Something About Nothing

Olive Crane Smith, was a sewing teacher at  Granite High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, between 1954 and 1985. Olive C. Smith, Granite High School yearbook, 1954 Mrs. Smith specialized in tailoring and her students continually won the Utah Wool Growers tailoring contests for their supremely tailored wool suits.  She also produced a yearly Fashion Show, designed and created all the clothing for the school's drama productions, and supervised the Red Cross Club. I was honored when Carolyn, Mrs. Smith's daughter, recently invited me over to look at a few of the sewing treasures her Mother left behind when she passed away in 1988.  Carolyn had saved her Mother's treasures thinking one day, when she retired, she would pick up sewing too.  It has taken many years for Carolyn to realize sewing was not a part of her path.  Carolyn, now retired, helped many people find their own way in life as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at LDS Business College...

It was a fun week of packages! I ordered one of these awesome apron's  from Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com . It fits my daughter's personality perfectly! She has dreams of becoming a Costume Designer. The pockets in the apron make it perfect for the sewing room. I got a fun surprise in the mail too: I purchased the at-home ticket to Quilters Take Manhattan which included this fun bag of goodies!  Included in the bag were a business card holder, thread, fabric, magazines, and coupons! Lots of fun fodder. I also put a package IN the mail filled with three pincushions made with Lynn Krawczyk's new fabric line but I can't show even a glimpse until after Market at the end of the month.  I am also working with some new stencils from Artistcellar (more on those next week) and with a stencil I created to make some postcards for Festival Pet Postcard Project .  Proceeds from the sale of all the post cards will benefit Friends For Life , a no kill shelter ...

A young friend is getting married in May and I decided to make her and her fiancé some coordinating aprons as a shower gift.  Their kitchen colors are black, white and red.  I had the fun Alexander Henry Cog Wheel dot in my stash and so I ran down to my local quilt shop and found some  Riley Blake polka dot and Shades of Black stripe by Me and My Sister for Moda  as coordinates.  I LOVE the black and grey stripe!  Don't they look so cute!?! I think maybe I should have made his bow tie a little bigger.   He's a bigger boy than I remembered! What is your favorite gift to give newlyweds?

Yay! I received a wonderful package in the mail today just in time for my 50th birthday! My article is on page 68. And the recipe for our favorite Christmas Cookie is on pages 133 & 134! Mom would have been so proud.

I just discovered that the front cover and table of contents for Quilting Arts Gifts 2012 is live!  They are taking preorders for the magazine OR you can purchase the digital edition NOW! My friend Candi from  candiedfabrics.com  has made the cover with her fabulous Holiday Row Houses. I was very excited to see that my Mixed Media Holiday Apron is featured on the first page of the Table of Contents!  Wahoo! I can't wait to see the whole magazine because there are so many great projects featured!

Editors Note:   The Rose Dyeing reveal scheduled for today will actually be posted tomorrow (hopefully) as I cannot find the fabric to photograph now that I have neatly arranged everything in my studio!  See this post. The Utah Surface Design Group is hosting an art show next month at The Michael Berry Gallery  in downtown Salt Lake.   I am new to the group and am a little hesitant about entering anything into the show until the group announced that they would also have an Apron exhibit.  Certainly I could make an apron to show.  I debated whether to go traditional or all out quilted or mixed media.  I pondered and debated what I would do for two months and then suddenly the apron was due in two days!  It was time to get to work! I finally decided to go mixed media.  The apron would not be useable but instead be a piece of art.  I started by creating my fabric from the pages of a couple of old cookbooks I picked up at a local ...

I'm on a roll with this apron pattern!  I love how elegant this fabric makes this apron. This is a pattern from Indygo Junction called Bon Appetit.

Ever since the apron craze took over a few years ago some of my favorite aprons have been ones like these.* They fit over the shoulder and usually slip over the head. They aren't the fanciest apron and they aren't very frilly but I love them. And now I think I know why. . . Notice the apron my Grandma is wearing at my second birthday. . . Hmmm, might my love of this type of apron have something to do with the love I have for my Grandma? *(Click on the above photos to visit the etsy shops where I found these great aprons!)