Aprons

I love making Aprons! There’s just something satisfying about wearing one in the kitchen – even though I hardly ever cook.

I just finished this apron tonight from Mary Mulari’s Church Ladies Apron Pattern. The cool thing about this one is that it is reversible. I know that this isn’t the ideal picture, but I didn’t have a model handy.

I read in a book that aprons are acceptable to wear in public as well, especially when you are out running errands. The pockets come in very handy, and it’s a great way to keep your clothes tidy (since you can get pretty dirty going to the bank and the post office). I can see how they would be useful while at the grocery store – you would have something to wipe your hands on if you had the misfortune to pick up a leaky meat package. This one was made from Vanilla House’s Sunday Dinner Apron pattern. I love the fabric on this one, it features cherries. Yum!

I actually did wear this one to my son’s pre-school Halloween party, thinking I was so retro AND hip, but 2 year olds are a tough crowd; my cutting edge fashion statement just went over their heads. They were more interested in what types of treats I brought for the party (Oreos if any of you were wondering). It was made from Cindy Taylor Oates book “More Retro Aprons”. This is a fun pattern because you use one charm pack and 1/2 yard of fabric.

Finally, here is another one from “More Retro Aprons.” This one is kind of sexy 😉 since it accents your cleavage. That’s all for now!

Finished Projects!

It’s been a busy few weeks, but I did manage to get two projects completed. The first one is a wool hootie owl from “Falloween Threads” by Need’l Love. This guy stitched up pretty quickly, but he did take a bit of brown wool for the body, wings, and ears:

He was so cute, I am making another one out of a dark brown plaid. I’ll post a picture when he is finished! I am trying to think of some fun way to embellish him for fall or Halloween – any ideas are welcome!

The other thing I finished was a hand-pieced wall hanging that I started at the beginning of the summer:

I took a hand-piecing class from Corrine Kerns at Plain and Simple Quilt Shop and fell in love with this method. This is definitely something that is very portable, and good to do if you don’t have access to a sewing machine. I plan to hand-quilt it this winter. This project also inspired me to embark on a larger hand-piecing project – details to come later.

That’s all for now. I am trying to finish some other UFO’s before the end of the summer, only two more weeks to go!

Garage Sale

Here’s a picture of my sewing room:

Sewing Room

As you can see it also triples as a playroom and office. I finally got tired of towering piles of fabric ready to fall at any moment, so I decided to sell about half of my stash at a garage sale! I can hear the collective gasp of quilters everywhere – but to be honest, don’t we all have fabric we know we will never use? For example, I have a ton of baby/toddler fabric I bought with the intention of creating beautiful hand-crafted items for my son. He has pretty much outgrown the fabric (and he will definitely be too old by the time I actually get something made for him) – so I feel that someone else can get some enjoyment out of it.

My tastes have also changed – for example, do I really need 10 pieces of fabrics that have Sushi on them??? Or what about skulls -for some reason I have a lot of fabric with dragons and skulls. It was a lot of fun to sort through my fabric – especially looking at the wide variety of styles and realizing which fabrics I REALLY liked at the time (identifiable because they were 2 yard cuts). I didn’t get rid of any Halloween fabric. I tried to, but I went back to the garage and retrieved it before the sale. I just love the orange, black, purple, and lime green colors and scary motifs so much! I got rid of quite few jelly rolls, charm packs, fat quarters and books. Which leaves me plenty of room for new stuff!

The garage sale was on Saturday, and was a big success. It was an overcast day, so I think that kept away a lot of shoppers. The ones that did come were very happy they did! Most everyone walked out with about 5 or so yards for their stash. It was fun to see which fabrics people selected for themselves, you can be surprised sometimes! My best customer showed up in the last 30 minutes and probably bought 40 yards of fabric!!! My husband had to load it into her car. All in all it was a good day, and I didn’t feel too bad since I knew all the fabric was going to good homes.

Christmas and Halloween In July

My favorite holidays are 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas (who doesn’t love Christmas?), and some of my favorite projects reflect these holidays. I have a 4th of July Table Runner that I almost completed in time this year, but my sewing machine broke in the middle of quilting it, so I will have to finish it in a few weeks. At least it will be ready next year!

I just finished a Halloween Penny Rug that I started last year, and am excited to show it off here:

Halloween Penny Rug

It is all stitched by hand with scraps of wool. The pattern is by Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose (check out her blog!)

I made this adorable Snowman Pillow from another Liberty Rose Pattern:

It is all hand-stitched in wool. I added black piping to the edge of the pillow which really makes the snowman pop! Also, I ironed fusible fleece onto the front and back of the pillow faces before I stitched them together. This makes a more durable pillow that stands up nicely so you can see the snowman.

Hello!

I meant to get this blog started in January as a New Year’s Resolution – but better late than never! I plan to post something each week on this blog – hopefully a completed project, or at least something fun and crafty. My first love is sewing – mainly purses, totes, or other small accessories. I also quilt and have several quilt tops finished that I need to quilt. They will be appearing on this blog at some point. I also love doing handwork – embroidery and wool applique. It’s great because it’s portable and you can complete small projects fairly quickly (even when you don’t feel like you have time).

I am also an aspiring pattern designer and hope to get some feedback on some of my pattern ideas. Come in, take a look, and I hope you enjoy what you see!