A little culture

My Thursday night class, Schools in a Pluralistic Society, is turning out to be much better than expected. Last week we wrote a cultural autobiography, describing our ancestry and how it influences our lives. My mom grew up on a dairy farm in South Dakota and consequently, grew up in a home of early mornings, frequent baking, gardening, sewing and 4-H. After moving away from home and out to Washington, she kept quite a few of these traditions/hobbies. Even though she's a little too old for 4-H we always went to the fair and walked through the livestock and craft/quilting exhibits. She definitely is not an early riser these days...preferring to sit in bed and read while sipping on her morning latte...so spoiled :) However, she passed on to me the desire to keep up with some of the family culture, which has led me to container gardening, baking (in fact, last night I made these delicious cookies!), and sewing. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a sewing machine at Christmas. I don't consider myself a serious seamstress, but I've dabbled in making tote bags, quilts, kitchen accessories and APRONS, lots and lots of aprons.

Just when I thought I was through with aprons, I found a pattern I couldn't resist...in fact half of the fabric pieces had already been cut out. Where did I find this half-started gem? At Grandma Hoogestraat's farm house in South Dakota this past summer. The fabric is beautiful and I bought a little ruffle at JoAnn's for 50% off. It's a bit "old fashioned," or maybe I should say "vintage," has a better connotation. :) The directions were a bit difficult to follow, but like I said I've made my fair share of aprons, so I was able to piece it together and improve it a bit here and there. I love it, not because of the vintage design, but      because of where it came from. A half started project from my Grandma that I was able to finish...keeping the family tradition and culture alive!