An apron by any other name...

I am readying the instructions for a new pattern I have come up with, and I really puzzled over the title a long time.  That is a tough part of the process, it has to be appealing, attention-getting, memorable, but not inappropriate.  I am liking the idea of staying with rhymes, but try and come up with something good for apron!  I even use a couple websites for rhymes and they weren't much help for that.  So then I branched out my thinking along the line of other kitcheny-type stuff, and kind of a little retro feel, and lo and behold, "Flower Power" popped out of a cobwebbed corner of my brain, and morphed into "Flour Power"!  So that's that!  Soon available for purchase at Bear Patch Quilting Co. and any other store that's interested!  The sample on the clothesline above is the one Maggie made as she tested my directions, it is cute in the 30's repro prints.  There also is another sample available for purchase on the store's silent auction, I will snap a picture when I go tomorrow.  Now to my machine!

Sew Red silent auction

We are preparing a new display at the store which will include this quilt to be auctioned to the highest bid.  It was sewn by Debbie Engh and quilted by myself and I am hoping it will bring a good amount to contribute to the American Heart Association.  There will be many other items, large and small, on the silent auction.  Watch here and the Bear Patch website for more info.

Of strawbales and winding roads

Yesterday was a perfect day for bouncing around on a hayrack and winding around some country roads, good thing Larry and Denise had all the arrangements made!  We had a tour of some of the land just north of where Bob lived, including a stop at the house where his grandparents lived when he was young.  Five of his brothers and sisters plus the matriarch, Ruth, were able to take the tour, too, so it was good to catch up on family doin's.   And enjoy all of Larry's wisdom and corny jokes!  Ended up at a perfect little hunting cabin with weinie roast and smores, thanks to Denise for putting that part all together.  Had to take a shower at 11:30 last night when we got home to get the straw and dust out of my hair!  How did that not bother me when I was a kid?  We used to have regular adventures in the haymow, covered with dust and leaves, and likely a few bugs, too!

Farewells

I don't remember if I have covered this here before, but I recently left my employment at North Memorial, making this the first time in about 32 years that I have not been involved in nursing in some form.  My past few years have been spent working in the Trauma/Neuro ICU, a very interesting place.  It was so nice to be invited to a little farewell get-together last Monday.  Thanks to Sharon for offering up her lovely home to entertain us!  You have always been a special person to work with, and have saved me many troubles with your medical secretary skills!

Pictured below is my Girl Gang, my #1 supporters, the cream of the crop!  Second from the left, Diane, has just moved from ICU to PACU, so we shared the party night!

Thanks to these 4 and many more, patients will be blessed with the care and attention they need.  

A lovely bag

My luck was good last week, I purchased an unfelted wool bag from my friend, Thora Lee, at her stash buster sale. She had knit the bag but never got around to felting it. She wanted it out of her space, so for a small fee I was able to do that. Well, now my lovely bag is the love of my life! I gussied it up with a pretty lining, magnetic snap, and cute little fabric flower and voila!

The fabric flower instructions can be found here.

State Fair part deux

I had some more great pictures to share from our recent trip to the MN State Fair:

creepy looking vegetables

Notice the scale on these bad boys!

Imagine being immortalized in butter!

You just never know what you will find!