Half Apron from Canada.

I found this in an op shop today, and had an interesting discussion with the lady behind the counter, about its origin. She thinks it was a souvenir brought back here for someone who didn't wear aprons, and discarded it with other stuff destined for the op shop.
I pounced on it as soon as I walked in to the shop because it is so beautifully stitched, and an unusual design for an apron. I was surprised to find a label on the back of it in French. Some of the words are a bit hard to make out, but I think it says:
Tisse a La Main Hand Loomed
Au Terroir
STE Madeleine, Quebec
Fabrique au Canada. Made in Canada.

Found in an antique market.

I've taken to hanging my linens on the line outside, to photograph them for my blog, but when it is sunny, they tend to look a bit washed out as in this picture. The colours are indeed pastel, but brighter than they look here. This one cost me $25, which is about average for an apron of this vintage and condition.

A very old unfinished apron.

I received this stunning apron from Doreen, a fellow stitcher on a Postcards Yahoo Group, and also from Stitchin Fingers. People are so thoughtful! You meet someone in cyberspace, who you would never have met otherwise, and they remember you like something, so when they find one, they send it to you! Doreen has obviously been looking at my blogs, and noticed this one, so when this apron was donated to her Guild for the recycle table, she snapped it up for me instead - thank you heaps, dear friend!!

Wear Your Apron Day - May 11th

Tomorow is The Big Day - Wear Your Apron Day!
I wear an apron at some point in every day. When I'm cooking, or washing the dishes, and that's about 3 times a day. Most times nobody sees me, and I wear aprons simply to cover my clothes, because I'm such a grub when I'm messing around in my kitchen. But if my friends drop in, they usually comment on me wearing an apron, because most of them don't!
If you are reading this, I would really enjoy receiving a comment from you, describing which apron you will wear on Monday! I've decided to wear my new Paris printed apron, as I have just washed and ironed it ready to put away, but now I'll hang it in the kitchen ready to put on in the morning.

Printed, not embroidered.

I collect embroidered aprons as part of my overall vintage linens collection, but sometimes I see an apron that I can wear on a day to day basis (yes I do, I'm a real grub in the kitchen, always splashing or wiping something on myself). Today I was browsing in an antique market, and found these two sweet aprons for $3 each. Would you have left them behind?? If you are reading this blog, I think not!

A cute addition to my collection!

A couple of years ago, I found an article about aprons in a magazine online, and I emailed the author of the article to tell her about my collection. She contacted me and we emailed back and forth for a while, then we agreed to exchange an apron with each other. I had a calico half apron with nothing embroidered on it, so I used one of my vintage transfers to iron on a design, stitched it and sent it over to Carolyn.
She said she was delighted with it, and was looking for one to send me. Well, I got it today! She has had a lot of illness and hardship in her life since we last contacted each other, hence the delay. But as I said to her, the apron was worth the wait! Cute little bib style with pretty embroidered flowers. Love it!

Aprons In The Wind (but only in the U.S.A.)

I received this email today from the Lakes Gallery of Fine Art in the USA:

May 22, 2009
Good Day Gina

Kindly pass this announcement to your apron network. Thank you

Teri Peterson
The Lakes Gallery of Fine Art

2nd Annual “Aprons in the Wind”
A Mother’s Day weekend Celebration!
Fri. May 8th –Mon. May 11th
Fabric aprons displayed to honor women everywhere!
The dedicated aprons become apart of the exhibit and will be hung every Mothers Day weekend for years to come. Be apart – send or bring a dedicated apron to The Lakes Gallery of Fine Art. See web site for complete details www.lakesfineart.com

Special Art Mart: Saturday, May 9th, 11AM - 2PM
For details: The Lakes Gallery of Fine Art
N76 W31428 County Rd. V. v., North Lake (Hartland) 53209

www.lakesfineart.com (262) 966-1804

Here is the link to their website with all the details. It sounds like so much fun - do you think we could do something like this in Melbourne? I wonder how we could advertise it, and how many (if any!) people would turn up?