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C’mon Get Happy

24 Comments / June 19, 2014 June 19, 2014 / Sewing, Store

I’ve had that goofy song by Pharrell Williams running through my head all week. The Happy Song — it’s so, … um … happy haha. (Did you know they call that an earworm when a song gets stuck in your head like that?) Google the Happy Song if you need an earworm too — it’s fun!

Anyway, the reason for all this Happy is the arrival of Surprise!, the fun line of fabric from Riley Blake. I ordered it way back in February and I was really excited to see it at spring quilt market. And now it’s here and I’ve been having fun playing and making some gifts — because a fabric that says Happy Birthday on it is perfect for gifts.

I started with pillow cases. Sooo easy! And I included a little Happy Birthday Tag-It in the seamline. Next up, I want to make You Go Girl’s cute crochet-edged pillowcases with the pink Happy Birthday print.

Then, I decided I wanted to make some little giftbags. (I might be a little obsessed. Like many of you, I love fabrics with words on them and the colors in these prints sent me over the edge LOL.)

Each gift bag took a basically a fat quarter (split between a cute print and the Happy Birthday print) for the bag and a fat quarter for the lining, with a scrap for the binding.

I threw in a little Happy Birthday Tag-it on the gift bag too (’cause they’re like Lay’s potato chips — you can’t stop!).

Anyway, it’s been fun playing and I have a ton of other ideas for this fabric too. Wouldn’t a pincushion or sewing accessories for your sewing buddies be cute on their birthday? You’ve probably already guessed that I have fat quarter packs and some yardage in my little shop. You can make a LOT of those gift bags with a fat quarter pack (free pdf pattern comes with the fat quarter pack).

(And speaking of the shop, if you missed the first order of the little Better Buddy Sewing Cases, they’re restocked and lime green is even an option now too.)

Ok, off to fondle happy fabric. Have a great weekend — it’s almost here!
XOXO,
Anna

June?

26 Comments / June 1, 2014 June 6, 2014 / Crafting, Store

June Junie June. Can you believe it’s June already? My spring has just disappeared in the mist and it feels like we just jumped from winter to summer. It feels that way weather-wise too — it was cold for so long and now it’s pretty darn warm. We’ll take it though, won’t we? It’s been beautiful out there!

I had a busy weekend. SweetiePie dropped in for a short visit. We went shopping for CuteNiece1’s upcoming birthday but I forgot to buy wrapping paper. Pinterest to the rescue ! I found a cute gift wrap that would use the little flower loom that I’ve saved since I was a little girl.

SweetiePie and I played with the loom and I was surprised that I remembered how to make these little flowers. I used leftover yarn from this fun bag. It pays to be a hoarder!

I also managed to do a teeny bit of applique this weekend. I’m working on the center block from Phebe in the book Primarily Quilts by Di Ford. I love using that green and white stripe for flower stems — but you already know that from my last post. I had some of the green stripe from Bonnie and Camille’s Scrumptious line in my stash and I figured I’d use that because the stripe that I ordered at market wasn’t scheduled to be here until the end of summer.

But yesterday, the vendor called and said the stripe I ordered is no longer available. I’m distraught! I REALLY wanted that stripe to use on The Aunt’s Quilt!!! What are WE going to DO???

If it’s any consolation (I don’t think it is?) guess who’s here????

The Ghastlies* arrived on Friday and they’ve already found a friend among my fabric bolts. That’s the 1/8″ black and white stripe from Timeless Treasures. If you’re a fan of Red Pepper Quilts, you recognize this stripe as one of her favorites for quilt bindings. If you need some of either fabric, they’re in my little shop. ;-D

Have a Good Week!
XOXO,
Anna

*As I mentioned when I returned from market, this is rumored to be the last of the Ghastlies line!

Spring Quilt Market 2014: The Fabric

18 Comments / May 18, 2014 May 18, 2014 / Quilt Market Report, Store

Whew! I’ve just returned from quilt market — it was a super quick trip (luckily I’m close enough to drive!) and I even had time to sneak in a quickie visit with SweetiePie. When I arrived at her house, she saw my market bag and started laughing at the fabric I bought from sample spree — and she only saw part of it!

