have to be paid. And if any of the reserved patterns aren’t claimed by the end of the week, I’ll put those in the etsy shop too.

In case you’re still trying to decide whether to join us, here’s a picture of the fabric requirements. This quilt is a fun combination of applique and piecing and I think it’s perfect for someone who is new to applique. We’ll plan on doing one pieced block and one applique block (or more half blocks) per month until we’re done — I’m estimating it will take about a year.

I’ve started to pull a few fabrics, but this is just the surface. I know I’ll be adding and subtracting and generally indecisive as we go along. That’s the fun of it!

I’m really excited about this quilt — I hope you’ll join us — it should be fun!

Also, it’s way past Oct. 1st and we need to have a winner for the Faux Taxidermy Knits book that I blogged about a month ago, right?

MARSHA, Miss Cute Stuff Inside, Come On Down!!! Send me your address so you can claim your prize. And if you make that fox scarf in pink, you KNOW we want to see it!!!

Ok — off to try to avoid taking a nap!
XOXO,
Anna

Dear Burglars,

30 Comments / September 13, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Chat

If you’ve been searching the net for people who’ve mentioned that they’re going on vacation, my last post may have directed your search engines here. But I’m not worried about you because I’m leaving the house in good hands.

We have Watch Cats. They know everything that goes on around here. Trust me, you don’t want to disturb these two. That one on the left, in particular, will nail you if you whizz him off. He sleeps a lot, which is the problem — if you enter the house uninvited, you’ll wake him up, and that makes him very grumpy.

And don’t worry — if the Watch Cats aren’t a deterrent, you should know that TheManoftheHouse will still be here. He going to stay home and hold down the fort — and take care of the Kitties. So, don’t get any big ideas. Besides, there’s nothing of any real value here – unless you’re into fabric, but the little shop will be locked up tight and you won’t be able to find anything.

Oh, and not that it’s any of your burgling business, but you might be wondering where I’m going. I’m Off to See the Wizard. This One:

And her trusty assistant there with the camera. And I’m beside myself with excitement.

So. Nothing worthwhile for you here. Move along to the next vacationing blogger and maybe you’ll have more luck.

G’day Mate.
Anna

TAW Update

31 Comments / September 10, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Quilting

By now, I’m pretty sure you’re probably getting tired of seeing my little trip around the world quilt, so I’ll just apologize now. We get our assignments monthly, so I like to document the stages of this fun project.

Our assignment this month was for rows 24 through 30. We technically have until the end of the month to reach row 30 (if you’re trying to keep up like me), but I’m getting ready to go on vacation and I didn’t want to return and be behind. The rows are really getting time-consuming now, so, to be behind just a few rows means to be behind a lot in time. I’ve been working like a crazy person to get this far and I’m so pleased that I made it before I leave on my trip.

It’s been amazing to me that I’m not tired of this project yet. I love picking out fabrics for new rows — even though I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore. I’m basically just trying to stick with the basic colors that I used in the first 9 rows. It’s really surprising to me to how it changes personality as the rows are added. I really liked the way rows 1 – 9 started out (upper left), but I worried after rows 10-18 (upper right) that it was looking a little too yellow/red/brown. (Btw, sorry for all the different lighting — ideally, I’d take the pictures in the same setting, but it doesn’t always work out. I was hoping to go outside tonight, but it’s been pouring most of the day, so I had to stay inside.) Then, by rows 19 – 24 (lower left) I’d managed to add more blue in which made me happy. I thought maybe I should tone the blue down a little, and now (lower right) there’s maybe a bit too much green going on.

I’m guessing I’ll have 10 – 12 more rows, so I need to take more time and figure out how to finish it up to get the effect I want. As if I even knew what I want. That might be part of the problem. I’m pretty far out of my comfort zone here!!!

Anyway, if you’re still here, thanks for sticking with these TAW posts. If you’ve never tried a TAW, you might really love the adventure! This little quilt is getting pretty big now — it’s just a bit bigger than the top of a double sized bed. And, as you can see, when it’s rolled up, it pretty much fills my little train case. I’m going to need a bigger case!

That’s a good problem, right?
XOXO,
Anna

Faux Taxidermy Knits (& a Giveaway)

56 Comments / September 4, 2014 September 13, 2014 / Books, Chat

I’m very excited today because the super nice people at Stitch Craft Create have invited me to review Louise Walker’s new book Faux Taxidermy Knits. (Thank You super nice Stitch Craft Create people!)

Now, I’ll admit, the initial invitation was a surprise to me, as my first thought was “Hmmm, I’m not really the type to hang animal heads on the wall.” (You might recognize Louise Walker as the creator of some really fun faux animal heads for Boden ). But, my apprehension dissipated as soon as I took a look at the patterns in this cute, upcoming book. Taxidermy isn’t just for hanging animal heads on your wall anymore LOL!

Faux Taxidermy Knits contains 15 patterns divided into two sections – fun stuff to wear and fun stuff for your home. I thought I’d give you a little peek for yourself – here are a few of my favorites:

A Tiger Rug – wouldn’t this be cute in baby’s room with a wild animal theme?

Baby Bear Coasters (or mug rugs, if you prefer).

Hedgehog Slippers – you know how I love me some slippers and these look super cozy!

An Owl Tea Cozy.

I’ve tested out one of the patterns for you, just so I could check out the instructions. Unfortunately, I was limited on time, so I had to choose the quickest project in the book. Do you remember those little rabbit’s foot keychains we used to carry around as kids? (Ewwww. Really? Were those real rabbit’s feet? What were we thinking?) This little rabbit’s foot is the kind I can handle.

The instructions were clear and easy and it probably took me a whopping 45 minutes to make this little foot – an hour if you count the hardware. The picture doesn’t come close to doing this little rabbit’s foot justice – it’s really cute and it feels so soft in my hands. I’m thinking I’d like to make another one and hide one of those GPS things in it, so that I can find my keys when I lose them (which is all the time thankyouverymuch).

If you’re a knitter (or even if you’re not), this is a really fun little book to add to your library. But, don’t just take my word for it – check out these other reviews on the September blog hop:

Mon 1st – Louise Walker

Tue 2nd – iMake

Wed 3rd – Knit Happens

Thu 4th – SCC

Fri 5th – Thimbleanna

Mon 8th – Yarn Demon

Tue 9th – Greedy for Colour

Wed 10th – Knits and Crosses

Thu 11th – The Yarniad

Fri 12th – Crafts from the Cwtch

Mon 15th – The Creations of Crazy Dazy

Tue 16th – Knitted Bliss

Fri 19th – Lapdog Creations

Mon 22nd – Slugs On the Refrigerator

Here’s a little bonus for you – those super nice people at Stitch Craft Create are offering a hard copy of this book to one of you. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw a winner sometime around October 1st.

And if you don’t win, don’t despair – the book is available HERE (oooh, and while you’re there, check out this PAGE for some other fun knitting books!)

But WAIT, there’s more (haha)! I forgot to show you one of my very favorite projects in the whole book.

Behold.

Mr Wolf.

How fantastic would Mr. Wolf be for the costume in a Little Red Riding Hood play? Three Little Pigs anyone??? Or, how fun would it be to have the big bad wolf accompany your cute Little Red Riding Hood while Trick-or-Treating??? Bring On Halloween!!!

Ok — remember to leave a comment if you want to enter to win a free copy of Faux Taxidermy Knits.

Good Luck!
XOXO,
Anna