The Green and Blue Kitchen Set - Finished

The green and blue kitchen set is now finished!

A couple of other items in here that I haven't shown before...more towels and some crocheted dishcloths.

Miss Abigail has grown up on a sheep farm, so I am happy to include these two "sheepy" tea towels. The green one was brought back from Scotland by Miss Isobel, one of our dear club ladies. You might remember the embroidered daisy towels from the running-stitch daisy dishtowels post. You can also see the other items in this set, including Abigail's apron, Jacob's apron, a simple hand towel, rick rack hand towels, and the fabric collage towels.

Simple Embroidered Hand Towel - Green and Blue Set

Just a simple embroidered border on a woven cotton hand towel.

Abigail's Apron - Green and Blue Set

I am making coordinating aprons for this kitchen set. This pretty floral apron will be Abigail's. I honestly love this pattern! It is called "Sassy Little Apron" by Cabbage Rose. My favorite feature is the contrasting bias ruffle - I love the drape! I also really like the facing feature that saves me from having to hem around such a large area - nice. I used this pattern for the apron in the Thanksgiving set also - there you can see a much younger Miss Abigail modeling this pattern.

Here is information about Cabbage Rose patterns - the CUTEST aprons!

Cabbage Rose
4598 Kilkee Drive
Redding, California  96001
cabbagerosequilts.com

Rick-Rack Handtowels - Green and Blue Set

I finished off these hand towels yesterday. It was a simple thing to sew a fabric strip down and trim it with rick rack. Easy peasy! I will admit the embroidered french knots took a bit of time, but, as I was listening to the news anyway, it was not a hardship.

If you are looking for an easier way to attach the rick rack look at this tutorial. It is still embroidery, but much quicker and more simple than french knots.

Green and Blue Kitchen Set

Here are some of the other pieces in this last kitchen set. Abigail's favorite color has been blue and, apparently, Jacob's favorite color is green. So I'm combining those colors in this set. I have to finish the two aprons and it will be ready.

I will likely have to keep some of the hopechest here for now, in storage, until things are more settled. So she will have to choose which of all of her things she will start out with. I'm interested to see what she will want to take.

Fabric Collage Towels

I finished a set of what I call "collage" towels. They are part of the last kitchen set I'm am finishing up for the hope chest.

I really like doing collage when I craft with paper and thought I would try it with fabric and scraps. I love how these towels turned out!

These towels will go into the set that, so far, includes these dishtowels.

Valentines Towels

I'm adding these two hand towels to the Valentines kitchen set in Miss Abigail's hope chest. The colors were super hard to photograph, but the towels are quite beautiful.

I ran into the toile print cotton fabric some time ago and it called to me, so this towel is hand sewn and decorated with the embroidered rick rack trim. The dark red plaid is a Dunroven House towel and I just used a simple running stitch to embellish it a bit. Here are a couple of close pictures.

 You might remember that this towel also has the dotted rick rack technique applied.

I used a thicker perle cotton thread for the lighter stitches and it has a more raised impression than the darker, six strand embroidery cotton, which lays more flat. I like how that turned out.

If you're interested this post describes what is currently packed away in the hope chest for celebrating Valentines Day.

Handwoven Gifts for the Hope Chest

Santa brought Miss Abigail these three gifts for her hope chest this year, along with the ornaments shown in the last post. All three are handwoven locally and just a pretty as can be. This top photo is a beautiful grayish-blue table runner and I thought it would look perfect under Abigail's dishes at the holidays and on other special occasions. It measures 18 inches wide and is 36 inches long. The picture couldn't pick up the silver highlights very well, but the white weft threads have a silver thread incorporated that is understated but very fancy. It sparkles in a very subtle way.

This delightful houndstooth hand towel is also handwoven and very professional looking. It matches the last kitchen set that I'm working on for the hope chest and I couldn't resist it. This is one of those towels that you put out on holidays or when the ladies club is meeting at your house and someone might step into the kitchen to rinse their teacup, haha. Yeah, I can be shallow like that sometimes. I bought it mainly to honor the weaver, as I know what it takes to complete a pattern like this and to do it so well.

I didn't meet the weaver of this charming hot mat because it was on the consignment table at the Holiday Fiber Market that I attended in Santa Fe. I just thought it was darling and something useful for everyday meals at an everyday table.

An update on Miss Abigail. We very much enjoyed having her home for the holidays! She is seriously considering a career in nursing, which I think might be a really good fit for her. Nursing is so flexible and would allow her to work a little here and there or as much as she might need. So I am praying that this semester goes well and that she can make a good decision about her future. We had the most enjoyable time together in the car on the drive back. What a blessing she is! I thoroughly enjoyed her chatter as we drove along. She is hopeful about the future and upbeat and looking forward, even to the hard classes. I feel very happy to have spent that time with her.

I have set some serious goals for the hope chest this year. I need to finish up all the unfinished projects and complete several items that are still on my "want to do" list. I can feel the time drawing close now and I need to get these things completed. Wish me luck and I will try hard to document and post more this year.

Tutorial: Tucked Tea Towel

This post is a tutorial for another very easy tucked tea towel. The towel requires only straight stitching. Although it is simple and unadorned on the front, it does have a surprise on the back with a finished faced hem using a matching printed cotton fabric.

Materials: 7/8 yard of 100% cotton "bottom weight" or decorator fabric, (2) 1/8 yard of matching 100% cotton print fabric, basic sewing supplies, measuring mat and ruler, disappearing ink pen.

Cut the towel fabric into two pieces and square up ends and edges. Cut the printed facing fabric into 4 strips 2.5 inches by the width of towel.

Pin one strip to each end of the towel, right sides together. Sew 1/4-inch seams on each end.

Press all the seams open.

Fold the long sides in 1/4-inch and press. Fold over again to form a hem. Press and pin.

Stitch close to the edge to finish the sides.

With the towel facing up, use the measuring ruler and place the 2 1/4-inch marking line directly over the seam separating the print facing fabric from the towel fabric. Draw a mark across the width of the towel. If you don't own one of these wonderful rulers, just use a regular ruler and yardstick to measure and mark a line 2 1/4-inches up from the seam.

Turn the towel with the back side up. Fold the facing toward the back with the raw edge towards the middle of the towel. Press carefully. Fold again, completely enclosing the facing within the fold. This step will allow you to catch the raw edge of the facing, making a nice finish on the back. Press along the previously marked line, across the width of the towel. Pin and repeat this step for both ends of each towel.

Decide how large you want your tuck to be and make a mark on the throat plate of the sewing machine in order to guide your seam. I just used the 5/8-inch marking. Sew the tuck across the width of the towel. If you sew with the right side of the towel down, you may want to check your tension before you start sewing to make sure the bottom stitching will look good on the right side of the towel. Repeat for both ends of each towel.

Open up the towel and press well again. The raw edge of the facing will be enclosed in the tuck, making a nice finish on the back of the towel.

Finished!

Trim on the Apple Dishtowel

As I was again cleaning in the sewing room this morning, I came across some dyed Cluny lace. It seemed like it matched the apple dishtowel that I completed last week. So naturally I stopped cleaning and attached a length of it along the edge with a simple running stitch. I think it adds a nice finishing touch. What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday