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Woohoo — anybody besides me excited that the end of the week is here?  It’s Thursday!  Or, as we call it at work, Virtual Friday because we have the day off tomorrow.  Yipee.  Do you all have a plan for the weekend?  I have a list a mile long.  Here’s my top 5:

1.  Knit a bit.  Or a lot to finish this sneak peeky project.

2.  Clean a closet or a drawer.  Or many closets or drawers.  However many I can squeeze in without working too hard.

3.  Bind this quilt — another sneaky peek.

4.  Play some Hand and Foot with MeMum. (Our rules are a little different, there are many variations of Hand and  Foot.)

5.  Pre-shrink this yummy pack of fabric.

I know that many of you aren’t pre-shrinkers.  Even some of you who are near and dear to my heart (you know who you are and don’t worry, I won’t out you here.)  Becky from Piece O’ Cake blog wrote a great post today on just why you should pre-shrink everything.  You really should run over there and read it.  I thought it would be funny to re-create her picture with her pre-shrinking supplies, but to my horror I found that I’m out of color catchers.  They’ve been added to the grocery list for this weekend.  Whew.  So, in place of the color catchers, I’ve put my soon-to-be-clean bundle of fabric.  It’s Noteworthy by Sweetwater.  And then I realized that I put my bottle of Retayne in my picture instead of my bottle of Synthrapol.  Use your imagination, I’m not going to go re-take that picture!

I should be able to get at least that much done this weekend, don’t you think?
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. If you were following along last year with the Aurifil Embroidered Block of the Month, you’ll be happy to know that Pat Sloan has sewn our blocks all together into a cute quilt top. Go take a look!

P.P.S. Someone out there sent me an e-mail asking about the wedding quilt.  If you’re out there, I’m so sorry, I accidentally hit the delete button and I don’t even know who you are to respond, so please send me another e-mail and I’ll try not to be so clumsy again!  ;-D

…a potato peeler all have in common???

Well, they’re all new goodies here in ThimbleannaLand.

Yarn:
I’m a sucker. When I got an e-mail saying Allison had a new Lorna’s Laces yarn in her shop I had to run down and buy some. And do you know why??? Because some brilliant marketer named it Downton Abbey, that’s why.  Lead me to the slaughter.

I couldn’t help myself. But the colors are pretty. She doesn’t have many skeins left but she said more will be coming soon. If you have to have some too, you can order it here.

Fabric:
The new charm packs for Glamping and Avalon have arrived. I immediately ran to the dungeon and laid out some of the Glamping charm pack in my favorite easy quilt pattern, just to check it out.

There are a ton of patterns out there for charm packs. Just yesterday I saw Amy’s new Square Knots quilt and it has me re-thinking my layout. And this Square Dance pattern from Amber is super cute too. What to do, what to do.

I LOVE this Avalon fabric. I’ve never paid much attention to the Fig Tree fabrics in the past, but there’s something about this new line.

Can you tell which print is my favorite? (Hint: the little rosebud LOL.) It reminds me of Amy.

If you’d like some Glamping or Avalon charm packs, I’ve put some in my teeny little store. They’re $1.00 off of suggested retail. These fabrics aren’t due to be released until February and March — be the first on your block to have a quilt made from either line!!! ;-D

Potato Peelers:
Behold, my trusty old potato peeler of 30+ years.

I’ve LOVED that potato peeler, but as you can see, her blades are getting pretty thin in the middle and for the last few years, she hasn’t been in top form. I bought a new little peeler about a year ago, but it’s been such a struggle. It’s a piece of crap. Even the extra cooks here in the kitchen at Christmastime complained. I’d resigned myself to crappy potato peeling for the rest of my life.

But then, after Christmas, I had a little extra Williams Sonoma money to spend, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and buy their ridiculously expensive potato peeler.

The clouds have parted, the angels are singing, and I’m in heaven! It’s a fantastic potato peeler. Like peeling butter. Just thought I’d let you know, in case you, like me, had given up on ever finding a good potato peeler.

Ok…off to do a little quilting…yipee!  Have a good weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

How does that merry-go-round saying go? Sheesh! It was another crazy week here with no time for posting. Big Daddy is FINALLY home — Yipee! So, it was a busy, busy week of work and helping him re-adjust to the homefront. I’m ready for things to get back to normal — I’ll go back to my regular work schedule tomorrow (no more 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. for me – WooHoo!) AND I can get back to my workout classes at the end of the day. Who knew I’d miss all that aerobic torture???

