My absolute favorite so far! Needless to say it was a lot of work but is was so worth it.
I love everything about this block. The fabric selections are awesome and the embroidery is so damn cute. There are actually 2 aprons next month. Can’t wait to see what I get. I think that’s why I like these monthly quilt clubs. I’m a sucker for getting stuff in the mail…especially sewing stuff.
Elaine
I finished block 2 of the apron quilt club I joined. Actually, I’m nearly done with month 3 but I don’t want to post until it’s done. I had a tough time with the cherries and leaves on the first block and was not looking forward to the bacon and eggs on this one. All in all it came out ok and I worried for nothing over the breakfast items. I’m not thrilled with the fabric used for the bacon and eggs. The pattern also called for a little black cup to be appliqued to the skirt. However, the choice of background fabric makes the little cup nearly impossible to see. I wish I would have noticed before I got the whole thing sewed down. Presenting block 2:
That damned cup looks like a spot…some breakfast spillage. Oh well. I’m not changing it now. Wait until you see month 3. My absolute favorite so far.
Elaine
That was my response when my stepson Adam came over one day with a knitted pattern for Sackboy. Sackboy is a character in a PlayStation 3 game. What the hell do I know. He brought the pattern over because I’m the only one he knows that can read and knit from a pattern. He wanted it for his little brother. Actually, he wanted one for himself too but figured I wouldn’t want to knit 2. How do I tell him I don’t want to even knit one? Anyway, the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of knitting Sackboy for him as a Christmas present. I ordered enough yarn for 2 and if it wasn’t too bad I’d make a second. It was well worth it. I gave him the first and held back the second. He was really surprised and he really liked it. He liked it so much that he was thinking of keeping it for himself. That’s when I pulled out the second. Extremely happy! The pattern itself was different for me because all pieces were knit flat and then sewn up to create tubes. All in all it wasn’t bad although my Sackboy knitting days are officially over…I mean it. Here’s one of the little guys.
Can you believe this? Five fingers on each hand, a zipper down the front and a huge head. I don’t really get it. The zipper is glued shut from the back per the instructions so that his guts don’t fall out if and when someone decides to pull the zipper down. If you’d like one, or two of your very own there is a free pattern available here.
Elaine
This is the fourth one I’ve made this year and by far my favorite. I made it for my friend Stephanie for Christmas. She LOVED it! If mine didn’t look so used I might have swapped. It’s really all about the colors and 30’s fabric for me on this one.
Stay tuned. I’ll be posting more handmade Christmas presents soon.
Elaine
for baby boy Allard due in the spring of 2010.
I used some of my 30’s reproduction fabric. The pattern is Simplicity 2613.
Elaine
Remember a couple of months ago I posted that I had signed up for another Block Of The Month? Well, I received my first block with all the fabric and notions I needed to complete it. I’m still pretty new at hand applique but this didn’t seem too bad. Yeah right. Block 1 is the full apron in the lower left hand corner. If you look closely you can see that the pockets on the apron has cherries, leaves and ric rac. All that on a tiny pocket.
OMG! I made about 6 cherries and was quickly running out of the fabric that was sent. I sent away for these little circle templates called Perfect Circles. These little templates worked great. Now onto the leaves. Let me start out by saying that the fabric they sent was a twill that raveled quite a bit. I had so much trouble and made so many leaves that I ran out of fabric. I perused by fabric stash for something suitable but didn’t have anything I liked. At this point I was so frustrated with this project that I didn’t care about cherries or leaves anymore. I decided to leave them out. The fabric they sent for the pocket was a plain yellow and was blah without the fruit. Forget everything.
It looks naked! It needs something! Back to the fabric stash. I found my 30’s reproduction fat quarters and liked the way this yellow looked with the apron.
I made the pockets sans the cherries, leaves and ric rac, added cute buttons and here is the final BOM.
Looks good. I can live with this although I’m bummed out that I couldn’t get the leaves looking right. I looked ahead to block two and heaven help me…it has bacon and eggs on it!
Elaine
My friend Pam’s daughter Alicia will be spending next semester in Australia. She purchased a nice camera this past summer to bring with her. She’s been unable to find the perfect camera bag. She’d like something small enough to fit in other bags or to be able to carry it on it’s own…something nice to protect her little investment.
Alicia: Do you think Elaine could make something?
Pam: I’ll ask.
Me: OK.
I got the dimensions of the camera and went to work. I picked two fabrics from Anna Maria Horner’s new Good Folks collection. I quilted the bottom of the bag to make it “cushiony”. I made a removable, adjustable strap so she could use the bag on its own or tuck away the strap and place the whole thing in another bag. The bag has a pull string closure. Two coats of Scotch Guard and done! I LOVE the fabric combination. I will have to do something for myself with these 2 fabrics.
I requested a picture of Alicia with her new bag from Australia. I’ll post it as soon as I get it. Hope it’s the perfect bag.
Elaine
