Quilting – Page 3 – Thimbleanna

A Picnic Quilt

12 Comments / July 7, 2019 July 7, 2019 / Around the House, Quilting

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve had a quilt finish, but here’s one for the summer. Knowing that TheFirstChild and his little family would be moving here this summer, I felt the need for a picnic quilt to use in the backyard when the grandbabies come over to play. I started this quilt a month or two ago and finished it just a few days after the move was completed — perfect timing!

This quilt was so quick and easy, I almost feel like it’s cheating to call it a quilt finish. I’ve had a big pile of blue jeans that I’ve been hoarding for years. (I know this because when we lived in Minnesota over 20 years ago, TheManOfTheHouse and I used to play a little game with his jeans when they were worn out. He would put them in the garbage and I would sneak them out and into my hoard. Sometimes he would catch me and throw them out again, but I always won LOL.) Anyway, I finally cut into some of those jeans. I cut my pieces into 8″ squares and then pieced them into 10 rows of 10 patches, making this a finished quilt just under 75″ square.

The backing is a piece of fabric that I bought at Ikea several years ago after seeing someone post it on the internet. It’s a heavier weight than normal quilting cotton, and I bought it thinking that someday it might make a cute backing for a picnic quilt. Sometimes, my plans actually do get implemented! I used DMC cotton thread (in pink, green, yellow and orange) and big-stitch quilted the squares in a big “X” pattern. Here’s an in-progress shot on the quilting frame.

Quilting through denim wasn’t exactly easy, but I ended up taking just one stitch at a time and using pliers to help me pull the needle through, so it didn’t seem so bad.

This was a really fun quilt to make! And the best thing is, it’s already been pressed into service. Grammy had a little babysitting session this afternoon, so we had to break-in the new quilt and have snacks in our secret little place under the Ugly Tree. It was perfect!

Happy July (Already)! And Happy Picnicking!!!
XOXO,
Anna

The Happy Flower Quilt

13 Comments / November 18, 2018 November 18, 2018 / Quilting

Whoosh! Just like that another month has whizzed by and Thanksgiving is upon us. I would ponder where October went, but really, where did the whole year go? It’s been a busy year here, but I always try to slip in as much time for sewing when I can — otherwise, I get grumpy LOL. I finished the Happy Flower Quilt top a few months ago, and I love it!

I participated in an online quilt-a-long run by Ms. Pretty By Hand. Over the course of a year, we completed 2 blocks a week (there are 99 blocks in the quilt) and when we were done, we were on our own to finish the borders. I loved the quilt-a-long — it’s always nice to have a goal, and doing 2 blocks a week was doable and fun. The pattern was from the book Happy Flower Quilts by Atsuko Matsuyama.

I used lots of my favorite scraps and many Japanese prints that I had in my little etsy shop. (There are several more prints scheduled to arrive this week — they’re so cute, I wish they’d been in time for this quilt!) I loved every minute of sewing these little blocks — so many cute patterns.

Each week we completed one pieced block and one applique block which was surrounded by a border. I chose to use the same pink that the original book used for the little border strips.

I debated a long time about what fabric to use for the big borders. I originally wanted a check print like the one used in the book, but I couldn’t find one that I liked, so I decided to stick with the Moda Bella Betty’s Pink that I used in the little block borders. I think it will work great and will really show off the quilting.

I’ve also really been debating how to quilt it. When a quilt has this much hand stitching in it, I can’t bear to have it machine quilted, so it will be hand quilted. I’ve seen some really cute in-progress quilts on Instagram that are using big-stitch quilting, so, I might do that. Or, I might do fine hand quilting. That would only take me until I’m dead LOL. Maybe I’ll just ship it off to a hand quilter — we’ll see.

I do have a favorite block, just FYI, lol. It’s the cute little honeybee block below. One of MeMum’s first quilting projects was a honeybee pillow, so I’m partial to the block. I’d love to make an entire quilt out of little 6-inch scrappy honeybee blocks — so Fun!

And now, it’s the sprint to Thanksgiving! The little cherubs are arriving on Tuesday and I’m SO excited. Plus, ALL the kids will be together this week (the first time in several years) so we’re going to be playing with gingerbread. I have a LOT to do — must get to it ;-D!
Have a wonderful week — and a Very Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!
XOXO,
Anna

Baby Makes

13 Comments / October 21, 2018 October 21, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Knitting, Quilting

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a few baby makes for our new little FinallyAnotherGirl. We’ve had such a busy fall, I feel lucky to have even had anything to give our new little cherub. We’ve been busy with house projects and they sure do take a lot of time. The past few weekends, we’ve been working on our garage. We’re finally done, and I think it’s cleaner than our house LOL. At least it’s all ready for winter.

Anyway, back to the baby makes. Long time readers might remember that new babies in our family get tied baby quilts. Our littles seem to like the tactileness (that’s not a word!) of those little ties. I squeaked out two little quilts — one just in time to be gifted at the hospital, and the other a few weeks later.

I used the pink Heather Ross Kindergarten print for the first quilt. I backed it with one of Moda’s Home Sweet Home prints and used an old Sarah Jane print from the stash for the binding. Then I tied it with a pink that, as it turns out, is too dark LOL. But, I still like it anyway, and when FinallyAnotherGirl isn’t in her crib, I think she naps on this little quilt. Yay!

For the second little quilt, I used my new favorite print, Happy Moons from Art Gallery. I LOVE those sweet little moons! I backed it with an old Sarah Jane print, again from the stash, and then crocheted a bobble edge. I’m not crazy about the bobble pattern I used — clearly, I need lessons from my buddy Ms. Cutting Cloth.

