A little project. Very little.

In case you don't already know, I am in the midst of the final months of a new book manuscript. How could you not know? I feel like I have been going on about finishing it for months now, boring you all to death! But just in case you hadn't known, there it is.

As a result of the book and of the fact that it is the middle of summer, my life feels like a whirlwind of chapters, time at the pool with the kids, illustrations, kids wanting snacks, photo shoots, kid's coming home from camp wanting more snacks, more writing and then dirty, happy kids wanting more food before they play whiffle ball in the front yard with every single neighborhood kid they can scare up. Oh yeah, and they want snacks for that too.

In fact, I looked out the window the other day and one of the kids was running bases while hugging the bowl of pistachios I had put out there for them! I'll let you get a mental picture of that for a second. Got it? Good. It was pretty hysterical! 

 Is it just me, or do our kids eat more in the summer? I am going through food in Costco size quantities and I still seem to always be running out. But I digress.

In the midst of all this chapter writing and kid wrangling, I haven't had much of an opportunity to do anything simple and easy and, well, summery. But I have been dreaming of doing it. So finally yesterday I stopped all my deadline work and whipped up a couple of easy peasy kitchen towels. Really easy peasy.

 

 

Kitchentowels

I used my favorite kind of kitchen towel to start off – a flour sack [if your local drugstore doesn't carry these, google flour sack towel & you will find dozens of sources]. They usually come very wrinkled, so I pressed the towel well so it would be easy to lay the strip of fabric on it.

I cut a 3 1/2" strip of 3 prints from my Strawberry Fields collection and pressed each long end under a 1/4". I tucked one end under, pressed it and overlapped one edge of the towel by about 1". I pinned it in place and continued to pin the strip all the way across the towel to the other side, where I trimmed the end of my strip to hang off about 1 1/4". I then tucked that edge under too and tucked it behind the towel by about 1".

I sewed the strip on, on both sides. That's it! In about 35 minutes, I had three brand new kitchen towels that completely changed the feel of my kitchen to "summertime"- at least for me. And more importantly, I felt a great sense of completing something I had been wanting to do for a long time. And then I felt quite ready to go back to writing and making more snacks for the kids :-).

If you are feeling at all overwhelmed about the undone or unfinished state of your huge projects this summer, then just stop and do something little that you can finish quickly and that will make you smile every time you look at it. I promise that it will make you feel better!

 

Kitchentowels#2blog
… as you can probably tell from the photos, flour sacks come in different shades, some bleached and some natural. It seems that I have both in my stash and so you can see two different shades of fabric on the towels.

 

On another quick note, we have restocked the cream bundles with a new bundle #3. So many of you have requested these and I am so sorry that we were not able to get them done any faster [we were waiting for fabric to arrive] and that we don't have more. Have fun! These are great as backgrounds for whatever project you are working on or great for your stash if you collect creams like me!

Cream#3blog

Cream#3ablog

xoxo

Joanna

 

About The Author

Joanna

17 COMMENTS

  1. Dorian | 20th Jul 11

    Cute towels Joanna. Are flour sacks pretty absorbant? I have a hard time with kitchen towels, as they just don’t seem to pick up the liquids well.

    LOL to the kids!! Sounds like they are enjoying their summer.

  2. Karen | 20th Jul 11

    I love this idea! Your towels look really special now! Will give this a try soon.

  3. Marge | 20th Jul 11

    How come I never thought of doing that with flour sacks?! Well, now I have to rush out and buy a supply of sacks, maybe bulk at Sam’s club?, and start summering them up!

    And I love, love, love those creams!

  4. Hildy | 20th Jul 11

    I love your towels they would make a perfect gift! I think I’ll do some for friends because with my big projects are just in the middle of nowhere;-)
    Hildy

  5. Kathryn | 20th Jul 11

    What a lovely gift idea – thanks so much for sharing. I’m on pins and needles for a Fresh Figs book!

  6. Dandelion Quilts | 20th Jul 11

    I love flour sack towels. I may just need to whip up a few of these!

  7. Shannon Arsenault | 20th Jul 11

    May I say A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E ???

  8. Andrea | 20th Jul 11

    My kids are snack monsters too: “Mom, can we have a snack…no hun, you just had your bed time snack. No, Mom, that was our after dinner snack which is totally different from our bedtime snack…” They have a snack name for every phase of the day!

  9. Amy | 20th Jul 11

    Totally pretty! You can see them often while preparing more snacks. My boys eat all summer, too…must be nice to be able to do that with no side effects…or bottom effects or belly effects. This post is great therapy. I love the idea of putting together something simple and creative in just a few minutes, just for myself!

  10. sherri | 20th Jul 11

    What gorgeous cream bundles! And I love your kitchen towels. I’ve been at the grocery store a couple of times this summer and heard several moms talking about how much food their kids are eating now that they are home from school. The same is happening here…it’s amazing how much one 16 year old boy can eat in a day!

  11. Joanna | 20th Jul 11

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] Dorian submitted a comment on A little project. Very little.

    Yes, they are very absorbent since they are thin and 100% cotton. I dont use any other kitchen towels since I discovered these. They are thin, so they get wet quickly but dry quickly and if you always have several on hand, youll be good to go.

    Joanna

  12. Pam | 20th Jul 11

    I love kids in and out now that mine are grown and gone I truly miss it. Love those handy towels too! Thanks for catching us up out here in blog land, i’d say the mama should have a nice big bouquet of roses next time you hit Costco!

  13. Bari Jo | 20th Jul 11

    Oh this is a great idea! So cute!!!! Can’t wait to find some flour sack towels!!! Thanks for the inspiration as usual!!!!

  14. mellie003@aol.com | 20th Jul 11

    Love your flour sack towels! Thanks for sharing such a great idea.

  15. izzy | 23rd Jul 11

    Joanna, I like your quilting atyle very much and colors as well. Do you think the white fabric gives the quilts a certain look they would not otherwise have if it were not for the white ? Thanks

  16. Joanna | 26th Jul 11

    Re: TypePad: [Fresh Figs] izzy submitted a comment on A little project. Very little.

    We use cream or ivories to offset the colors and to make them stand out and shine. The cream backgrounds create a warm contrast to the prints.

    Thanks for asking,
    Joanna

  17. izzy | 26th Jul 11

    Thanks Joanna will try it on mine. Ive been on Kaffe Fasset kick lately where there is no cream of course!

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