In 2009

I seldom sit down to review a year, other than making conversation. But this has been quite a year. And I know that its been quite a year because I began saying that around June- this has been quite a year. I am so grateful to have this space to share the biggest or littlest things in my life and work and I'm downright unworthy of all the encouragement and inspiration I am able to find in your support. For that, thank you so so much. And if you don't mind, if for nothing more than my own tiny benefit, here is a personal, albeit somewhat scattered, review right off the cuff....

In 2009::

::My mother's lymphoma was declared in remission. A fact upon facts that I never managed the capacity to talk about here. We all struggled through, no one more than her, and the whole ordeal has just made me feel like I've joined the human race...joined the common suffering of fear, joined the common elation of completely loving.

::I experienced the first slow splitting of fibers in the delicate netting around my oldest girl as she wades through college applications and does obnoxiously independent things, like having dinner with someone other than her family. What!? Sigh.

::We welcomed our beautiful Roman into the family. My deepest, most mother-ish worries of not having the ability to love another as much as those that I already love was...once again...proven wrong....ridiculously wrong~ the instant he quickly and strongly thrust himself into his own world and gave us a lusty newborn cry to sing away my worries, I was proven wrong. And I cried. And my husband cried.

::We had the first and last family Christmas together in which all 6 children live permanently under our roof...they live with us in this constantly messy, untidy, never completely pulled together, often loud and chaotic, sometimes surprisingly peaceful home. Together.

::I learned my limits.

::My children became better friends.

::We celebrated 16 years of marriage.

::I was surprised a few times when I came home from being away and found that my husband was still here.

::Still here. Just checked

::I learned that book writing is hard. I learned that writing a book inspired by pregnancy and babies is especially hard if you are both pregnant and then have a baby. I learned that doing this and also running a business is even harder. AND. I also learned that writing a book, having a baby, running a business and raising 5 other children, one dog and one canary is much, much harder. I won't mention the remodeling.

::In light of the above, I also learned that nursing a baby and using the bathroom at the same time is not unsanitary, but rather its a very good use of time and takes care of two necessities at once. And is really quite comfortable. Don't pretend you haven't done it.

::I coaxed my angry oldest son down from a 30 foot tree to talk to him about kindness and responsibility on the safety of our front steps while he picked at some pine needles that he brought from the treetop.

::I became a Godmother.

::I talked to old friends much less than I wanted to.

::I crocheted more than I had the time to.

::I learned that a hot bath can wash away a lot more than dirt. I do have the remodel to thank for that.

::I said no to some opportunities for the sake of my family.

::I accomplished some unforgiving, self-imposed deadlines.

::I failed at some stuff.

::I succeeded at some other stuff.

As I type this up, I can't help but mention that a funeral procession is driving by our front yard right now on their way to lay a loved one to rest....

2009, rest in peace. You shaped us a little more than I expected you to. Passing time is bitter, but I'm glad we're saying goodbye.

2010, here we are, nice to meet you. I adore the optimism you demand.

I wish each of you all you need in 2010 to care for yourself and those you love, to be inspired and I look forward to our continuing friendship here!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
with lots of love from your friend Anna~xoxoxox

With love from all of us~

One skein + one afternoon +one baby = one thousand kisses

I have been stealing as many moments as possible in the crochet chair ever since Thanksgiving, and slowly everyone is getting a little layer of love added to their wintry accessories. I need to remind you that I have no real knowledge of what I'm doing when I sit down to crochet anything, and typically just make it up as I go. Maybe everyone feels this way. I think this is why knitting has never stuck with me. It seems less like something you can manipulate like I have been able to get away with when crocheting. My mom has taught me to knit precisely six times and I still haven't gotten comfortable with it. But I do have knit envy, especially when it comes to all those wonderful hand knit socks and lovely sock yarns. I have been using several sock yarns (which I would consider the above) for things that are not socks which feels like a guilty pleasure. All that said, I love a quickie. I fell in love with this skein at my favorite local fabric shop turned local fabric/yarn shop. Yesterday after wrapping up a separate but much longer crochet project, I was in the mood for a itty baby hat.



