Aprons!

Way before Christmas, my youngest son asked me if I could make him an apron.  I found some fabric in a quilt shop back in November, and the plan was to make him an apron and give it to him for Christmas.  Well, other projects took priority, so the apron never got done.  He asked about it again, and I told him I would have it done for Easter.  Of course I put it off again......A few weeks ago, I found more fabric that I thought would make a cute apron.  Since I had already planned to make an apron for Nathan, I decided to make one for his fiance', Amy, as well.

Yesterday morning, the first thing I did was to pin the pattern pieces to the fabric and cut them out.  I had lots to do yesterday, but figured I'd get to it at some point in time.  For me, the worst part is the cutting.  I have made a few aprons with this pattern, and they are very easy to make.

I finished them up after supper last night.  Here there are....... another bad picture, but it is hard to take photos of an apron, unless someone is modeling them... and it is windy out today!

I used Mary Mulari's Favorite Reversible Apron Pattern.  The reverse side is solid black...Both sides have a nice, generous sized pocket in the center.

Well, this photo is even worse, but at least maybe you can get an idea of the other side.

We are leaving soon to spend Easter with Nathan and Amy.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Spring Placemat

Several years ago, my friend Julie and I started some weaving.  Her husband, Tractor Joe, made us each a loom.  She had the rug-sized loom, and I had the placemat size. (Hmmmmm...... spell check does not like the word placemat.  It is giving me several other options.  Some of course are obvious, like place mat, or place-mat.  The one that made me laugh out loud was "placenta".  I think I'll stick with placemat! )

I found my loom the other day, buried deep in the closet.

Julie's is long gone, a casualty of a flood in their basement a few years ago.  I couldn't remember how to warp the loom - I remembered that it wasn't very difficult, but just couldn't remember how. I know I have a book from Country Threads - I think it's called "Rags to Rugs".  Anyhow, it's around here somewhere, but I have no clue where to find it.  Instead, I found a video on You Tube.  The directions were great, and it is very easy to do!

Here is picture of my work in progress...

I have a lot of old sheets....... I have been intending to make a "vintage sheet" quilt one of these days.  A lot of them are so worn....... especially in the centers.  I tore the sheet into strips that were about an inch and a half wide.  

The yellow fabric is a cotton/polyester blend.  I know from past experience that it's not something I want to use in a quilt.  So, that was used in the weaving as well. 

Here is the finished placemat:

The yellow is looking just a little too bright here......

This might be more like it...

My plan is to make 2 more, and then join them together to make a rug for my bathroom...

This really is a great way to use up fabric that really isn't suited for quilting. 

I'm linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday.....

Oh, and Happy Easter!!

Sweater tote

Out there in blog land and on Pinterest, I've seen some really cool tote bags and purses, etc. made out of old sweaters.  Check here or here.  I had an old sweater that I was ready to give to Goodwill.  Instead of giving it away, I decided to try making a bag.  I should have taken a picture of the sweater before I cut it up, but I forgot.  Anyhow, here is the finished bag....

And here it is from the top...

I used a piece of an old vintage sheet I had for the lining and handles.  I'm not loving the handles, but really didn't have anything else to use.  So, I will be on the lookout for sweaters the next time I go to the thrift store.  I have a grey one I might try this with as well....

Easy Street is Done!

Well, I got the binding done on my "Easy Street" quilt earlier this week.  Since the sun was out for a little while this afternoon, I decided I should try to get a decent picture of the quilt.  I trudged through the snow to the clothesline.  It is such a big quilt that it drags on the ground, but at least the ground is covered with a blanket of clean (or at least clean-looking) snow.

So, drum roll please......

This was a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, started late last fall.  You can read about it on Bonnie's blog, here.  I almost followed her suggested colors...... except I used red instead of lime green.  I have to admit, I like it much better out here on the clothesline, where I can stand back and see the whole thing.  It looks like a busy mess on my bed.  

Here it is again....

The back is nothing too exciting..... 

After I had the quilt home from the quilter a few days, I noticed a mistake..... and I was so sure I had all the blocks pieced correctly.  Oh well...... no quilt is ever perfect, I guess.

If you look closely, you can see where I circled it in the photo above.

It's also kind of laying in a heap here... which is why the lower left corner of the picture looks funny.

I dug out a UFO today.....the beer quilt for son #1.  I am hoping to get the top done over the next few days.

 

Ok, maybe I'm kind of cheating here, but I since I haven't finished anything else this week, I'm linking this up to Finish it up Friday.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I added 3 rows

Ok, if you remember the vintage-inspired quilt from my last post (you can read about it here),  I was debating the best way to make it larger.  Well, I went ahead and added 3 rows, so it is now 90"x 90". I think that is a great size for a queen-size bed, so I am going with it.  I also went ahead and got the backing ready... it's in the photo below, and is laying on top of the top.  You can probably see some of it showing through the backing fabric.  This is my way of making sure it's big enough!  :)  Who measures??!

I didn't quite have enough of the pale blue with white polka dots, so I added 2 rows of the extra blocks from the front.  So, this is all ready to go to the quilters.  Bed sized quilt # 3 of the year.  That's pretty good for me!  And this is one I plan on keeping.  I did get my "Easy Street" back from the quilters.  I am hand sewing the binding on the back, and will post a picture when that's done - probably at the end of the week.

Here's a close-up of a few of the fabrics - 

a wild vintage-fabric that someone gave me. -

 The fabric on the left, the light blue with white polka dots, is from Joann's from the DS collection.  The fabric with the cake is new...... a recent fat quarter purchase from my local quilt shop.  the rest of the fabrics in that block are also vintage fabric that someone gave me.  The red gingham has been in my stash for years.  The blue swirly fabric in the lower right hand corner was from a thrift store.  I think it is a Waverly print from either the 80's or 90's.

This is one of the embroidered designs from the piece I cut up.  On the left you can see some 30's reproductions.

For supper tonight, I made homemade chicken pot pie.  I found the recipe here.  Their's looks prettier than mine, but I made a homemade crust.  :)

I don't think I've ever mentioned here that I have actually had my 15 minutes of fame.

Back in 2000, I was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off.  It was a great experience, and I am hoping I can be a finalist again someday.  Although I didn't win any big prize money, all of the finalists do receive prizes, and of course the trip itself (mine was to San Francisco) is part of the prize.  I am still using the GE Advantium that I won.  You can see my recipe here.

We had snow...... LOTS of snow again overnight.  I am really ready for winter to be over!

Hoping to show you my completed Easy Street later this week.....

Quilt top made of recycled, reused, and re-purposed fabric

Perhaps you might remember me first talking about this idea I had back here.  Well, I got the quilt top sewn together tonight.  I think it needs borders, but I'm not sure what I want to use for that.  

Here's what I have so far --

I took lots of pictures of it, so bear with me.....

You can see the embroidered swirl in the photo above.... it was from a runner (or dresser scarf, as my mom always called them) that was in disrepair.  I was able to salvage most of it, and even used all the plain white fabric from it.

The small squares on the diagonal in this block are from the thrifted apron.

This top currently measures 78" x 84".  I'd like it to be a little larger - I want to use it on my queen-size bed.  My options would either be to add another row  - maybe one on the side and one on the top, which would make the quilt 84" x 90", or add a border or two.  I'm not sure if I have enough of any one fabric to make a border.  Piano keys or a pieced border is a possibility.  I'm just not sure.  I'll have to think on this one for a few days.  

My inspiration for this came from this lovely quilt.  Mine is not quite how I pictured it, but I do like it...... a lot! And since they didn't use a border on there's, maybe I shouldn't either.  What do you think?