There was also a little knitting. I knit a little baby sleep sac out of a variegated pink yarn by Swans Island. The colorway is Cherry Blossom and it was a dream to knit. The pattern is from the Baby Collection book (not an affiliate link) by Kate Osborn and Courtney Kelley.

I paired this little sac with a cute little knit ruffle top from Janie and Jack. (Naturally, it’s on sale, now that I’ve already bought it LOL.)

It’s not a terribly practical design (especially if you want to go anywhere and need to buckle baby up in the car seat) but I just thought it was really cute. And I remember how much fun it was to pat my little babies’ behinds when they were wearing a cozy knit garment. Or, maybe it’s just me LOL.

I have lots of other baby things I want to make — baby makes are my very favorite. I just need more time. And with that C-word holiday looming, it doesn’t look like there will be much spare time to be had. ;-(

Have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

Finally A Quilt

19 Comments / July 11, 2018 July 11, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Quilting

Ooooh Look! I made it back here in less than a month’s time LOL.

AND, I actually have a finish — a big finish for me. I Finally finished the baby quilt for FinallyAGirl. Behold, The Proof:

I took pictures outside the other day and the sun was pretty bright, so these pictures leave a lot to be desired. But hopefully, you can see some of the details of the quilt. It’s very traditional — I do love an Irish Chain style quilt. And, of course, I had to use Pink. Scrappy Pinks. It’s mandatory after years of sewing non-pink things! It’s all hand-quilted and it took a little more than a year to finish all the stitching. (Because I’m sl-o-o-o-w). I quilted it pretty traditionally too — heavily with lots of 1/4″ quilting around the shapes.

I filled in the spaces around the stars with little hearts, and then I put a little star hanging from a moon in the middle of the stars. Apparently, I filed the little moon idea away years ago, because SweetiePie and I were looking at the baby quilts that MeMum made last week, and she’d put that same moon with star in a quilt for TheSecondChild when he was a baby. Here’s a terrible picture, but, you can see the details of the quilting on the star.

The back and binding are adorable little prints from Lakehouse/PamKittyMorning. Oh, how I LOVE those prints! I sure wish Lakehouse would start making fabrics again!

I gave the quilt to FinallyAGirl last week when they were here. Here she is (wearing her piggies!), wondering why I’m making Grandpa hold the quilt up LOL.

And I have an amazing Grandma Tip for you. ‘Cause us Grandmas need to stick together. This isn’t an original idea — I get my best ideas from other Grammies and Grandma Extraordinaire, Ms. Farmhouse, was the first to tell me about this gem. The Bouncy House. If you need a great gift for your littles, This. Is. It. We got this for FinallyAGirl (and her future sister(!)) for her second birthday and it was a huge hit. We had SO much fun all weekend playing in it. It’s rated for up to three children up to 8 years old, but Ms. Farmhouse said it’s ok for an adult to sit in there. So we took turns LOL. FinallyAGirl was so shy and careful at first, but by the end of the weekend, she was jumping like the crazy two-year-old that she is. Anyway, highly recommended!

Must run and make dinner — Hope July is treating you like a million bucks!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Memory Quilts

31 Comments / January 7, 2018 January 9, 2018 / Family, Quilting

Sometime right before Thanksgiving, MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I were looking at a few things of BigDaddy’s and we decided (maybe in a fit of madness?) that we should make quilts from his shirts for his 5 grandchildren. We decided on a simple 4″ patch quilt pattern and spent a few weeks sorting and cutting. We worked away at our little project and by Thanksgiving, we had the quilt fronts all pieced. As the mother of 2/5ths of the grandchildren, I lucked out and only had to make 2 of the quilts.

I tried to compensateMyDadLovesMeBestSister for her extra work by piecing all the backs. BigDaddy was known for some of his funny sweatshirts, so we decided to include a few of each on the quilt backs. (My favorite was a shirt with a dog skeleton that said “In Dog Years … I’m Dead.” Or, “If a man is talking in the forest, and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?” Classic BigDaddy!) We chose a blue flannel for the main part of the backs, and I used my embroidery machine software to digitize BigDaddy’s signature with a message that he’d left on a card to one of the kids. We also included a pocket on the back of each quilt, and into each pocket we tucked a few treasures for each child (now young adults) from their beloved Grandpa.

I chose to big-stitch the two quilts that I had to finish, but MyDadLovesMeBestSister knew that she’d never get three quilts hand quilted, so she decided to tie hers. I love them both ways! I also bound my two quilts with a print from MeMum’s stash — to add a MeMum touch to the quilts, and I love how they turned out.

Quilts made out of shirts aren’t that fun to make and they’re certainly not at all pretty. I mentioned these quilts to Jan shortly before Christmas and she compared this sort of quilting to sewing on buttons or hemming pants. Indeed.

But. Sometimes the payoff is really BIG. MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I predicted that there might be some tears on Christmas morning and we nailed it. I had big plans to take lots of pictures of all the kids holding up their quilts, etc. but the flu wreaked havoc with the rest of the week. It didn’t matter though — I took a few photos when the quilts were opened. The one below is my favorite — you can see at least two criers in this shot and there were more to follow LOL. It was a really fun and special Christmas morning.

Now Christmas projects are all over and we’re at a new year. A clean slate. Are we working on UFO’s or new projects??? Decisions, Decisions!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. The adorable Puppy Love fabric by Anita Jeram (the illustrator responsible for those darling little P.S. I Love You Rabbits!) has arrived in my etsy shop. It’s accompanied by an adorable minky-style plush puppy spot fabric. Oh, the possibilities!!!