June 11, 2013

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

{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!


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23 comments:

  1. That towel is so vintage and retro. Your fabric choices and perfect for the design and your binding is so neat. Absolutely love it. Nice one Amy.
    xxx

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  2. I almost bought some of that toweling for mine. I decided to go with linen instead . After reading your comments I had to laugh! Your 's look so nice.

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  3. Very cute! This is another I won't do. But I love how yours turned out!

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  4. Your lunch towel turned out very cute! I'm currently plugging away at all of mine. I was lucky in that I already had the linen in my stash and had gotten it for very cheap at a fabric outlet store... otherwise, I would probably be using flour sack towels or something like that!

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  5. EEEK!!!! I love this!!!!! And congrats on being on Explore!! Can I just tell you I am so happy I'm not the only one who is 'cheap'? I'm right there with you sister!! :)

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  6. Being frugal is an art! I think that we all need to share much more then we do.

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  7. Cool. I'm still not convinced if I'll do this project but we'll see. I'm thinking about addition for my girl's playset kitchen.

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    1. That would be so sweet for a play set!! Great idea!

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  8. So adorable !!! I've been so busy these past weeks with family and yard work I haven't gotten much sewing done or anything else for that matter ! I adore tea towels too!

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  9. It is a very nice and practical gift idea! And an idea for my kitchen, too. Thanks for explaining so well!

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  10. What a lovely post and project!! Loving your peeks of Fiesta Ware!

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  11. Love your version, Amy! You've also won me over with your Stay-Put Tea Towels. Thank you for the inspiration!

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  12. Amy: so glad I looked at your profileon flickr and found your blog! Love your tips and instructions for the Patchwork project and your work. I was not going to do a towel but now I am going to!
    Cat

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  13. Oh your towel ís yummy!!!
    Love the vintagy towel and the other scraps of fabric!
    I save my tiny scraps of precious fabrics too!
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com
    ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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  14. Lovely projects! I really like the toweling you used - very nice! And congrats on the explore with your coasters - they really are sweet!

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  15. Too cute! I love your fabric choices!
    Beautiful blog , too!

    Susie

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  16. Your tea towel is gorgeous, it definitely has that vintage vibe to it!

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  17. I can't believe you happened to have text fabric that had "salt" and "paper" on it. How great is that? I bought a set of towels today to do this project with. They're in the wash now.
    Linda F.

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  18. gorgeous! and the test salt n pepper- love that! wish I had put those text on mine too!
    Amira@ http://littlemushroomcap.blogspot.com

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  19. I'm very glad to have found out about your work and blog through Flickr, I will be following you through Bloglovin'! Your photos on Flickr are beautiful.

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  20. haha...glad im not the only tightwad! I love your idea to use the moda towel or even just a cotton towel. Adorable!

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  21. I love you Lunch towel Amy. Kitten print you used for salt shaker is so sweet!

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  22. Perfect choice the 1930's prints, totally childhood kitchen memory love it!

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I look forward to your comments and will read each and every one, even if I am not able to reply to all of them.