GO! Tea Towels

So this week's GO! Sew is a pair of tea towels.

So cute! I used the AccuQuilt GO! Fowl die and the Queen of Hearts dies when making these up. I made the all in blue version first and just outline stitched the appliqué. Afterwards I looked at it and wished I had buttonholed it. When I did the second tea-towel, the red and blue version, I used machine buttonhole -- and yes, more of a pain in the neck but also much more in that vintage spirit. So, buttonhole it is.

I really wanted a vintage appeal so I pulled out my 30's reproduction bin that includes a few bits of actual vintage fabrics as well. These pretty blues go way back!

I just love the one with the blue stripes and pretty flowers.

And the fabrics weren't the only vintage bits either. I've inherited sewing boxes from my mother, my grandmother, and my mother-in-law. The bits of rick rack I used came from the sewing bins. Some of those bits go way back as well, particularly that yellow one.

And then there was the thread (because I inherited a bunch of that as well -- I remember my mom sewing clothes for me, back when it was cheaper to sew your own than buy in the store . . . ).

Those bits of blue scrap were all that was left of the one scrap of rick rack!  And look at the wooden spools. I love them.

From the top: how about that 10 cent pricing for a spool of thread, or the one that has the information stamped into the wood rather than a bit of paper?

And then there's the 30's reproduction fabrics.

So bright and happy. Of course, you know you're old when your scrap pile probably counts as vintage in and of itself. I bought those fabrics to make a baby quilt for my nephew. Now he is headed off to college. Vintage is a relative term!