MQG Ranch

Yesterday, MQG met at an alfalfa ranch!

There were chicks

and aprons by the kitchen door.

 

Look at this farmhouse kitchen!

I love to see new houses. Don't you?

When it rained, we all moved onto the wrap around porch

for show-n-tell, demos, swaps...

and chocolate-peanutbutter cupcakes from the ranch kitchen- yum:)

This little piggy is going to Market next week.

(All the Photoshop study has paid off, you can actually see quilting here!)

New girl, Edie from Colorado, brought Improve for Sit-N-Sew at the Farm.

Can't wait to see this finished- Stay tuned for next month's MQG meeting...

Tina's spinning Halloween, just needs binding.

Thanks for sharing my quilting adventures!

Now I must go stitch a concert black formal for somebody's choir concert....on Thursday!!
Do please send any fitting advice you have. PLEASE:)

Starting Summer

What could be more fun than a special sewing prize? How about two! How about combining gifts?!!

Thank you Bramcost Publications for sharing your new book, How to Make Aprons: Vintage Patterns for making Home, Garden, Utility & Craft Aprons. Sew many unique aprons here, I want to make them all!

We had so much fun at Bloggers Quiltmarket Meetup! And we won super prizes!! Thank you Daria and Megan Boutique Cafe girls who awarded us NEW Kaufman charm pack, Sweet Pickins by Darlene Zimmerman, not to mention other super cool stuff.
This super cheery 1930's reproduction fabric just screamed KITCHEN to me. What to make with this special prize? Hey, how about an Apron?

For this project, I chose one of the Patchwork Aprons (pg. 75, if you are following along), which uses 40 squares, WOW- exactly the size of my charm pack prize.  The triple-V edge is SEW VINTAGE! And I had way too much fun sorting the charm pack to align matching series. SEE?
The pattern is for 4" patches, so using the charm pack made the apron larger than usual. I decided to go ahead in the XL direction, and added 7' of ties. I know how hard it is for my big friends to find aprons that fit. So I also adapted the ties to a no-waistband style. This way apron won't look stretched at the waist.

Luckily, I had this lovely old fashioned blue calico in my stash, and there was just enough to create bias binding and matching ties. Matches great, wouldn't you say? Just right, so it doesn't fight with the blue gingham center-top either. Perfect!

Starting the summer with a new apron..... We should make this a tradition.

Making the Gardener's Picking Apron

If you click this link you could get the book that shows you how to make these aprons too. Thank you Bramcost Publications for sharing this book!

Remember how you voted on which vintage apron to make from our book review How to Make Aprons? Well, Mom did it! She combined the Pickers Apron (pg. 69) and the Gardening Apron (pg. 84) to make the ultimate one-of-a-kind Gardener's Picking Apron.

Blogger is doing the sideways picture thing again - WHY?!?!
Mom made the apron with with recycled fabric from this denim work shirt.

 Mom uses plates and duct tape for her drafting tools.

Sewing Tip of the Day:  

if you don't know witch is the right side, put a piece of tape on the right side to mark it.

These are the cool buttons for balancing the strings you pull to make a pocket. They are made from pottery and have Celtic Knots on them.

This is how the apron is used. Gather the string to make a basket. Add your own belt.

Plus, Apron also has 2 hanging loops for gardening tools.

You can get this super Gardening Apron for yourself in our Etsy Shop:  http://roadhomequilting.etsy.com

UPDATE:  Garden Picker's Apron sold in about 20 hours, Thank You! We will make more as denim shirts become available, so please keep watching RHQ Etsy.