Another Apron Post

I finished my apron for the Sassy Apron Swap. Some of you may remember that I posted two fabric choices a while back for this project. I didn't use either...she says sheepishly. I completely changed my mind and chose different fabrics and a different style than I had originally planned. I decided on a patchwork-y apron idea that I've been playing with for my Etsy shop(I will have one someday). I went a bit more pastel, added a floral and then threw a funky fat quarter into the mix. I think it turned out quite nicely. I just hope like heck that my swap partner likes it! I like that my new found love of quilting goes right along with making aprons!
Bought this pair of dish towels at our local antique mall recently for a mere four dollars. They were huge and I thought "hmmm...I think there might be an apron in here somewhere!" I I didn't really have a pattern that was the right size, so I drew a couple of little apron sketches and then tried my hand at drawing out a pattern. You can see where I toyed with the bottom a lot, but I decided the KISS principal would be best. And this was what I ended up with. Yeah, I can see that it's a bit too small for me and yes, the neckline is all wonky, but it DOES look sorta like my original drawing, so I'm excited! I saw it in my head and actually produced it! Yay! Next time around, and there will be a next time, I will change up the shape of the neckline and I won't underestimate my...ahem...rotundness.

And finally. Yesterday afternoon we made a stop at our local antique store. I picked up this fantastic vintage 1940's apron for just 10 bucks!
I love the how the red trim doesn't quite go with the bright pink paisley print, but still works. Last time I stopped there I picked up two adorable half aprons one pink, one green. OK, every time I go in that place I buy either a tablecloth or an apron, and sometimes both. I need to just stop going in there. But doggone it, I drive by there at least three times a week...it's hard not to stop! And the post office is right across the street. It's like a conspiracy, ya'll!

The Return of Indy

Mark and I just got in from the movie The Spiderwick Cronicles. Good movie.

During the previews prior to Spiderwick, I was thrilled to finally see the trailer for THIS film:
The Indiana Jones films are easily among my favorites and this one looks fantastic! See for yourself here.

Forget sewing. Tomorrow, I'm watching the original(for the zillionth time)!

More Barenaked Ladies!

I'm working on my Sassy Apron Swap apron(almost finished) and an apron made from vintage dish towels. I'll share pics when I'm finished. While I work away, here's something for you to enjoy...

Looking back through my blog, I've noticed that I have posted a lot of youtube videos lately. Not one to stop the momentum, here's a couple more!

Once again, my favorite band. THIS TIME, you see the actual Ladies and not sock puppets! Barenaked Ladies have been my favorite band since hearing the song Jane back in the mid 90's. I'd heard and loved the song, but didn't really know who sang it. On discovering that my brother had the CD Rock Spectacle(which included Jane) and making a copy getting my own copy I immediately became a fan of the band. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I've listened to that CD. Rock Spectacle is still one of my favorite CD's and is currently in the disk changer in my car. I've since acquired every CD BNL has released, except for the most current, Barenaked Ladies are Men. Not to be confused with Barenaked Ladies are Me.

Yes, there is sense of humor in a lot of what they do(which I love), but it's more than that. These guys are amazing musicians who write amazing lyrics.

Their tour for Everything to Everyone stopped in Lexington a few years back. It was one of the most fun concerts I've attended. Let me tell ya, the Ladies do not disappoint when it comes to the live show! One Week performed Bluegrass style was just one of the many highlights of the night...how could they perform in Kentucky and NOT do a Bluegrass number? This clip is from a telethon of some sort, so that live concert energy isn't there...but you get the idea...

And here is a song from Barenaked Ladies are Me called Beautiful. Great song. And check it out...Ed and Steve are in a bathroom with just a guitar and still manage to sound fantastic!


Hopefully, I'll get some sewing and maybe even a little cooking done this weekend and maybe my next few posts will be project filled! Until then, enjoy the music!

Later, Ya'll!

Mail Goodies

Feb. Fat Quarter Swap from Lilypadsis
Originally uploaded by Kellie C.

Received this package in the mail today from the Flickr Fat Quarter Swap!

This is a fun Flickr swap that goes on each and every month. Basically, you are assigned a parter for whom you purchase three fat quarters and a little gift of some sort. It's a fun way to add to your FQ stash with fabrics you might not normally pick up.

I've received some really cute stuff...like this package from Lilypadsis

and this one

and this one

and this one

And here's the last package I mailed out. I loved this floral feedsack repro fabric so much I bought two yards of it in yellow/purple.

If you'd like to join in, I'm sure the March swap sign ups will begin soon!(I like that you can sign up each month...or opt out any time) Head over to the Flickr Fat Quarter Fabric Swap page and sign up, why don'tcha!

