October 2010 – Thimbleanna

A Post for Ms. Dotty

55 Comments / October 26, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Crafting

It’s here! It’s here! It’s Quilt Market Week! I’m so excited to go to market and see Kellie and Jan again — in the famous words of the Pretty Woman, “I could pee my pants”! Our booth location promises to be really fun — sandwiched right between (and by between I mean front and back, not side by side) Anna Griffin and Ty Pennington. (Did you guys know that Ty Pennington has a new line of fabrics out with Westminster???) I fly out tomorrow — hopefully — we have high wind warnings here. On the plus side, we had about 30 minutes of rain today. Weak, but we’ll take it.

So, since I have nothing else for you, I thought I’d show some painted boxes for Ms. DottyCookie. A month ago Ms. Dotty posted about things she’d painted when she lived in the states and she showed a piece that was designed by Betty Caithness. I told Ms. Dotty that I love Betty and have painted several things of hers. Ms. Dotty asked to see them…so, here ya go….

This is the box that started my Betty Love. I adore nursery rhymes, fairy tales and children’s stories, so when I saw the Humpty Dumpty box, I couldn’t resist. I had to paint it. It’s hard to see, but the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme is painted around the black band on the side of the lid.

A fruit box that I painted long ago. I’m even sort of wondering if this is a Betty Box, but I think it is.

Another fruit box — can you see the bees?

And this box isn’t a Betty Box, but it’s one that I did by altering someone’s used-to-be-country-brown cow jumping over the moon. I painted this as a keepsake box for CuteNiece2 when she was born. I used Betty’s style to paint the rhyme around the box band.

And then on the body of the box, I painted the sky with rambling words about my new little niece and more of the nursery rhyme.

Just like Ms. Dotty, I have an unfinished Betty country scene, but it’s buried in the basement and I’m in a hurry tonight packing. Maybe I’ll dig it out this winter and finish it!

If you’re at quilt market this week, be sure to stop by the Don’t Look Now booth and say hi to us!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Thanks for all your patience with my comment problems. Let that be a lesson to you — never never ever complain about blogger. He will get together with his buddy wordpress and randomly shut off your comments!!!

Flowers and Poetry

24 Comments / October 23, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Around the House, Chat

Is everyone having a nice weekend? I’ve been doing a little yard work — the annual War with the Leaves has begun for 2010. We’re just getting started and I bagged as many as I could for today. It’s SO dry outside, I’m now covered with dust. Crossing fingers for rain tomorrow!

While I was outside, I cut a few hydrangeas and hung them on our back porch door. They’re not nearly as pretty (or as prolific) as they were last year, but they’re still nice.

Since all I have is yard work, I thought I’d mention a few other things. Yvestown wrote an interesting post about twitter and facebook and all points in between. I found myself nodding my head in a vertical manner a lot while reading.

And a few weeks ago, a coworker sent me a link to a video of a 3-year old little boy reciting a “Litany” by Billy Collins on youtube. (Have I mentioned this before? Forgive me if I did — I can’t remember anything anymore. Yesterday morning, I prepared a beautiful sweet and sour chicken meal for the crockpot and then left for work without plugging it in. Grrrr!) Anyway, I LOVE Billy Collins — and this poem too. This little guy is super cute.

(Hmmm, I tried to embed the code, but it says it’s been disabled by request — you can see the video HERE.)

Here’s the poem if you’d like to read along:

Litany

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman’s tea cup.
But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and–somehow–the wine.

–Billy Collins

So…see if you can top that this weekend! {winky}{wink}
XOXO,
Anna

Family Fun

40 Comments / October 19, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Crafting

Thanks for all the Beehive Quilt love! Gosh, I didn’t mean to be gone for so long, but it was a busy weekend. We had a girls getaway weekend in the family — MeMum, MyDadLovesMeBestSister, CuteNiece1, CuteNiece2, SweetiePie and I went to Nashville, Indiana. The weather was perfect, the autumn colors were perfect and we had a wonderful time with lots of laughs. Nashville has lots of cute shops, and more importantly a LOT of good food. We found a candy store (or two) and had great fun with those old fashioned candy cigarettes. Remember those? And fabulous caramel apples — ’tis the season!

