Trimming the Towel

I bought a 10-pack of flour sack dish towels at the local big box building supply store last week.  I needed to replace a few of the more pitiful ratty rags in my kitchen towel drawer.  Also, I thought they might be good for a quick little Christmas gift or two, embellished in some way. 

Inspired by THIS tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts, I thought I'd sew up a Christmas-themed towel.

First I put them through the washer and dryer.  The towels came out of the dryer a wrinkled mess, so I pressed one before I began.  And that's when I noticed how flimsy they were.  As in really thin, loosely woven, not quite cheesecloth or gauze.

Definitely not good.

Okay, maybe okay for dusting or mopping up spills (while they last, anyway), but not good for embellishing.  It'd be like polishing a tur...well, you get the point.

But I was in the mood to sew, darn it, so I poked through the stash and came up with something appropriate in feel, and made my own towel.

Then I embellished it per the tutorial mentioned above.  Et voila!

Here it is hanging over a curtain rod in the kitchen window.  See the grass in the background?  That's right, no snow! 

This time of year, the backyard usually looks like this, taken two years ago after a six-inch snowfall.  

According to the extended forecast, it looks like it may be a green Christmas in 2015.  Fairly odd for the Upper Midwest, but a plus for any travel plans.  

I'm not complaining.