I have lots of booth pictures to show you, but I need to hurry so I can run to MeMum and BigDaddy’s, so I thought I’d just show you the fabric that jumped out at me while I take a few extra days to sort through market pictures. I failed to take pictures of all of the fabric (which is just impossible) and some will appear with the booth pictures.

Blend Fabrics was the first booth, so I’ll start there. As you may know, I love Cori Dantini and her cute little illustrations. She has a new woodland line that includes hedgehogs, foxes, owls, and squirrels. It’s super cute!

She also has a new Christmas line out — I love the whimsical Santa.

Also in the Blend booth, but not new was their Halloween line by Maude Asbury. I’ve always loved those pumpkins and I finally had to get some!

Speaking of Halloween, Alexander Henry has a new Ghastlies line. Rumor has it that this will be the last one. Some of you are thinking “Finally!” and others just can’t get enough. If you’re a collector, this is a fun one. (Coming to a shop near you soon — ha!)

Next up is Moda. Moda always has a lot of new stuff and I love almost all of it! More later, but here are a few of the fabric lines I loved:
Rambling Rose by Sandy Gervais. My photo doesn’t even begin to do justice to the beautiful colors in this fabric. Some of the prints are just so pretty too!

Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille.

Elementary by Sweetwater. I love every. single. print in this collection! {Swoooon.}

Horizon by Kate Spain.

I also love this collection of dots by Moda — what a fun stash enhancer!

Riley Blake has a super cute little celebration line coming out in June. I’m really excited about this Happy Birthday print and I’m looking forward to making some fun things with it.

Then there were the Japanese fabrics. I was so star struck that I hardly got any pictures.

Lecien usually has a new Flower Sugar line and this is the entry for spring 2014.

The fabulous Pam Kitty fabrics are always so pretty they remind me of Japanese fabrics. The new Pam Kitty collection is SOOO pretty. I LOVE the aqua prints!

I also loved this cute little fabric by Dear Stella. How fun would it be to applique (or embroider) clothing for all of those little animals. You could use scraps from all of your children’s clothing that you’ve saved!

And last, but far from least, there was much buzz and commotion about the debut of the Cotton and Steel division of RJR Fabrics. I didn’t get a good close up of their fabric (I’m sure you could google it) but here’s probably the most photographed wall of market:

Ok, more market pictures next time — it sure would have been lots more fun if YOU had been there! If you just have to have a few of those lines before they officially come out at the end of summer, I managed to snag a few extra fat quarter packs at market and I’ve put them in my little etsy shop.

XOXO,
Anna

Wee Wander

46 Comments / March 30, 2014 May 17, 2014 / Quilting, Store

Poor, poor little blog. I would say I can’t believe it’s been 2 1/2 weeks since I’ve posted, but I can believe it. We’ve had another little event with BigDaddy and we’ve had lots of hospital time in the last few weeks. This time hasn’t been as dire as last time, but it’s still been worrisome. After 16 days in the ICU, BigDaddy was finally moved to a regular hospital room today and hopefully he’ll be able to go to a rehab hospital sometime this week. Just like last time, we’ve been lucky to have a visit from our Aunt Ann to help keep MeMum occupied. Unfortunately, she’ll be leaving tomorrow and we’ll be on our own. We’ll manage, just like we did last time, but it’s a full time job for MyDadLovesMeBestSister and I, and it leaves little time for anything else. We’re thinking BigDaddy’s recovery will be a little easier this time, so that’s something to be grateful for!

In the meantime, just before this latest hospital marathon, the Wee Wander fabric line arrived here in ThimbleannaLand. I LOVE this adorable fabric line. Each night I came home from the hospital and had about an hour before bedtime, so I stitched a few blocks at the kitchen table. Sewing is a great way to pass the time when you’re worrying a LOT. All those nights added up and before I knew it, I had a new little quilt top (it looks like it’s crooked, but it’s not — it’s on a design wall that leans back, so the top is farther away from the camera):

I LOVE this sweet fabric line. Sarah Jane has once again captured some of the sweetest moments of childhood. I love the horses and those super cute lightning bugs. I have such fun memories of catching lightning bugs in glass jars when I was a little girl.

And the Deer! The deer are what really sucked me in to this fabric line. You know how people always ask if you remember where you were when President Kennedy was shot, or when the space shuttle blew up? Well, do you remember where you were when Bambi’s father told Bambi that a hunter had killed his mother??? DO you??? I remember sitting in a movie theater, looking up at that huge movie screen in the dark, with tears running down my face. It was such a tramatic event in my over-protected childhood.

And then there was The Yearling. I loooooved that book. What a tear-jerker!!! So, I love deer. Here’s my favorite block in my little quilt:

Yup, that’s Bambi, right there! Here’s another favorite — look at that cute little girl!

In case you feel the need for some Wee Wander fabric, I have some in my little Etsy shop. Unfortunately, the cute blue border fabric is already sold out.

In addition to yardage, I have some half-yard bundles that also contain some coordinating Moda Bella solid fabrics. I wanted to add some yellow for the lightning bug glow and some green to coordinate with the pretty green leaves on the horse print.

Posting will probably be a little sparse around here while we help BigDaddy get better. One good thing about all this hospital waiting is that it’s good knitting time. I’m betting my next post will contain a finished knitting project. ;-D

XOXO,
Anna

Peace. Love. Yoga.

37 Comments / January 15, 2014 February 15, 2014 / Sewing, Store

Hello boys and girls! It’s time to show you the super secret Christmas sewing project that was the most time consuming. Here’s a little hint:

Any guesses?

Ok, I’ll tell you. All the ladies in the ThimbleannaLand family are planning a little yoga vacation this summer so I thought it would be fun if we all had matching yoga mat bags. Altogether, I made 6 bags and it took me several full weekends to complete them.

I think the girls really liked them. CuteNiece2 (who is becoming a certified yoga instructor and will be our own personal instructor on our trip) told me this was her favorite gift, so that was pretty exciting!

I couldn’t find a yoga mat bag pattern that I liked, so I just sort of made one up by looking at commercially available yoga mat bags. Each bag has one long zipper for the mat compartment in the middle and a smaller zipper on one side that opens into a pocket for wallet, keys, etc. There is also an outside mesh pocket for a water bottle or towel or whatever. Here’s a shot of what each side of the bags looks like:

If you look closely, you can see that I personalized each person’s bag with their name. The top bag in the picture above just happens to be mine! ;-D There’s a big long shoulder strap that runs from the top of the bag to the bottom of the bag. It’s sewn down on the bottom of the bag, but on the top it’s left open so that it could be used as a carrying handle if someone wanted to carry their bag in an upright position but not on their shoulder. There are also grommets in the bottom to provide ventilation for the mats. Here’s a shot of the top and bottom of the bags:

You can see that I used Sweetwater’s Make Life print on the ends of the bag. I also used it for the bag linings. It’s one of my very favorite prints ever and I’ve been hoarding a lot of it for a long time. I think the little sayings in the print are perfect for a yoga bag. Like the pencil rolls, I used the Robert Kaufman Essex Linen in Sand for most of the outside of the bags and then chose some scrap fabrics to match the Make Life fabric.

The machine embroidery is a design from embroidery library. We had a lot of peace signs this Christmas ;-D. (They also have a cute Peace. Love. Knit. design that I think would be fun on a knitting bag.)

And just to prove that I really did make six of them, here they are all stacked together. This was really a fun project to sew!

So, that’s the big project and the medium project posted. ;-D There’s still one other little project that I’ll save for next time. I hope you’re having a good week!
XOXO,
Anna

Ooooh, P.S. I forgot to tell you that I got my shipment of Linen Mochi Dots by MoMo from Moda. I LOVE this fabric and if it had been available before Christmas, these yoga bags would have had a very different look! You can find them HERE, in my little etsy store.