Showing posts with label apron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apron. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Working the Border

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard a work worth doing."
~Theodore Roosevelt

Quilting


Last week the black border didn't add anything to the conversation but the quilt still needed more contrast. I pieced more hourglasses with some black added to the pink and blues for the border then spent a while laying them out. This arrangement makes a striking zig zag but is much too strong for the weak center. {I'll have to remember it for another time.}

Hourglass blocks alternate blocks with pink or black outside to create a zig zag pattern.
Zig zag border arrangement

Black to the outside and pink inside makes a much better border but the corners need to be resolved. Removing some hourglasses to add the sashing means there's almost enough for a second quilt if they aren't used in the corners. This notion prompted another search through the stash for possible corners.
Even though the other colors in that floral are pink and blue, it reads orange. Not a solution. However, the blue choices might work.
A collage of three photos shows the effect of peach and blue fabrics in the corner of the border
Trying different corners

I settled on the gingham because it contrasts with all the florals and polka dots. Some might remember it as the binding on the Rose quilt.

What an improvement from last week!

Once this quilt is finished, the second should go together easily and will finish off those polka dots. But there's a slight hitch - the machine must have a tune up. I've been told the BSR software needs an update, too. I have a second machine but it doesn't have a walking foot.

Reading

The book cover shows a walking woman in a chador.I just finished Celestial Bodies by Omani author Jokha Alharthi and translated by Marilyn Booth which won the Man-Booker prize last year. {The Man-Booker is given to the best book translated into English and published in England as opposed to the Booker is for the best fiction first published in England.} Written in various viewpoints with many flashbacks, it tells the story of a large family including three sisters, their father, and one daughter as well as other people from their ancestral village as Oman transitions from slavery to an oil-producing state.

Interesting note: One woman sewed on a Singer with a butterfly decal. I've never seen one like that. Was is a treadle {most likely} or a featherweight?



Vintage pattern shows four variations of the half apron. Three are gathered and one is triangular. Square and diamond pockets are also shown.
Simplicity half apron pattern 
Gifting
While sorting I found a vintage apron pattern and would be happy to pass it on to someone who would use it. Let me know in the comments.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Many More Aprons

I haven't been quilting much lately but I finished these aprons. They are gifts for friends. It was fun combining different fabrics to fit their future owners' personalities.

Sixteen half-aprons

A few of them have loops on the waistband for holding kitchen towels. Best view is bottom row, second from right. I made it from a strip about 1.5" by 12" or so. Double fold like bias tape, then topstitch. Pin the ends 6-8" apart on the waistband and put a towel through it to see how much to adjust the length. The towel pulls the loop down.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Apron Strings

It wasn't a string but is was a scrap. Less than a half yard remained after binding the nine patch snowball quilt. I found a polka dot scrap in similar colors. The low contrast between the fabrics worked very well for the apron.


I made this apron like my grandmother did: 35-40 inches wide and 20 inches long; 30 inch ties and 18-20 inch waistband. (Ok, her ties were shorter but I like to wrap and tie in front.) Since these were remnants I made some adjustments. The center panel is french seamed to keep raw edges from showing. And there was just enough to make one pocket.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Vintage Apron Pattern

I couldn't help myself. It was a necessity. Slobs like me need full aprons; it's the only way to keep clothes unstained. But I can't stand to have something tie at the back of my neck. Then Vogue patterns were on sale and this retro apron caught my eye (#8740.) The fitted bib front goes on over the head. No straps to adjust, no sagging. Perfect! The scalloped hem used yards of seam binding which went on very easily.


The serendipitous feature is the wonderful waistband. It's the easiest I've ever applied. After basting the skirt and bib wrong sides together, encase that seam with the waistband which then turns UP! So clever. I will definitely use this technique again.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann