Thimbleanna – Page 86 – My little online diary.

My Washer is Possessed

37 Comments / April 10, 2011 April 21, 2011 / Quilting

It’s a beautiful weekend here in ThimbleannaLand. I spent a little time working on my Bliss quilt yesterday. I’m pretty happy we didn’t get rid of the ping pong table when the boys grew up and left home. I’d rather have a basement full of noisy boys making a mess of things, but at least the table knows it’s still well-loved.

All was not sweetness and light yesterday though. As you may know, I’m a pre-shrinker. I ran out of pre-shrunk solid red fabric, so I threw another piece into the washer. Lookie what happened! (Warning: Objects in mirror picture are closer redder than they appear.)

Can you see the difference? I washed the fabric all by itself, but it came out of the washer with some blue added and now it’s a little wine-y looking. ??? So, now I’m afraid of my washer. Something’s in there. Maybe I should call Quiltbusters.

And totally unrelated, yesterday I was blog surfing and saw a little embroidered bunny which made me think of a little Fat Bunny I embroidered for MeMum years ago. About thirty minutes later, I came across Wendy’s cute Fat Bunny, which I thought was funny, so I took a picture of MeMum’s well-loved Fat Bunny.

I put him into a simple one-patch quilt (made just like Isabelle’s quilt) nestled among 30’s repro flannels. Big one-patches (these are about six-inches) are really fun to make — especially with a little embroidery thrown into the mix.

Now I’m off to pick up sticks in the yard — it’s going to be ridiculously warm here today. I hope you’re having a good weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

I Played Hooky

46 Comments / April 6, 2011 April 6, 2011 / Crocheting

Finally, there’s been a little project finishing here in ThimbleannaLand. I managed to sneak in some crochet time last weekend and finished the fun rainbow stripe bag from Attic 24.

While was working on the stripes for the body of the bag, I really didn’t like the way the colors were stacking up. Even up to the top of the bag I was a little worried. But, the scalloped edge seemed to pull it all together and now I love it.

The pattern is very easy to follow and it was pretty darn fun to work on. It’s a perfect pattern for tv watching, as it doesn’t require much concentration. It’s fun to have a bag now to carry my balls of yarn — while I was working on the bag, the yarn was just in a big ol’ plastic bag.

So, blowing kisses and a big fat Thank You to my Brilliant Invisible Friend who selected all the yarns and sent them to me in a swap.

In other news, we had a bit of excitement around here the other night. TheManoftheHouse happened to glance out the window and he scared me when he said “Holy Cow! There’s a turkey in the backyard!”. I jumped up, grabbed my camera and rushed outside to take pictures of not 1, but 4 turkeys. After 3 or 4 shots, I realized I didn’t have a memory card in my camera. Doh! I rushed inside, grabbed a card and ran back outside. By which time, the turkeys were two houses away — so … sorry for the blurry shot.

In all the years and houses we’ve lived in here, we’ve never had the fun of seeing wild turkeys. They aren’t cute like deer or furry animals, but it was still exciting!

Oh! And have you seen the “new Pips”? Aneela has shown a sneak peak of her new fabric line and it’s adorable. And here’s a little Pip Tip (ha!) — I don’t want to cause a stampede or anything, but if you see Pips and you think you want them, you should probably get them. It used to be that you could find quilt fabrics for years after their debut, but now, they don’t seem to last very long and that drives me crazy. I don’t think the hype was intentional in this case though (or I should say, more intentional than normal) — I just think someone seriously underestimated how well-loved the Pips were going to be!

XOXO,
Anna

Photo Scavenger Hunt: March

41 Comments / April 3, 2011 April 3, 2011 / Photo Challenge

WooHoo! It’s April! And the end of the March Hangover. I was running late all month, and that includes finishing my photos for the March Photo Scavenger Hunt, hosted every month by Kathy. So, here are my shots:

Peeling paint: A window on our house. I paint it every other year, then it peels. Two years ago, we had real painters and Mr. Painter said that whoever painted this trim strip before him didn’t use primer. I begged to differ since it was me. And now? It looks like Mr. Painter didn’t use primer. Joke’s on him. There’s just something weird about this piece of trim — it’s the only spot on the house that must be constantly painted.

A shadow: From my serger thread rack in my sewing room.

Something as old as me: A quilt that MeMum made for me just before I was born. I wish you could see her embroidery up close and personal — it’s gorgeous. Her friend drew the scene — it’s Winken, Blinken and Nod.

An extra close-up photo. Isn’t it cute?

A ring: A little ring that BigDaddy bought me when we visited The Big Pit in Wales. I wear it on my pinkie and I love it.

A rainbow: Not happ’nin here in March. So I made my own.

A lamb: Dorothy, we’re not in Scotland! I don’t know any real lambies around here, so you get my knitting tape measure.

A lion: Well, I would have been perfectly happy to pay the entrance price to our local Children’s Zoo so that I could take a picture of the lions, but they’re closed for the winter. So, since TheEmptyNestChild thinks he’s a lion, I made him wear a homemade mane. Poor Guy.

A fancy gate: Not fancy as in ornate, but fancy as in big.

A collection: This is ThimbleannaLand, after all. This is MeMum’s collection and she was none too happy that I didn’t give her time to polish her thimbles.

Something sentimental: My grandma’s apron hanging in my pantry. She died when I was 17 and I still miss her. I love to wear her apron when I need good cooking karma.

An empty chair: How ’bout a bunch of empty chairs waiting for spring so they can go outside (to be ravaged by nest building squirrels)?