All I did was make a rectangle of half-double crochet and threw a few scattered bobbles into the mix as I went - the rectangle width is 1/2 of Roman's head circumference, and the height is twice the height I wanted the hat to be. Once the rectangle was complete, I simply folded in half lengthwise and yarn-sewed the sides together. Then I crocheted a 5 stitch-length ribbing all around the bottom edge (great tut here).



Making a pompom at each corner became a must once we tried the hat on young Roman. The yarn is so sweet and woodsy and the rectangle shape of the hat naturally gives you these pokey little ears. So I went with the extra creature addition of pompoms (another great tut for those here with a pompom maker and for those without a pompom maker). I also didn't trim them too neatly so they would look a little scruffy. I encourage scruffiness for baby boys, its who I am.



And the result. Well. The cuteness. I can't stand it. Maybe you can stand it. I. Can. Not. Stand. It. And he is doing the Mowgli thing a lot lately instead of knee-crawling which he has yet to really do. I think he might skip real crawling altogether and go straight to walking one day soon.

My little creature.

More warm wearables to be posted soon! But posting this picture reminded me that I need to go and kiss his chubby little face at once. xxxxxxxo~AM

Home for the Holidays (kindergartern style)

School is officially out. Eleni just jingled (really, she has bells around her neck) all the way up the hill from the bus stop and eagerly pulled out some goodies from a giant crumpled paper grocery bag. Here are some favorites:



This is Peanut-Pretzel-Rudolph.



A torn paper Christmas Tree.



A gift from her K teacher. Do you remember this book? I loved it sooooo much.



"Down fell the snow- plop!-on top of Peter's head."

Each of our kids that can write has written a Christmas list and each of these lists has included "a white Christmas". Oh that sounds easy enough to buy. We might just have to use our imaginations for that one.

hope you're warm and calm in the midst of cold and chaos~ Anna

Flannel Fans Unite!

Wowzers! I had no idea the amount of flannel love that was happening in the universe and feel all has been revealed to me (Jeff and I were eating at our favorite Indian lunch buffet today and overheard a woman sitting by herself, saying very loudly at her cell phone "so much has been revealed to me and I can't wait to share it with you, its amazing". We were without a doubt intrigued and wondered over 4 plates of curried vegetables, rice and naan just what she was referring to. This is a long explanation of why I felt the need to use the word revealed in my first sentence. I just didn't want you to be in the dark about my word choices. I am a caring person like that.)

Anyway.

I decided that accompanying the two winning names of my flannel giveaway should be the full reveal on those sweet little chicks. So above is the Henny Penny & Six Chicks project that is one of the nursery sewing projects in my upcoming book Handmade Beginnings. Underneath Henny's soft, quilted wings are strips of velcro that those little velcro baby wings can attach to before all six babies are rocked to sleep. Sweet, huh? I love this project, and it was the perfect opportunity to use the cozy soft flannels. Now on to those flannels and the two winners!

At 11:39 PM Betsy said...

I have two friends expecting their first babies this next summer and I can't wait to make them baby blankets out of these flannels! I'm hoping one of them is having a girl because the Little Honey Heather is my favorite!

~and~

At 3:19PM Andrea said...

I can't believe there are so many comments already! Well, I should have know...you are amazing and all of us want a chance to holds those flannels in our hands. I do love them all and it is so hard to pick a single favorite. They are all just so beautiful and I am hoping that Santa brings me some in a few weeks. Thanks for being so inspiring and sharing little bits of your world with us!

Congrats Betsy and Andrea on winning a big stack of flannels that will allow you to make Henny Penny & 600 chicks, no doubt! Email me at am.at.annamariahorner.dot.com to claim your loot!

I cannot believe we had over 1500 entires- thats insane! I would send you all some if I could, I really really would. For the rest of you, be sure to drop over to Craftzine before Noon PST on Friday, December 11th and sign up on their mailing list for a chance to win a whole pile of other things that I've offered over there. That could knock a lot of presents off your gift list all at once!




Okay, since I shared a little more from Handmade Beginnings I thought I would also share the promo video that my publisher put together for the book which I whined about profusely not so long ago. In all not so bad, please be gentle. I was so nervous and postpartum and not horribly excited about the ordeal. And I think I said the word BABY about 74 times in the last 30 seconds of the video. Or maybe they edited that in to make sure everyone knows that the book is all about BABIES. The best part of all of it for me is seeing all my little munchkins and the gorgeous photography that is part of this book. Lots to look forward to in 2010.

Have a wonderful evening! with love and thanks as always! xo, Anna

Folksy Flannels for you~(a.k.a. a fabric giveaway!)

**Before I start with some flannel fun and a giveaway, I want to clarify something: The Folksy Flannels collection is a completely different collection of fabrics from both Good Folks (44" quiltweight cotton) and Little Folks (54"voiles, dobby dots). It does combine imagery from both of those collections, but is retranslated into new colorways and is printed on 44" wide cotton flannel. It just so happens that the flannels are shipping before the Little Folks collection which I introduced first and should be shipping before the end of the year last I heard. Is this clarification helping anyone? Better stop before I confuse things more.

We are having a little too much fun with the flannels! These teeny tiny chick brothers & sisters are the smaller part of a book project which I can't share completely yet, since the book isn't out till the spring. But just so you know, they have a very sweet mama and their tiny wings are made of Velcro. There. Thats all yer getting, and the rest will have to wait. Stop it, no, no more.



Besides pajamas, soft toys were some of my first inspirations for these flannels. But they have also proven lovely for patchwork projects as well. My friend Alexia made this beautiful wonky star quilt with the entire Good Morning palette for my market booth. She also made one with the Good Night palette, but I didn't get a piccy of it before it was snatched by my German fabrics distributor for display. (Here's a great tutorial on wonky stars.)

Just a few notes about the sewing and washing- it could just be me, but I do feel like these flannels shrink just a bit more than the standard quilting cottons. Anyone else? That said, it is even more important to prewash them, especially if you are using them in conjunction with other substrates, such as lining a jacket, etc. Once the voiles get here (soon, soon), I can't wait to show you some beautiful options of combining them with the flannels.



Anyway, who wants flannel for free? You can has! I'll send out a full collection of 16 fat quarters to two of you precious people. Leave me a comment, tell me your fav if you want, all of them are slide-showing over here for individual reference. I'll keep the comments open til about mid next week, 'kay?

While we all have the warm fuzzies, how about those loverly people over at Craft for considering me a Star Crafter?! I'm blushing. They have lots of giveaways going on to celebrate the launch of their new site, and more to come, which I'll be helping them out with too! I'll let you know when the Craft/AM giveaway is!

Have a great weekend! xo,Anna

Sees. Wants. Gets.

A pattern he is likely to repeat.

(like me at the pie table.)

hope everyone had a relaxing weekend with those you love~
xo,Anna

Coupla things & Happy Thanksgiving!

Its gonna be a short work week & I wanted to stop in first and share a few things, and if you're on the mailing list, sorry for the overlap in info, suffer through it or click through pilgrim!

* First and most important, I fully intend to wear one of two things over the next several days : an apron : or : a pile of yarn- under which I will be making things I don't need and maybe a few gifts for people who don't need things either.



* I have a new collection of aprons and dishtowels in the shop and I am super excited to say that included in this group are some fun little girl aprons~My girls are always tying my half aprons up to their underarms, so they are giddy with anticipatory-holiday-baking excitement over these!



* Overwhelmed with thankfulness for all that we have, I know I'm not the only one who'd like to spread a little love around at this time of year. And without a doubt there are more families in need these days than ever. We will be donating a portion of all of our kitchen linen sales for the rest of 2009 to help feed hungry families in our area. So this a simple way for you to shop for yourself or to gift a loved one, and help us with a worthy cause.



* My Folksy Flannel collection is here, there and everywhere!

* Be sure and check back in next week for a giveaway and more about the fuzzi-luvi properties of these fabrics. I've been sewing a bit with them for the family and want to share.

In other news:

* Roman just turned six months old and I have given up on the floor quilt thing most days because he seems to find his way off of it before I am back to my chair. For a while the quilts that we put down got bigger and bigger, but now I am realizing that I am just going to have to sweep the floors more.

* Isabela has resolved to keeping her hair long instead of cutting it short because she says its good for thinking. When I asked her to clarify, she said you know when you're taking a math test and you have to run your fingers through your hair to figure out a hard problem. Of course.

* Salt dough is fun. The little girls and I made some a few days ago. I think the dough is smoother and easier to knead if you use a recipe with vegetable oil. (Though could this be why it isn't drying very well? Prolly.)

* I want to paint the dining room white.

* Well, creamy-whitish.

* I'm thinking I should not try to do that before Thanksgiving.

* Though I do think a roasted turkey would look so pretty surrounded by creamy-white walls.

* Roasted turkey fingerprints on creamy-white walls would be less pretty.

* Nevermind.

* I like asterisk-style-writing.

* Less pressure to make sense.

* HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

xoxoxox, Anna & family

And you thought the mountains were for hiking

The mountains are for shopping! Between studio sessions of my class last weekend, the girls and I were able to get in some very enjoyable (a little too enjoyable) shopping. While almost every shop in Gatlinburg boasts an amazing supply of leather, fudge, knives and swimwear, and other's are called Cooter's Funhouse, there manages to also be some serious little jewels among the shopping venues. I found myself in the Arrowcraft shop/gallery 3 times within 4 hours in one day. I could not get enough. The only thing that kept me under control was the fact that we only had two cars to get everything home.



First this gorgeous little vase, is my personal token to remember my time spent at Arrowmont. At the risk of sounding entirely too Zen, it is just so completely what it is. A pure example of gorgeous handcrafted, handglazed pottery of Southern Appalachia.



You can't grow up in East Tennessee as I did and not be aware of the craft history and inherent traditional art disciplines of this region of the country. It seems I was too cool for such simplicity and spent most of my younger years ignoring much of what was around me in search of apparently bigger, presumably more fashionable and deceivingly better artistic endeavors. But walking into this one shop was a little bit like walking into the surroundings of my youth with wiser eyes. Every piece of art and handcrafted item was waiting there in a new light... as warm, lovely and accepting as a great aunt that you've continually forgotten to send letters too.



So what did I do? I hauled half of it home, by golly gizzards!! Just kidding, sort of. But, for instance, these wooden toys for my Roman's first Christmas beckoned from the store shelf more compellingly when I was able to read about the man whose been making them himself for decades as opposed to similar made by who-knows occupying gift catalogs only when trend au currant says they should. Am I making any sense? I felt a connection. Like I wrote already- everything is just exactly what it is and made by folks who are just exactly who they are... a ceramicist, a woodworker, a handloomer, etc.



In a world where so many (including me) try to be and do so much all at the same time, I found the reminder of artistic simplicity so refreshing, beautiful and pure. I don't know where this blanket is going, and I have no need of blankets but it reminded me far too much of the handloomed wool blankets my Greek grandmother used to make (which I must share with you one day) that I couldn't pass it up.



And what is a trip to the mountains without outfitting the feet in a new pair of moccasins? A wasted trip, I tell you! All the girls, littlest to biggest, got a new pair and we're already wearing them in. (I had a pair exactly like Isabela's -second from the left- when I was little.) A perfect layer of warmth between me and an increasingly chilly wooden floor.

Have a warm weekend!, xo, AM

Mrs. Horner teaches a class

I had the privilege this past weekend of teaching a fine art studio class to art teachers from around Tennessee at their annual TAEA conference at Arrowmont School for Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tn. Thats right. I taught teachers. I know. Who would think they would need me for that. Well, my own former h.s. art teacher roped me in to be an instructor for the second year, and it was again, so, so enjoyable. I couldn't have had a more eager group of smart and fun people to work with, eager most likely bc they seldom have the chance to make their own art and naturally they seemed at ease to not be in charge of a bunch of kids for a change. Somehow, I could relate.

The basis for my two-day class was "reinventing textiles" through painting, drawing, and collage as shown in my piece above entitled "remedy". I got to share my fabric scraps (which they devoured like a bunch of students) and then got to watch lots of interesting things happen.



The studio was huge, well lit and made me a bit nostalgic for the good ole art school days. Arrowmont is an amazing, beautiful facility and if you ever get the chance to go and do one of the zillions of workshops they offer every year, you should jump on it. Below are just a few examples of my teachers' ...erhh... students' works in progress.