So, a little random after the crazy stuff:

— I was browsing Country Living magazine one afternoon in the hospital and came across this cute Thimble necklace project. This is right up the ThimbleannaLand alley!

— The last six weeks have been so hectic, we haven’t even been able to mourn the end of the Hostess company. Everyone is bemoaning the loss the The Twinkie. Hello??? Who cares about twinkies??? What about the Ding Dong??? Nature’s most perfect food. I can’t even buy a Ding Dong to take a memorial picture. I’ll have to live with my Ding Dong picture where I defiled her beauty with a dollop of pesto. Clearly I wasn’t thinking.  Please.  Can we have a moment of silence?

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— When I said I’m ready for things to get back to normal, were you laughing hysterically? As if that could happen with the holidays coming. Have you “started” yet? I dipped my toe into shopping yesterday and did just a wee bit of decorating today. There’s no way I’ll get everything done that I want to do and it makes me a little (ok, a lot) sad.

— We have a Hamburger on our tree and it makes me happy. ;-D

— I started a pair of socks that I forgot to show you. So, I hung them on the tree. What would you think about having a tree of UFO’s? Do you think we’d get them finished any faster???

Have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

P.S. Oooh, I didn’t make it here to post last week, but don’t forget that the last 3 Aurifil Christmas ornaments are available!  Bari made some super cute ice skates, Roseanne has an adorable God Jul Tompte, and Sarah has a fun little Summer Santa (’cause she’s down under!)

Hey kids — another whole week has whizzed by! Sadly, due to the schedule I’ve been keeping (plus gift knitting that has to remain a secret) I don’t have much to show for the missing week.

But if it’s a Tuesday in November, that means it’s time for three more ornaments in the Aurifil blog hop.

Check out these cuties:
A mitten from the LizzieB Girls
A reindeer from Victoria Findlay Wolfe
And candy canes with an adorable button topper from PamKittyMorning!

One thing I did do this week was play the The Compound Word Project. Did you play? It was Oh So Fun but Holy Cow! I sucketh! Bigtime! I failed miserably and now I’m looking for Compound Word Project Remedial training. If you missed round one stay tuned, Ali is gearing up for a round two and you won’t want to miss it!

Now a word from our sponsors. Not really. But PaulKitty and TheEmptyNestChild wanted to say hi to BigDaddy.  (Aka, I wanted to put their pictures here so I could show them to BigDaddy.)

Thanks for all of your continued kind words about BigDaddy. We’re optimistic that he’ll be coming home next week so there IS a light at the end of our tunnel!

And for all my US friends, I hope you all have a Very Happy Thanksgiving this week. We have a LOT to be thankful for here in ThimbleannaLand and I hope you do too!

XOXO,
Anna

Hey Kids — just popping in here for a few tidbits today. First things first. If you’re in the US today, I hope you’ve voted. (Unless, of course, you’re voting for the wrong candidates, in which case, you should probably just stay home because I’ve cancelled out your vote. Har. Har.)

The November Aurifil block of the month is up. Run on over to the Aurifil blog and see the cute block that Emily Crier has cooked up!

And, last but not least, most of the same Auriful group have gathered together to bring you some fun little Christmas ornaments to stitch together for the holidays. They’re quick, easy and perfect for gift giving.
We will be bringing you 3 blogs each Tuesday for four weeks…that’s 3 ornaments each week for a total of twelve perfect little bits of holiday cheer!

The fun starts today with Sherri Falls, Gail Pan, and Amy Ellis.

Of course … there are prizes, too! Aurifil has given us thread sets that will be given away at the end of the blog hop. In order to be in the winner’s circle you need to comment on each of the three blogs each week … winners will be chosen from those who commented after the blog hop is over.  One of the cool things about these ornaments is that they are all the same size and use the same basic pattern … the only thing that changes is the stitched design. When you’re all done you’ll be able to fill a small tree … or carefully pack them in an envelope and mail to someone special.  I’m excited to see what everyone on the team creates!

Must run — my days and nights are a blur of work and rehab hospital (Yay! BigDaddy is out of the regular hospital – now, if he would just let me get some sleep at night — one hurdle at a time!) but I have been working on a few little projects.  I’ll be back soon for a peek!

XOXO,
Anna