Week #2 - Zakka 2.0 Let's Do Lunch!

All over blogland,

sweet peppers have been popping up,
thanks to the Patchwork, Please Zakka 2.0 sew along!

Even though this was a fairly straightforward project,

I was amazed at the variety and innovation
people put into it.

{Hop on over to Lindsey's blog, and then to the Flickr group, and you'll see what I mean!}

My photo even made Explore on Flickr!

I can't wait to see what happens this week,

with the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner towels.

{Here's my contribution:  LUNCH!}

My sister Susie gifted me with a piece of cotton toweling

by Moda, finished off on the side edges

with a pretty vintage green stripe.

Source:  Quilter Studio

I just knew it was perfect for this project!

I chose some 30's repro scraps and a few other favorites

and went to work.

The pattern calls for enlarging the letters in the words,

but my toweling was only 16" wide,

so didn't enlarge any of the templates,

including the adorable salt and pepper shakers.

I followed the directions provided, with success.

When the salt and pepper shakers were done,

they looked a wee bit like girls in dresses, to me.

Luckily, I had some text prints on hand,

for the finishing touch!

{Ta-da!}

Now, you may know I love me some ricrac!

Ayumi added such a darling detail, using ricrac

for a little hanger up in the corner of the towel.

Instead, I decided to use a 2" x 6 1/2" scrap of

my precious sunshine yellow

Recipe for Friendship fabric,

to make my little hanger.

I used the same print for the towel binding.

I only had to finish the top and bottom edges of my towel,

so this was a really quick and fun project,

and it used minimal fabric.

Now for my likes and dislikes...dislikes are first:

Let me just reveal to you now that I'm a tightwad

when it comes to fabric...and everything else, I guess.

There is just no way I'm going to use

the amount of LINEN that is suggested,

for making even one towel.

{Much as I love the look, I just can't do that!}

Not only that,

I prefer using cotton tea towels, except for drying glassware.

If I hadn't had this awesome piece of Moda toweling,

I would have used one of the cotton towels

I like for my Stay-Put tea towels.

{They come in all different colors, and would be great 

for this project...and not so expensive.}

And my "likes" are numerous this week...

I just love this project in general, 

for its gift potential and versatility.  

I can visualize these vintage-style shapes decorating

lots of other kitchen items, too!

{How about some hot pads with the salt and pepper shakers?}

Fusible applique is such a fun and useful technique,

and I always feel a sense of success using this method,

even in shapes and letters with sharp curves.

The way these tiny scraps can add up to something so pretty

never ceases to amaze me.

I especially loved the method Ayumi described for attaching the binding.
I had no problems securing the edging neatly.

My new LUNCH towel is so sweet and sentimental.

It reminds me of all the special kitchens of my childhood...

all of my grandmas and my great-grandmother

were fabulous cooks.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy some more toweling

and finish the set!