My Sassy Apron Has Arrived

I'm participating in the Sassy Apron Swap over at Lucy's place. And earlier in the week I received MY sassy apron. She's a beauty, isn't she? Once again, I 'd like to thank Carrie Sue for sending me this lovely apron.
And getta load of the adorable pocket!I fully intend to get MY apron made and sent out to my swap partner by week's end. Promise!

Somehow, being gone for nearly five days caused the house to get in a mess. So, much of today was spent getting it back in order. I'll tell ya, cleaning house was much more fun today than it has been in a while thanks to the apron and these gals. Head to the web site and take a listen to snippets of some of their songs. Great stuff! And these gals, too. LOVE them.

I am not cut out for roughing it.

STILL no power at home. It's been five days now, ya'll! My poor kitties are freezing their furry little behinds off. We do check on them daily, though.

Thursday night we got the bright idea to try and stay at home with a kerosene heater for warmth. We left the comfort of my parent's home and got back to our house around 7p.m., fumbled through the dark trying to locate flashlights and get candles lit so we could crank up the heater. Once the heater was running and after a dinner of Oreos and Coke(when all the food in the fridge is ruined, whatcha gonna do BUT eat Oreos?) we thought we would be in for a cozy night at home. Standing near the heater, it was heavenly, the warmest, snuggliest air was circulating around us. However, once we moved three feet away from it our teeth instantly began to chatter. Still, we figured it would eventually heat our bedroom to a nice sleeping temperature and we could turn it off, sleep under a mountain of blankets and be only mildly uncomfortable during the night. After a while, you just want to be home, you know. Well, we made it till about 10:30. Despite the heater and the mountain of blankets, our house was like an igloo. We called my mother-in-law and spent the rest of the night at her house. I have once again realized that I am not the "roughing it" type. We will not be attempting to stay at home until the electricity is back on and we have some heat! Looks like it could be Monday before we are able.

Today I have my Block of the Month meeting. I had planned on working on it this week and then, whoops, no electricity= no sewing. Mind you, I had a MONTH to get it done, but I wait till the last minute for everything. This means I was up till 1:00a.m. this morning finishing my block. Mom has a nice new Singer sewing machine and is far more skilled at sewing than I, so it worked out well that I had to get it done here. She helped me get it squared up and looking good. Thanks Mom! Initially, I wasn't thrilled with the fabric selection I chose for my kits, but now that I have one block done, I think I'm going to like it! This is called Chain Link and I'll find out today what the next block will be.
My apron arrived from the Sassy Apron Swap! It is lovely! I will be showing it off, so stay tuned!

Yesterday afternoon, Mom and I headed out to JoAnn's and I added to my already overrun fabric stash with some fun fabrics for aprons to go into my still empty Etsy shop. Chickens and cherries and dishes, Oh my!


****12:30p.m. update**** We have electricity back! Woo Hoo!

A Valentine's Day Sentiment for the Easily Amused

One of my favorite songs by my favorite band...performed by sock puppets.


** storm update**still no power back at the house...looks like another day hanging out with the folks.

Ice, Ice Baby

We've had a nice little ice storm here in Western Kentucky. No electricity for two days now in our area and no sign of it being restored any time soon. I spent the most. boring. day. ever. yesterday in my house with no heat & no electricity. I thought I'd accomplish some cleaning, cutting out of patterns, but it was sooooo cold in our house that all I managed to do was curl up in the bed and couch with a book. Not SO bad, I guess. We spent the night with my Mother-In-Law last night. Today & tonight will be spent at my folks house while Mark's at work. I've snapped a few pics of the ice here at Mom & Dad's.

SAS and an Owl Pillow

The deadline for mailing the apron to my partner in the Sassy Apron Swap is March 1, so I gotta get going on this! I found this adorable ladybug fabric and thought it might be cute for the Spring theme. I have enough of these fabrics to make a full apron.I also picked up this lovely pink and yellow floral at the quilt shop this afternoon. It's a little "Springier" in my opionion, but I only bought enough for a half apron. So there's my dilemma. Cute aqua and pink full apron OR cute yellow and pink somewhat Springier half apron? My swap partner did not list a color or full/half apron preference. So your thoughts might help me solve this little dilemma! What do ya'll think?

I've tried out the sewing machine Mark got me for Christmas. My first project was this little owl pillow that I made last night using this pattern. I have to tell you, it sews like a dream! So smooth and quiet. The sewing machine didn't jump around on the table once! My old one had a tendency to do that!

Farewell Old Friend...

The quilt top that I started at my quilting class in Nov. is finally complete. WooHoo! I will save the quilting of it till this summer. For my first stab at a quilt that used blocks rather than wide fabric strips, I'm pretty proud of it. I could NOT get Sasha to budge for the photo, so please don't mind the cat!I was waiting to finish this quilt before getting the sewing machine that I got for Christmas out of the box. I was afraid the seams would be off and somehow mess up my quilt if I switched sewing machines in the middle. Now that it's done I managed to get my new sewing machine out of the box and set up yesterday.

So now I shall bid a fond farewell to my old Brother sewing machine. We've had our ups and downs, but it was a good run! Don't worry, it didn't go too far...just to the closet for now!I thought this would be an appropriate time to post the last few projects I made on the old machine.

First up, these two aprons. I was trying to come up with a design that I could use for aprons in the Etsy shop. There are a lot of plain cafe style aprons out there, so I thought a patchwork style might be fun. (these may well be out there tool, I just haven't seen them) Anyhow, I like the way they turned out with the various blocks of fabric, but I made a complete mess out of both waistbands and have not attempted to straighten them up or make another apron since. But, I DID learn to do a French seam in order to finish the backs of these neatly! Oooh La La!

French Seam!

I also made these "Lalka Lawenda"(Little Lavender Dolls) and sent them off to Poland for Jackie to give out at her girls night events. They are scented w/lavender and small enough in size to freshen up a drawer, car, backpack, closet, gymbag, etc. Some of these may also go into my still empty Etsy shop.I've also had a ton of fun making these robot themed Valentine cards on the sewing machine. I know they kinda look like a five year old drew them but I like that! Now I want to make a stuffed robot of some sort! OK, that last one is an owl, not a robot. Perhaps a robot owl is in order?

I call this one Untitled

A Boy & His Dog Walking the K-9Whoo Loves You?Yep, I've enjoyed that sewing machine immensely.

Wicked Good

I couldn't stand it...went out and bought a new iron yesterday morning so I could start working on my quilt again.

While I work away in the sewing room, I usually listen to music. Lately I've been listening to 1.fm's 70's station. But tonight I listened to a couple Broadway soundtracks(one of my favorite musical genres). In addition to Sweeny Todd, I listened to Wicked for the first time in a long time. SUCH a great soundtrack. It's the story of Glinda and Elphaba, the two Witches of Oz, based on the book by Gregory Maguire. Not my favorite book, but based on the soundtrack and the clips that I've seen, the show must be phenomenal! Here's one of my favorite songs, Popular, from Wicked. Performed by Kristen Chenoweth. Enjoy



And here's Idina Menzel performing Defying Gravity on Letterman.


Man, I wish I could see this show live!

I killed my iron

SO I think sewing karma hates me this week. I've tried to make two aprons since the Valentine's apron that I'm giving away was finished. Both have been a complete pain. For some reason I have completely forgotten how or else completely lost the ability to apply a waistband. Both aprons are a mess. Rather then wrestle with them another minute or start on a new apron, I decided to work on my quilt. I started it in November, after all.

So, I get everything out, plug up the iron and crank it up to high. I managed to iron one fat quarter and then...nothin'. Kaput. No steam, no heat, no nothin'. Now that iron had been used a lot. I iron my clothing regularly BUT since taking up sewing I've used it more in the last 8 months than in all the years I've owned it. I am guilty of leaving it on for hours at a time and for almost always having it on the highest setting possible. I cannot deny that I am responsible for the iron's demise. OK, so it was a cheapo iron and I've owned it for several years; that doesn't change the fact that I've gone and killed it. ...and now how am I supposed to get any sewing done? *huge sigh* That certain spring has left my step. My head is hanging low in shame over the deed I have done. I cannot make eye contact with the other small appliances in my home.

I didn't mean to do it, honest.

The Winner IS...

Mo!

You can find Mo over at Unmainstream Mom. Congrats, Mo. I hope you like your apron!

You may have noticed that the list of Blogs I Dig is getting longer. I will admit that I am probably the only blogger on the planet who doesn't subscribe to a feed. I went and signed up for one once and even added some blogs. Do I remember which one? No. Would I be able to remember my password? Probably not. I'm a doofus like that.

This week I've been going through a lot of the comments that were left in the giveaway post and have happened upon some blogs that I really enjoyed and/or want to take a closer look at. I've also been going through my enormous list of bookmarks and checking out some of those blogs. Now, I'm putting them all together under my Blogs I Dig list. It's just easier for me to keep up with them here. I have this weird daily habit of looking at my own blog regardless of whether or not I post(like something is going to change and me not know about it!). Now, instead of digging through bookmarks and trying to backtrack through comments on old posts, I'll know right where everyone is!