March 2015 – Thimbleanna

A Knitting Bag

30 Comments / March 31, 2015 March 31, 2015 / Sewing

Hello Hello! How are things going out there? Warming up? Cooling down for those of you down under? Can you believe March is over? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy about that — March is one of my least favorite months. The only thing that saves it is the First Day of Spring and the TheSecondChild’s birthday. Otherwise, it’s a pretty bleak month in our corner of the world. Lots of windy, cold, unpredictable weather. It does make for good hunker down time though, so that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been wanting to make a new knitting bag for the last year or two, but I’d had a hard time deciding on style and fabric. When Amy posted her Maker bag a month ago, I knew her idea would make a perfect knitting bag. (I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here who loves everything Amy makes — I’d follower her off of a cliff!) I searched all my patterns and found a bag in a Japanese book that I’ve had for awhile. I don’t understand any Japanese and the bag in the book was too small, but luckily they have drawings and dimensions in those books, so I was able to extrapolate and come up with a bigger bag.

I added a few fun little details to the outside of the bag — some embroidered words that I made with my embroidery machine and a few little applique/embroidered knitting motifs that I shamelessly stole from the Vechernie-Posidelki blog. I can’t pronounce the blog name and I can’t read a word she writes, but I can certainly appreciate the beautiful things that she makes. You should definitely pay her (I think it’s a her) a visit!

I also put a zipper in my bag — just to keep things neat and tidy. I don’t think knitting bags usually have zippers in them — there’s probably a reason for that. I guess we’ll see how long it is before I get my project caught in the zipper. That Maker fabric on the zipper gusset is my very. favorite. print. I love it! (Shameless fabric plug: all prints are Art Gallery prints and the brown dot is the moda mochi linen dot in charcoal.)

I opted not to put any pockets on the inside — I’ll make some small little bags to hold knitting tools inside the bigger bag. I did put a pocket on the outside of the bag though — I thought it might be a good place to throw my phone and wallet if I take my bag to a knit night or something. (Hey Quilty Peeps — we need a knit night!)

I also debated what to do about the bag handles. Over the years, I’ve learned that flat handles don’t work very well for me. They get squished and never seem to last long. I finally decided to use the mochi linen and wrap it around cotton cording. Then I embroidered a bunch of little x’s on top of the seam line. It really wasn’t necessary — because the fabric is dark, the seamline was barely noticeable at all. And I doubt it will provide any more stability — if anything, those little x’s will probably wear out first.

Anyway, it looks like a weirdly shaped bag, but I love how it fits over my shoulder. After several unsuccessful attempts to take a picture of it on my shoulder, I finally just hung it on my tripod so you get the idea how it hangs.

It’s just what I was hoping for and I’ve already pressed it into service with a new knitting project. It’s a small project now, but it will grow and so far, there’s plenty of room.

So … Happy April! I hope you don’t get pranked too badly tomorrow!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Spotted Socks

27 Comments / March 22, 2015 March 8, 2016 / Knitting, Socks

Hi There! Did you have a good weekend? Mine went way too fast. It was a good one though. Lots of sewing time, although, I had to call a halt to my little project. I’ve been having fun with my maker fabric, but I decided I didn’t like the zippers I bought, so I’ll have to wait for some to arrive in the mail.

I did finish some socks this past week though. Spotty Socks. Or Dottie Socks.

I saw some socks similar to these in a Mollie Makes issue a few years ago. They were for slouchy socks though and I’m not really a slouchy sock wearer, so I just used my old tried and true sock knitting method. I did add the spots and the little band of colored trim at the top of the socks — just like the originals.

When I first saw the Mollie Makes socks, I thought the dots were knit into the actual sock, but I was surprised to find out that they are little knots. I debated using a french knot, but in the end, I opted for a colonial knot. My french knots often fall out.

These dots might not last long either. They certainly aren’t practical. Want to place bets on how long they’ll last? At least if they start to fall apart, they’re pretty easy to remove. I found that out the hard way — when I was half-way done with the second sock, I realized their spacing was too different from the first sock, so I took them out and tried again.

Anyway, hopefully they’ll be fun to wear — at least for a little while!

I hope you have a good week — March is whizzing by, isn’t it???
XOXO,
Anna

The Aunts’ Quilt – Month 5

20 Comments / March 14, 2015 April 15, 2015 / Cookie of the Month, The Aunts' Quilt

Gosh, I can’t remember the last time I posted just two days after my last post. It’s time for the monthly Aunts’ Quilt update though, so it must be done! Here’s my applique block for this month:

The first pieced block:

And the second pieced block:

I’m still having a lot of fun with these blocks — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them. For my little buddy on the applique block this month, I chose a teeny bee.

But he’s not my favorite part of this block. I Love the pink flower. It reminds me of the Flower Power graphics of my childhood! It was great fun choosing the fabrics for this little flower.

