Apron Alternative

Back in the fall of 2013, I sent out an announcement to family that I would be making them each an apron for Christmas, and requesting color and theme ideas, so I could personalize everything.

"My kitchen is red & pink"

Well, one of the honored elders of the family said, "No thanks" to my apron proposal.  No thanks?!  Did they not realize how very much they would covet everyone else's apron once they saw the amazing, personalized, lovingly hand-created vision?  Obviously not.

Oregon Duck fan: yellow & green

I was not to be deterred by a "No thank you".  I put on my thinking cap, trying to come up with another fabric item that could be decorated with the same recipe theme.  And, lo and behold, the quilting blog-o-sphere provided.  A tutorial from A Spoonful of Sugar for a gathered round basket got me started.  Even better that there are directions for 3 different sizes, so I could make some nested baskets.

First little problem: interpreting the fusible wadding needed to go between the layers of fabric.  (Maybe I'm dense, but I interpreted it as fusible interfacing, rather than fusible batting.  A quick Google search straightened me out.)

Second little problem: size and scale.  I knew I needed my fabric basket to be much bigger than the ones shown in the tutorial, as my screen-printed recipe measures 9" in the longer dimension.  So I had to super-size...

Canned goods for sense of scale

When I tried to keep the proportions the same as the tutorial, the sides would not stand up.  They flopped over most unattractively.  I ended up cutting my circle smaller, so the sides ended up about 3" tall.  Worked great!

[Math note: for a 9" circular base and 3" height of sides, you need to cut a 15" circle (9+3+3).  The contrast edging strip needs to be 9*pi (approx 28 1/4") long, not including joining seam allowance.]

Obviously, this lovely, recipe-enhanced fabric basket was not delivered for Christmas 2013.  Or even Christmas 2014.  Just gifted it this week, at a large family dinner (where most of the other guests had received an apron from me).

Here are the lucky recipients--our family's elders.

So happy to have a big, boisterous get-together with the whole family.  Before my upcoming move away from Oregon.  Miss you guys already!