Something green: Our chives are bravely peeking out into the chilly spring air.

You can view all of the other entries for the Photo Scavenger Hunt in the flickr group. I love to see all the different interpretations of the list from all over the world.

Have a great week!
XOXO,
Anna

Oooh, and did you see the google banner today? Celebrating the 119th anniversary of the ice cream sundae. I think it’s adorable!

Drowning

45 Comments / March 30, 2011 March 30, 2011 / Chat

Arrrrgh! Sorry I’ve been gone for a few extra days there. There’s just so much going on around here, I’m having trouble keeping my head above water. I’m way overdue on choosing the winner of The Quilter’s Bible Book, although that hasn’t seemed to disturb many of you. Apparently you’re all busy too!

So, The Random ManofTheHouse Generator came up with Becky as our big winner. Becky mentioned in her comment that she’s fairly new to quilting and this book is perfect for a beginner, so I’m really happy that she’s won. Congratulations Becky!

Not a stitch of sewing going on around here. Lots of appointments for cabinets, floors, appliances, drainage people (that’s for outside, not the kitchen!) etc. It’s hard to keep it all straight. We’re slowly making some headway though.

Appliances have been ordered and cabinet changes worked out. Still need to choose flooring and the countertop decision is probably going to kill me. I just can’t seem to figure it out. There are too many choices and they all have their pros and cons. I think the best thing to do is put them all up on a wall and throw a dart.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to sew or crochet or do some little thing with a needle this weekend — I can tell I’m having needle withdrawal and I’m getting cranky. As you can see, I’ve been reduced to playing with LegoMan. I guess if you’re going to drown, doing it in buttons is a pretty good way to go!

XOXO,
Anna

Better Late Than Never

61 Comments / March 25, 2011 March 25, 2011 / Chat, Recipes

Well, how did the week go? It was a stressful one in ThimbleannaLand. Big layoffs at work yesterday and it was very sad to see some of my friends lose their jobs. Especially in this economic climate where it will be hard to find a new one.

So, it’s in that frame of mind that I’ve read several posts on several different blogs about the “Dumbing Down of Quilting”. I’m too lazy to look up the links, but I’ll bet a google search will get you there. I think both sides of the argument have valid points. I get that a lot of what we see on blogs seems simple and without challenge. I even roll my eyes when I see another “pattern” pop up for a square-in-a-square quilt. And I get really frustrated when something appears with the idea that it’s a new concept. There’s really very little that’s new in quilting. Our grandmothers nailed most of the geometric shapes out there, a long time ago. (Although part of the original complaint may have included “art” quilts, that’s not what I’m talking about here.)

On the other hand, someone, somewhere made the statement that we need to push ourselves and do something more challenging. If we’ve made tons of quilts with half-square triangles, we need to move on to applique, or something like that. Really? Do I NEED to do that? I love a good challenge….I like to make different quilts….but is it required that I do that? If I’m perfectly happy to just make big ol’ one-patch quilts for the next three years then shouldn’t that be ok? (The simple quilts are still some of my very favorites.) I’ve been sewing a long time — I’m pretty sure I have the skills to make most of the more “challenging” quilts. So, I hope if I make an “easy” quilt that it will be ok. Or if I make a quilt with a fat quarter stack, that that’s acceptable. It’s not that I don’ t enjoy picking my own fabrics. I LOVE scrappy quilts and almost all of my quilts have been scrappy. I do understand that using precuts seems lazy and dumbed down — I’ve even complained about it before. But sometimes, a collection comes along that I love so much, I just want to have fun playing with that collection and only that collection (re: Bliss. And if I could come up with something, The. Pips.)

Well, that’s my two cents worth. I could ramble on, but in the big picture, I think we’re all just taking ourselves a bit too seriously. Quilting should be whatever you want it to be, but most of all FUN. If you can sell a pattern for something that I can draw up with a little graph paper, then more power to you. I might roll my eyes, but you go girl LOL!

Ok, at the risk of dumbing down our cooking, I have my late entry for Randi’s Recipe Box Swap. I love a challenge in the kitchen, but after a long day at work, I want something simple. My good buddy Gurney (who is a fabulous cook — I’m so lucky that all my quilty peeps are awesome in the kitchen) gave me this recipe years ago and it’s become a family favorite. It’s unbelievably easy and in about 30 minutes(during which time, you can be watching tv or whatever), you can have a delicious dinner. (Btw, Randi requested main dishes, but this recipe is the whole dish — main and sides. Also, Disclaimer #1: This recipe calls for frozen green beans and I didn’t have any, so I didn’t add them to this recipe. We still ate green beans, but they were canned. So….this is a case of “do as I say, not as I do!” ;-) )

Skillet Pork Chops and Rice

4 to 6 lean pork chops
1 – 6 oz. package Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice mix
9 oz. frozen, cut green beans

In large skillet, over medium high heat, brown pork chops on both sides; remove and set aside. In same skillet, combine rice mix ingredients and water according to package directions; bring to boil.
Place pork chops on rice mixture.

(Disclaimer #2: Your pork chops sitting in the wild rice mixture won’t look exactly like this — I inadvertently added too much water. Not to worry though, I siphoned the excess off, and as you can see in the first picture, it all turned out just fine.)

Reduce heat; simmer covered 20 to 25 minutes or until pork chops are tender. Arrange green beans around edge of skillet. Cover; simmer an additional 7 to 10 minutes until water is absorbed and beans are crisp tender.

Thanks for a great recipe Gurney!

Have a good weekend …
XOXO,
Anna