And for the Cookie of the Month, I decided to make Hello Dollys. You probably have a favorite recipe for these cookies — I have one too. Somewhere between making the grocery list and making the cookies, I lost the recipe. Good ol’ google to the rescue! These cookies are known by several different names — Hello Dollys, Magic Cookies, Seven Layer Bars, and probably others. There are lots of versions of this recipe and I’m pretty sure I chose one that’s not exactly the same as my original. I sort of went with the one that was more decadent than the others — more of most of the ingredients — ooooops! Anyway, I used this version, except that I used walnuts instead of pecans. Also, the recipe says to cut the pan of cookies into 12 bars, but they’re so rich that I cut them smaller.

Next month I’ll try to choose a little more sensible cookie. Or one that’s a little less messy — this one probably shouldn’t be eaten while actually sewing, which sort of misses the point. We need these monthly cookies for sustenance while stitching!

Oh, and heads up Auntlets! Is Anne the only one that noticed the missing center on block 4? If you look closely at the cover of the pattern, there are circles in the middle of block 4, but they aren’t on the the actual pattern used to make the block. I totally missed it — good catch Anne! I’ll definitely be adding some circles to my block

Ok ladies — have fun with your blocks next month. This is our last month for big blocks — WooHoo!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Five on Friday

14 Comments / March 12, 2015 March 12, 2015 / Chat

1. A friend of mine had a birthday this week and she shamelessly hinted that she’d sure like our favorite chocolate cake as a little surprise. How could I say no — I LOVE that cake! I think you need to make one too — really — it only looks fattening!!!

2. Have you seen this article about the oldest man in Australia? How wonderful would it be to knit to a ripe old age of 109?

3. Selina posted this quote by Gwen Marston on her Instagram account:

“I love sewing, so I’m not trying to ‘get it over with’. I’m not trying to wrap it up so I can go off and dust.”

I love that! I love sewing too and I love taking my time and enjoying the process. And this quote explains a lot. Why my projects take so long and why this house is SO dusty!

4. I realized that I never showed you what I ordered when I won the Minted.com giveaway over on Amy’s blog a few months ago. I can’t even remember everything I ordered, but I’ve sure been enjoying these little notecards. They’re printed on a beautiful, heavy paper, and I had so much fun choosing a notecard style. I love that get to see those pretty Liberty fabrics when I write a note to someone!

5. And speaking of Amy, I’m holding her responsible for the latest round of fabric that has arrived in my little Thimbleanna shop. A few weeks ago she posted about the new Maker line by Art Gallery Fabrics. Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVE this line and I had to have some of it. And while I was ordering from AGF, my fingers slipped and I ordered a few other prints too. Here are just some of the new prints in the shop:

And when I saw Hello Bear, I couldn’t help myself. I mean Come. On. It’s BAMBI. And her Mother!!! (I’ve had this problem with deer fabric before LOL.) Just tooooo sweet.

So…if you love these fabrics as much as I do, skip on over to my little shop and I’ll hook you up!

That’s it! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I plan on being a Maker!
XOXO,
Anna

Itty Bitty Churn Dash

23 Comments / March 7, 2015 March 7, 2015 / Liberty Love

Thanks for all the Liberty Bib love! As I mentioned in my last post, I also made a few quilt blocks when I was making the bibs. I made some of these little 3″ Churn Dash blocks a month or so ago and I wasn’t sure if I’d want to continue making them. I think a quilt of hundreds of these little blocks would be so cute. I posted those first three on Instagram, wondering if I would be dead before I could make enough for a whole quilt, and the comments were so fun and supportive that they sent me over the edge. They’re time consuming little blocks, but, as Jan said, if I just keep chipping away at them, sooner or later, I’ll have enough to make a big quilt.

So, now I have a plan. I think I calculated that I’ll need around 360 of them. I’ll probably start out making three of each print and work on them for the next few years. They’re just so sweet and I love them!

I had a question about the dimensions of these little blocks, so I thought I’d show you how I made them — in chalkboard form.

Cut your pieces as indicated.

Just a little summary ;-D.

Stitch pieces together (right sides together!) as indicated. For the squares, draw a diagonal line on each of the 2″ white squares of fabric, pair each with a print fabric, and then sew a 1/4″ line on each side of that pencil line. Then cut along the pencil line.

Using your favorite method, square those little half-square triangles up. They should measure 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ when you’re done. It’s a tedious job, but it makes your final square so much more accurate!

Another summary. Be sure you’re pressing your seams to the print fabric side (we don’t do open seams in ThimbleannaLand!). Cut that 6″ strip into four 1 1/2″ lengths.

Sew together as indicated.

Press seams in the direction of the arrows.

Sew together as indicated. If you followed pressing instructions, your seams should nest right up against each other.

And … you’re done! Press those last two seams as indicated by the arrows.

Itty Bitty Churn Dash blocks are fun. Especially out of beautiful Liberty fabrics!

And, if that wasn’t fun enough, I thought you might like a picture of the squirrel buffet that BigDaddy is running at his house. This is the view from the kitchen table — MeMum and BigDaddy can eat their breakfast and dinner with the squirrels just 12 feet away. You can’t see it in the picture, but, just to the left of the feeder is a small Chinese Maple tree where there were two more squirrels waiting for their turn at the feast. BigDaddy loves his animals — No Squirrel Left Behind!

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Month: March 2015

“I love sewing, so I’m not trying to ‘get it over with’. I’m not trying to wrap it up so I can go off and dust.”