Thimbleanna – Page 51 – My little online diary.

Five on Friday

37 Comments / September 13, 2013 October 8, 2013 / Chat, Store

1. The teeny tiny garden was a bust this year. {Sigh} Apparently the hail storm that ate the zinnias wasn’t enough. Something’s up with the tomatoes. They’re refusing to turn red. They go from green to something close to black. Is there some new black tomato that I don’t know about? I’m afraid to eat them.

2. Look at this fun skeleton fabric I picked up in New York City last week. I thought it would be perfect for the Dr. Child, but I don’t have a clue what to do with it. I’ll happily take suggestions if you have any!

3. I’ve been pouring through quilt books, thinking about what I want to work on next. I know the Steampunks aren’t done yet, but they’re getting close. Only 6 more blocks. I think I have an idea what I want to do, but, as always, selecting the colors is a big problem for me. I love them all. What to do. What to do.

4. When I saw the Le Creme Swiss Dots from Riley Blake, I fell in fabric love. I think they’re perfect for applique backgrounds and light values in blocks. I had to have them. And then I bought too much. So, I’ve put some in my little etsy shop. (Speaking of which, thank you for all the Adventure Girls love — the kits are gone now, but there are a few panels left.)

5. Thank you to Brigette for sending me a funny on Black Tomato Day.

May your weekend be full of RED tomatoes!
XOXO,
Anna

A Mad Dash

20 Comments / September 9, 2013 October 8, 2013 / Travel

Whew! I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I’ve posted! And here we are, knee-deep in September already — my VERY favorite month. ;-D

I do have an excuse. On Thursday of last week I zipped off to New York City for the weekend. It was a last minute trip (well, 2 weeks in the planning) and I went for a very good reason. To see Kellie, (Ms. Don’t Look Now) and her cute little family. When she first told me she was coming to the east coast and would I please come to visit, I just didn’t think I could swing it. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I really WANTED to go and I’m SO glad I did. I had THE. BEST. TIME. ever! When I got back home, I was appalled to look at my camera and find just how few pictures I had taken. IMHO, that’s the true sign of enjoying all the little moments and not worrying about taking lots of pictures. (So, these are just a few random shots.)

Kellie hasn’t been to the last few quilt markets and I’ve really missed her. It was so nice to be able to catch up and visit. Kellie’s children are at such fun ages and we had a great time. I’m glad that I got to meet them when I did — who knows when we’ll have the opportunity to see each other again.

We only had two days together. One day for Kellie and I to do some crafty/fabric shopping. And one day with the family. We walked, went to Times Square, talked, played in Central Park, walked, visited the Guggenheim Museum, talked, ate, took cabs, ate more, shopped more, walked more, talked more and saw Matilda. Which is fantastic, by the way, and I highly recommend it — especially if you have children. And then stayed up most of the night talking some more ’cause there just wasn’t enough time.

My words really can’t do justice to how I feel about the weekend. I could gush and get all teary-eyed, but I’ll keep it short. I feel so honored to have been included in a bit of their trip and to catch a glimpse into life with such a sweet little family. What a lucky, lucky girl am I!

I’ve been pooped today, but it was worth every little nod-off. Hopefully a little rest this week and then we’ll get back to some regularly scheduled programming. I have a Top 10 list to finish in just two weeks. Eeek!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. I’ve really been enjoying the Camp the Pigeon Instagram feed. (@campthepigeon) I told you about him awhile ago, shortly after camp hatched from his little egg. He’s big and flying now and they’re letting him go outside. And he returns to his home! It’s really an amazing story and I thought you might enjoy it if you haven’t been following along.

Piecing and Thinking

32 Comments / August 31, 2013 October 8, 2013 / Quilting

Well hello there! How’s the weekend going? It’s a beautiful, relaxing week here in ThimbleannaLand. I’ve been piecing more Steampunk blocks, taking my time and really enjoying the process. So far, so good. Out of 48 blocks, I only have 14 left to go. Slow and steady wins the race. ;-D

For most of the summer I’ve had my sewing machine on the kitchen table. TheManoftheHouse hasn’t complained but he must be getting tired of it. It’s getting harder and harder to sew in the dungeon, because the view from our kitchen is so pretty and I just want to sit there to sew all the time. Really, I’d just like to move the whole sewing room to the kitchen. That’s how it should be, don’t you think?

While I piece along, my mind wanders. Last night I was thinking about the blog posts not to long ago where people were sharing their favorite quilt book. My favorite book is my first quilt book MeMum bought me. The It’s Okay If You Sit On My Quilt Book by Mary Ellen Hopkins. My quilty peep Junie told me a few weeks ago that Mary Ellen recently passed away, which is very sad. I don’t remember taking a class from her, but Junie says I did one year when we were in Paducah.

It looks like someone in the family took a class from Mary Ellen — I found the papers below in MeMum’s The It’s Okay If You Sit On My Quilt Book. Either way, I adored her style. Her approach was simple and straight forward. This book is full of quilt blocks and simple ways to put them together to make great quilts. It’s an approach that I think we sometimes fail to teach to new quilters. I feel we talk patterns too much, rather than teaching new quilters how to dream and plan and make quilts of their own.

I love how the pages of Mary Ellen’s book are on “graph paper”. It’s so fun to plan blocks out on graph paper and see how simple blocks, when placed together, form lots of different patterns. Mary Ellen doesn’t give you a quilt pattern. She just shows you the blocks and then you make your own pattern, whatever size you want.

I remember pouring through the blocks of this book when I made the quilts we have in our guest room. Do you see the block above that I used in the first quilt in the picture below?

I knew I wanted both quilts to have pinwheels in them, but I wanted the quilts to be different. The block in the second quilt is also in Mary Ellen’s book.

Oh well, I’m quilt rambling — back to the Steampunks! Just wanted to check in — hoping everyone has a great weekend. Especially if you’re here in the US where it’s a long one!

XOXO,
Anna

4. Start My Lopapeysa

31 Comments / August 25, 2013 September 21, 2013 / Knitting

Zip! Another week whizzed by. We’re in that end-of-summer-busy-ness phase. Trying to stuff a lot of things into what little remains of summer. We already have leaves changing and it’s still August for crying out loud! I’m not a hug fan of summer (too hot!) but I’m not quite ready for fall yet. It probably has a little something to do with the fact that I still have lots of things to do on my 10 Things this Summer list.

I feel like I’ve cheated on the list though. I REALLY wanted to complete the third item on the list (finishing the 10-year sweater) before I started on the fourth item — starting my Lopapeysa sweater with the yarn I purchased on our trip to Iceland. I did drag the 10-year sweater out and look at it (shouldn’t that count for something?) but then I shoved it back into the bag. I need courage. Or alcohol. Or something. I reeeeeaaally don’t want to work on that sweater again. ;-)

In the meantime, the trip to Utah came along and I wanted something new for vacation knitting, so I succumbed and started the new sweater. Here it is, lying among a few fallen maple leaves. (Don’t let that fall scene fool you though — it’s HOT out there today.)

I LOVE working on this sweater! This is how all sweaters should be knit — bottom up with NO seams. The torso is done up to the armpits and I’m currently knitting the sleeves — two at a time just like knitting two at a time socks. I love this method — that way I know the stitch increases will occur in the same places on both sleeves. And I won’t have second sleeve syndrome. ;-D

I’ll knit the sleeves up to the armpit and then the body and arms will all be joined together and the neckline will be knit. So far, this sweater is clipping along at a pretty good pace, but it will slow down when I get to the neckline. That requires three different colors of yarn going at once and I’m pretty uncoordinated in that department. I’m using THIS free pattern from Alafoss Wool.

Oooh, look — I found some of those cute little sheepie stitch markers when I was in Utah. I had forgotten to take stitch markers with me and I was using yarn scraps, but I kept knitting them into the sweater. I could have bought the plain little plastic circles and saved a lot of money, but where’s the fun in that?

So, I’m whittling down my summer list — not much time left. And while I’m at it, I’m taking credit for number 6. Clean Some Closets. I haven’t done so many closets, but among the drawers and cupboards, I did clean the garage and the dreaded tupperware cupboard. That’s enough suffering for a month or two!

Have a good week!
XOXO,
Anna

Birthday Adventure Girls

22 Comments / August 19, 2013 September 21, 2013 / Chat, Quilting

Hello, Hello! Did you have a nice weekend? I had a great weekend — with LOTS of sewing. ;-D

I gave in to the call of my Adventure Girls quilt kit. I was going to make it for me, but while I was piecing the top on Saturday afternoon, I realized that I was worrying about not having a birthday present for MeMum. Then it dawned on me — she has a flannel throw quilt for tv watching, but not a lighter quilt for the summer. The Adventure Girls would be perfect! So, I kicked it into gear (and stayed up late!) so I could finish the quilt in time for her birthday — which was yesterday.

My version of the quilt looks just like the full view I showed you a few posts ago, so I didn’t take a new full view shot. This quilt was SO fun to make. Those little Adventure Girls are so cute and it was fun to look at all the details while I was sewing away. I quilted it very simply — 1/4″ quilting on both sides of all of the seams, and then I quilted around most of the figures in one way or another. You can sort of see how I went around the figures in the picture below. (Look at the cute little dog!)

While I was quilting, it seemed like the quilt was just so flimsy and didn’t really have much substance. I remember I felt that way when I was quilting the graduation quilt for my nephew. It always amazes me how washing the quilt really makes it come to life. The process makes the batting bloom and it really makes the quilt cozy. I chose the blue flower print for the back of the quilt.

I LOVE this little quilt and I’ll have to make at least one more (possibly two)! And I love having fun, quick projects now and then, in between the longer, more detailed projects. Here are the Adventure Girls all bundled up before I gave them to MeMum (complete with a small adventure girl giving my bow the once over).

Now that I’m refreshed from a fun project, I can get back to the Steampunk blocks. Oh, and the rest of the items on my 10 Things this Summer list. Summer is almost over!

Have a good week!
XOXO,
Anna