Summertime

Wow. I can’t believe summer is here and almost half of this year has gone by already. Spring came and went in a flash and I’ve been remiss in posting, but we’ve been having lots of fun here in ThimbleannaLand.

There’s been lots of sewing, which is good — it keeps me happy! I made this fun little Cute as a Button bag from a pattern published by Zakka Workshop.

I also used another print of that cute Belle and Boo fabric to make a beach bag using the free pattern from Polkadot Chair. (Now I just need a beach vacation LOL.)

Most of my sewing this spring involved machine quilting this big quilt. I think it’s about 90″ x 98″ or something like that, so it took about 6 weeks for me to get it quilted. It’s all done now (except for a label) but I can’t show it until it’s gifted, which will be in a few months.

And lastly, I made a cute little dress for FinallyAGirl, who, unbelievably, turns 5 years old today. I’m in denial — she can’t be that old yet! The pattern is “The Skipper” from Merchant & Mills and this is the second time I’ve made it for her. She loved the first one so much, but it’s almost too little for her now, so I thought I’d make her another one. As you can see, this one is a bit big (it’s a size 5), but that’s good — hopefully it will carry her through the school year. Both dresses were made out of Rifle Paper Co. rayon — the first dress was a different floral though.

It hasn’t only been sewing around here though. There has been lots of fun with the babies. I went every weekday for six weeks to swimming lessons with the girls.  Or, really, I would call them survival lessons in the water. Each of the three girls had 10 minutes a day with the instructor and it was amazing to see their progress. The oldest two went from not wanting to get their faces wet to swimming and jumping in the pool. And the baby learned how to float. The instructor would flip her underwater (which is disorienting) and she would always come up and float. For graduation, they have to swim (or float in the case of the baby) in winter clothing. Here’s a picture of the two youngest in their snowsuits.

I was really surprised that the baby’s snowsuit episode was done with glasses, patch and contact but the objective is to simulate if they were to fall into water fully dressed. And I think the two-year-old is giving me the stinkeye in that picture LOL. Anyway, highly recommended swim lessons!

Also, a few weekends ago, TheSecondChild and I had a little weekend hiking getaway to the upper peninsula of Michigan. We spent an afternoon on Mackinaw Island riding bikes. Luckily, tourist season was just barely starting — we had the ferry to the island all to ourselves, but the return trip was full. I can’t imagine how crowded it must be in the summer. We were there at the perfect time too — there were lilac bushes all over the island that were in full bloom — Sooo Beautiful!!!

The second day in the UP, we made a quick stop to see the bears at Oswald’s Bear Ranch. We were worried that it would be a bit Tiger King-ish, but it was pretty interesting and they seemed to be taking good care of the bears. My least favorite part was watching people get their pictures taken with the bear cubs — it definitely seemed exploitative and cheesy, but I guess they have to pay the bills. {Sigh.} It was worth the stop though and I’d recommend it if you’re in the area.

The rest of the day we took a 10 1/2 mile hike in Pictured Rocks National Seashore. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. And, I suppose, for posterity, I should note that halfway through the hike I tripped on a tree root and face-planted on the trail. The mouthful of sand, bloody forehead and scratched glasses weren’t pretty, but it is kinda funny. I was just glad not to have broken anything LOL.

Soooo, if you stuck it out this long, Thank You! It’s been a fun spring and I’m looking forward to summer. I’m hoping to spend lots of time with these yayhoos and maybe get back here a little more often.

Happy Summer!

XOXO,
Anna