I'm A Winner! Part Two!

I also won this beautiful apron (called Breeze) from the talented Pretty Ditty's blog giveaway. It is sooo pretty and looks sooo beautiful hanging in my kitchen (I'll take a kitchen photo if we ever get a sunny day!) The fabrics used are from Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom Fabric (which Pretty Ditty sells in her fabric shop, Phat Fabric). Also, before receiving the package I bought the apron pictured below at the Kane County Flea Market, for $2! I've been having a very lucky week! I'll be posting about all the wonderful things I found at the flea market in the coming days, but for now let's appreciate how well these 2 aprons compliment each other! The vintage one is quite small and my daughters will be using it. The problem is, I have 3 daughters, so I think I'll need a couple more beautiful aprons!

Quilt Month

It's Quilt Month at Mr. Monkeysuit. Coincidentally, I just started my very first quilt this month (although I've been planning to make one forever). I decided to start with a doll quilt so I can make all my mistakes on something small that I haven't committed too much emotional energy to. I actually plan to make three doll quilts, one for each of my daughters. Hopefully that will give me enough practice to start a real quilt (or, quilts - one for each of my daughter's beds!)

These first quilts will be made entirely from my "stash", and it's sort of a stretch calling my pile of fabric a "stash". I basically have fabric picked up from thrift stores and rummage sales - you know the bags of scraps for $1. Also, some vintage sheets and thrifted men's dress shirts. The quilt pictured below is made exclusively from men's shirts (the stripes) and vintage sheets (the florals). I have it pieced and basted into a "quilt sandwich" and I can't wait to finish it!

The book I'm using as my guide and teacher is: The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide. I bought this book years ago when I first decided I wanted to start quilting. I noticed that it is listed in the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog in their post Readers' Top 10 Favorite Quilting Books.

So far, I've loved every part of the process, even though I've made many mistakes. I'm glad I'm starting small with something that will be loved. It's so much more fun than making something "just for practice".