My New Time Moocher

I have yards and yards of cotton fabric that was once intended to make quilts. Some of this variably colored stash has been used in small part in actual quilts and much of it was used for parts of other items of clothing, or in hundreds of diverse projects over my life. Here in my garage is the bulk of this fabric semi-cataloged into colors then into drawers.

I have wondered over the past few years, if anyone even wants or uses handmade quilts anymore. I don't decorate my own home in a style that lends itself to a country feel, nor do I want more than one or two "Art Quilts" hanging on my walls for fear that each room should not look like the last one ventured into.

So the dilemma is what to do with all the creativity as well as the great fabrics and sewing abilities I have developed over the years. Yes, I have been sewing clothing for the cute little granddaughters, but sometimes I have just a small amount of fabric that needs to be highlighted and so I've decided APRON'S are my new way to use the extensive fabric stash.

Instead of the soup d'jour that is an expression, I've made up my own project d'anne for this year. I hope to make a couple dozen and give them for birthdays throughout this year. The first ones are pictured above. The bright colored one was for my DIL Kara's birthday in June, and the blue one should match my own kitchen well. If you have any old fashioned apron ideas or patterns, send them my way. BTW have you ever checked out apron blogs, or patterns on the Internet. These ladies are crazy! Oh wait ... am I now one of the crazy ladies?

I finally finished Austin's (my SIL) socks. I made him choose the yarn for them when he and Katz took me to Amsterdam last October. These are the first socks I've made from the toe up. Usually socks are knitted starting with the top cuff and then worked down to the toe. i wanted to have a little longer leg on them but didn't want to run out of yarn before I was finished so this was a good way to accomplish that task. I also made them both at the same time using one long 40 inch round #2 needle. It worked well, but I feel that I knit faster when I use 4 double pointed needles and do just one sock at a time, so I will do them toe up and on double pointed's when I make John the next pair. Sweet!

And lastly, my Stepher in a new dress that I made for her. Hope you looked real close at the blue apron above, 'cause the fabric should look familiar. It had these flouncy sleeves that we trimmed down and put a little pleat on the bottom of for a cute effect. The bottom border matches the paisley fabric (I LOVE paisley) that the main part of the dress is made from. This should be a casual dress she can wear during the school year at home and at play. And isn't she cute in it?!