Joining me in the studio both days (along with Roman in tow) was Juliana, who is never afraid to do her own thing alongside people doing completely different things. I certainly didn't think she would "take" my class, but stealing my chalk!? Come on.



Okay, honestly, most of class time she was working on a graphite self-portrait based on some photographs we did together. She is hammering away at a batch of college applications and portfolios to submit, so she kind of used her time wisely.



Except when distracted by chalk.

The rest of the brood, as led by Jeff, had loads of fun hiking on dangerous trails where signs posted read "falling deaths have occurred", playing arcades, eating corn dogs, going on chair lifts, eating pancakes, dangling from precipices, eating taffy, swimming in mountain lodge indoor pools and all other sorts of things they never would have done had I been in charge.

I think they were so completely glad that I wasn't in charge and I am so completely glad that they all survived. Just barely survived, I am sure to emphasize to Mr. Horner continually.

More on our Gatlinburg shopping next! xo,Anna

Little Folks~Dobby Dots

I am in love with sewing again. I never stop liking it, but honestly I am lurving it again. Plugging my own fabric aside (just slightly), it is just so refreshing to hold new fabrics in my hands that really feel and drape differently than anything I've ever designed myself. I will confess it feels a bit empowering, too, to think it up, do it and then have it in my hands and set into crafted reality what was just a musing of the mind last winter.



More than just the fun, textural, little, nubby dots that run through these 4 "square dance" prints and 8 "pastry line" prints, the joy I am taking by playing out all the uses for that block design in "square dance" is just so satisfying. The goods are 55" wide, and the block is printed in two sizes, on the yardage. 4 of the larger blocks spread side-by-side from selvedge to selvedge, followed by two rows of 8 smaller blocks below and then it repeats. And the yardage is also designed so that either way you cut it, you can keep the squares in line.... leave as is for curtains, cut on the width for borders, cut on the length for scarves, or cut out by the block for quilts, pillow fronts, baby dress panels, blouse yokes....etc. ETC!



And because good enough is never enough, I thought we should have a spectrum of sorts to mix in with all of it. Color names of the "pastry lines" from the top: saffron, olive, water, marine, lilac, magenta, coral, and toast. The scalloped stripes run lengthwise on the bolt.



I would say the weave of this dobby dot substrate is slightly more "open" than the very buttery, tight voiles, but the surface gives almost the tiniest little bit of sheen to them, reminding me of silks.



Itty bitty nubby wubby baby pants.



A dreamy little hemline on a new dress for Isabela....



...which is topped with a dreamy yoke. Not done yet, but lots of these sew-ups are some of the items we'll be using in the print ads for Little Folks, which we'll begin shooting tomorrow.

Thanks for having a look. I feel so, so, so happy to do what I do. Particularly lately. Thanks for peeking in, as you do, and have a lovely evening! xo,Anna

The Color of Stew

I have been so busy finalizing the new patterns and getting them off to be printed, sewing some beautiful clothing with the new fabrics for the girls which will be used for some print ads and just simply trying to keep up with laundry and this house. Normally I don't even include any housework in the list of things I am trying to get accomplished, so even mentioning that here means things are finally starting to slow a tiny little bit after what seems like months of non-stop non-stopness.

Today I insisted upon a slow stew. Which included a slow shop around the grocery with coffee in hand and a sleeping baby in the cart. (Can you think of a better way to shop?) After the ingredient chopping was complete and the bubbling was just beginning, I also insisted upon a slow walk around the yard with my camera. Everything I found through the lens plus the warm smell of beef stew that hit me once I came back in the door reminded me why I seldom feel the need to leave this house. Especially this time of year. But it also inspired me to get out the doors a bit more instead of just looking through them.

And such is the color of our stew.

If you're in search of warm and wonderful slow cooking to inspire your palette/palate, don't forget about the famous soup entry post from about this time last year. A soup cookbook in itself! (and for those of you that skim posts: No. The contest was over a year ago. But we'll come up with a new one here soon.)

Be back tomorrow to continue sharing the rest of the Little Folks fabric family.
g'nite, xo,Anna