Tie One On, May

This month's Tie One On theme is "A smock to wear out," and I couldn't think of a better way to make an apron that can double as clothes than to use some old clothes. This is made from a halter top that I love, but don't wear because finding bras to go under it is a real bother, and the bottom of an apron whose top I just loathed, but saved because I love gingham. It has two sets of ties in the back, and doesn't cover TOO much, because I really like to have access to the pockets of my jeans. It really comes in handy, though, when I need to wipe glue off my fingernails when I'm in the middle of Blythe cosmetic surgery!

The apron meme!

Filled out at the request of the What's cookin'? hostesses.

1. first apron (that you can remember) : I had a few very fun, frilly hostess aprons from my great-grandmother when I was little. I used to play dress-up with them, and I wish I knew where they were now.

2. last (most recent) apron : I'll be submitting to Tie One On this weekend! Watch this space!

3. dream/favorite apron : I love this halter apron I bought at Bazaar Bizarre from HouseWears

4. dream sewing machine: Probably a Singer Featherweight.

5. what do you put in your pockets? or what strange thing have you ever found in them? My apron pockets? At home, nothing. If an apron has big pockets, I wear it to craft shows and use it to hold my change.

6. condiment(s) you can't live without : Does olive oil count? I don't use a lot of condiments, although I have a real fondness for Heinz ketchup, because I grew up in Pittsburgh.

7. do you wear more showy aprons or dutiful ones? Both.

8. favorite cooking gadget: I think my cheese grater.

9. cooking gagdet that promised the world but didn't deliver: My hand chopper from Pampered Chef. It's easier and less messy just to use a knife.

10. a recipe that you know by heart and any stories behind it: Probably just freeform stuff like cola ham and marinara sauce and soup. And if I mix a drink once, I seem to remember it forever.

Can't Craft, Cleaning

I've been trying to get the house in order, which means I really ought to be getting my studio in order, which is, all in all, a good idea.

But it's so tought getting from point A (here, a thread tangle as big as my head!) to point B.

Quilt Monday x 26

Being accepted into The Sampler's MTV Style Lounge boxes has been such an emotional roller coaster.

Overall, I've been so proud to be part of the effort, and it's a really exciting opportunity. But hand-making 26 eye quilts has been a ton of work, and knowing I'm not going to be paid for that work isn't my favorite feeling.

Sorry to be such a mercenary. It's just another of those business risks, I guess. I just need to cross my figners and hope for a good return on my investment.

Here's the pile that went out today:



In other quilty news, I started a new blog for one of the quilts I'm working on now. Please stop by!

Swap blocks!

These are the blocks I got from the Seedpod blockswap. Aren't they fun? I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get more blocks with mint green in them, but I'm going to go ahead and use up the rest of the mint and make a few more rows.

The idea of having a quilt made up of blocks from people I don't know is way more exciting now that these are in my possession. I can't wait to get these in my sewing machine!

I haven't posted in just about forever, while my nose was becoming well-acquainted with the grindstone in preparation for Bazaar Bizarre.

Now that BB is over, I have a little cold and a little sunburn, but the effort was pretty successful, and I couldn't have had a better time. Now it's time to branch out into some other projects I've been wanting to get to (including, possibly, another peanut quilt) and, of course, finishing up my samples for the MTV Style Lounge. A shopper at BB envied my sewing and embroidery projects, because she guessed - correctly - that all that work meant lots of hours in front of the TV.

I should be well entertained this week, because my return to a normal schedule coincided, yesterday, with the return of the US Senate to Washington. This is my dirty little secret: I watch C-SPAN 2 obsessively.

One of the highlights was meeting the editors of the upcoming Craft Magazine, one of whom is also a blogger over at the MAKE blog. They had a lot to say about quilting, and questions about the changes in quilting over time.

Actually, now that I think about it, everyone asks me that.

What's interesting is that is that quilting haven't changed. It's the quilters who have. It's American life that's changed. That's why I bring up my love of politics. Years ago, quilting and embroidery were a way to keep women occupied, quiet, and out of debate. Remember Henry James' Washington Square? Now, with technology being what it is, my hands can live the life of a busy little homemaker, while my eyes and ears can be devoted to, among other things, being an informed citizen.

Quilting is such a slow, quiet art that I think it surprises people that I'm not nostalgic for a slow, quiet time in history. I love high-speed internet. I love high-speed EVERYTHING!!! I love living in an image-saturated era - I think it's good for design, and I think the freedom to seek out new aspects of good design is the major difference between traditional quilting and it more modern incarnations. I love vintage quilts, by the way, but there's a big difference between trying to make good design choices out of muslin and a pile of your husband's shirts, and trying to make good design choices when you have thousands of cotton prints at your fingertips.

Speaking of cotton prints, I may need to spend some of my BB earnings on cool Japanese imports. More on this later.