A few weeks ago Kim mentioned care packages on her blog and it reminded me that I’d been meaning to get one in the mail for CuteNiece1. Somehow, I never managed to get my little package mailed, so I just took it to CuteNiece1 this weekend.

Pencils, chapsticks, granola bars, a first aid kit, caramel corn, socks, candy corn, orange mini-lights, glitter, a pez witch, a skeleton, and in that little space in the middle on the bottom, a Halloween mini-banner for CuteNiece1’s dorm room.

I love making those little mini-banners — they’re quick and fun. This time I used fabric scraps and instead of gluing them, I used black thread and did a bit of stitching. (If you want to see a SUPER cute banner, check out this adorable banner that Lisa made for her daughter Sarah — I LOVE it!)

Every dorm room needs a mini-skeleton and candy corn, don’t you think? (Looks like he could have used some of that chapstick.)

I wrapped the care package up with wrinkly orange tissue paper and a little pumpkin tag. And lots of opportunity to use some orange and black Divine Twine! (You knew I’d have to have a shameless plug, didn’t you? Sorry, but it’s still 20% off and it makes a fun Christmas surprise for your friends!)

Hope you’re having a good week!
XOXO,
Anna

Beehives

63 Comments / October 13, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Quilting

Thanks for all the new header comments — you’re all so sweet! The little pumpkins aren’t candy — they’re from a Dept. 56 accessory pack that I’ve had for quite a few years. It struck me that they’re thimble-sized, so I thought it would be fun for them to play a supporting role in the Thimbleanna header.

I finished my beehive wallhanging! Yipee — I love it when a UFO can be checked off of the list. If you’ve been around here long enough, you might remember that I love beehives (along with Nanette). I think it’s mostly because I was born in the beehive state.

I’ve been wanting to have a few beehive things in my sunroom, so (years ago) when I saw the pattern for the beehives, I thought it would make a nice addition to the wall above the couch. I changed the original pattern (which seems to have disappeared under the piles of crap stuff in the dungeon) a fair amount — for one thing it was a vertical wall hanging and I needed something more horizontal.

When I decided to hand quilt it I was afraid it would take me forever — it’s been just under 2 months though, so I don’t think that’s too bad, considering how slowly I quilt. I really enjoyed the quilting and I’m missing having something to work on in the evenings.

It really is pitiful how long it took me to make this quilt though. I blame it on the day job. In my next life I want to be an applique machine like Janet!

Do you like my little candleholders? I LOVE them. MyDadLovesMeBestSister gave them to me a few years ago for Christmas and they’ve been patiently waiting in their Christmas bag for me to finish the quilt. They both have etched bees on them — just perfect!

XOXO,
Anna

Welcome, Fall

40 Comments / October 10, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Around the House

We’re having a beautiful fall weekend here in ThimbleannaLand. The temperatures have been unseasonably warm, but this week, the trees have started to change and I’m finally feeling like summer is behind us and winter isn’t too far away.

I’ve spent a little time out in the yard today and it seems like Mother Nature is feeling it too. Spider webs are everywhere — not only on a lot of our shrubs, but in the corners of my windows and doors too.

The squirrels are fattening up and busy burying nuts. I’m always happy to see them too busy to be chewing on my patio chairs.

I’m fattening up for winter too. I made homemade bread yesterday and slathered it with some jam that we made a few weeks ago. Yum, Yum. I always crave comfort food this time of year and I blame it on Mother Nature.

And lookieee here! The binding is on my wall hanging. My fingers are sooo happy that the quilting is finally over. Finished wall hanging coming to a blog near you soon.

I hope you’ve been lucky enough to have a beautiful weekend too!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. I’ve also managed to play on the blog a little. A new fall header, and just in time for some of your Christmas sewing, I’ve put all the Bolts of Bella on sale for 20% off.

Month: October 2010

Litany