Are You A Fish Out of Water?

~I saw this little blurb on a friend's facebook status today. It's a sweet reminder, perhaps, of how and why some people thrive while others spin in circles.
~There's a lot of discussion about praising kids for mediocre work these days. The effort is purported to be worth as much as the accomplishment. However, I'm always torn. While one kid is trying his hardest and struggling, is perhaps another just being lazy while both might be producing a low level result? How does a parent or teacher know the difference? IQ tests are not showing clear cut results anymore. Many adults find they have no interest in what a grade school achievement test showed them to be best suited for. Both hubby and I wonder what we were truly meant to do in life. Were we steered into careers or lifestyles that were what was expected of us? Or did we subconsciously achieve success because we were in the right place at the right time.
~People always bemoan later in life that they wish they'd followed their hearts when they were young rather than conform to the mold that society put them into. But I often wonder what part plain old fate plays in it all. I firmly believe that everyone is different and not all of us can throw a baseball or perform heart surgery. But we all don't have the drive to pursue our heart's desire either. Wishful thinking often takes up a lot of time. Blaming parents and teachers and friends for keeping hidden talents hidden is an easy out. If you look carefully, the fish usually knows it can't climb a tree so it expends its energy elsewhere. I can't build lasers or furniture like hubby can so I design and sew things that I need and like and I write stuff.
~Individuals usually find their own way. Being thoughtful about encouraging children is a good thing. But lavishing praise on everything might not be as worthy as acknowledging specific things in each child that are worthy of praise. Those who climb mountains often do it against the will of those closest to them. Not all success stories are products of a healthy, encouraging family life. We're not all good at everything and often, not even good at what we think we're good at! But most of us seem to find our way in spite of being told we can't.

The truth about my apron business...

My husband occasionally asks me why I don't do more to promote my apron business. He often makes suggestions about cutting multiple aprons at once...sort of developing an assembly line...kinda, sorta. He has bigger ideas than I do. He sees things through the eyes of a manufacturing manager. Friends make suggestions, too. We have the kind of small town here that is mostly made up of little independent shops. There are several where my aprons would fit in perfectly. "Why don't you take a couple into some stores and see if you can put them on consignment? I'll bet you'd get a lot of orders for more!" I hear that a lot. I'm not complaining or criticizing. I'm flattered that folks close to me think I can do all those things. But, truth be told, I work in a small corner of our dining room and another small corner of one of our even smaller guest rooms. In the summer time, it's impossible to keep the ironing board up all day long lest our summer guest think I've got work in store for them rather than dinner. The little guest room,(the oldest room in this old house) serves as an open invitation in the summer for friends and family to come and stay and play in the Cape Cod sunshine. There are also toddlers around in the summer. My sewing center contains a lot of sharp objects....needles, scissors, seam rippers, you name it and it's there. All that stuff gets packed away during the warm sun bathing months. (We have a wonderful hospital here in Falmouth, but none of us likes visiting its emergency room.) Point of story? I can only sew when and where it's convenient. To be a bigger producer, I would need a dedicated space...a studio of sorts. Quiet...peace...you catch my drift.
When I was young, I had a little shop...a boutique and tea room where I sold the dresses I made and the pies I baked. With four kids and a husband to care for, I didn't have much spare time to sew. Hubby would often look at me in bewilderment as I'd start cutting out a dress at ten o'clock at night. On his way upstairs to retire, he'd look back and say, "Are you coming to bed tonight?" I had a lot of energy then, and I needed the late night space and the quiet time to create the things I'd think up in my head during the day at the shop. Often, I'd finish a dress at two or three AM, jump in the car and drive downtown to my shop and put it on the mannequin in the window, confident that more often than not, someone would see it the next morning while driving through town, park their car and come into the shop and buy it. Our local police on the night shift, would often stop by and chide me for making them nervous. A woman visibly alone in a big store window at that hour of the morning is a sitting duck for trouble. But, I never worried. Our little Connecticut town was pretty safe and I knew the men in blue watched out for me.
But this is almost thirty years later. I can't start sewing at ten o'clock at night anymore. I can hardly keep my eyes open till ten. And, I seem to get going slowly in the morning as well...which doesn't leave me that many hours in between to sew. Then there's the grocery shopping, meal prep, cleaning, laundry, phone calls, computer time, and all the other stuff that takes up time during the day. I feel lucky if I get a couple of aprons a week made! There's not much hope of developing an assembly line.
The final insult to the proposal of doing "more, more, more" is the mess. Since I sew in spaces that have a dual purpose, I absolutely must clean up my mess each and every day. No one wants to eat a nice dinner with the ironing board sitting alongside the table. Sewing gets messy. Threads, pieces of fabric, lint, needles and pins all wind up in places where they don't belong.
Although I love the fanfare and the horns blowing and all from my family and friends, the bottom line is that I'm not the energizer bunny. I can't sew any faster and I can't produce any more and continue to live life as a retiree. I design and sew at a pace that I can manage. Encouragement is always welcome and appreciated, but truth be told, reality wins out in the end.

Visit us on the worldwide web at http://www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com/

Well...well...well...


May 1st. How did that happen? It's about time for us to start packing up for the trip back home. Our daughter, Joanne, who lives right around the corner, reports that our lawn is very green and very thick. Time to mow. It's amazing how lush the lawn always looks this time of year. Yet, by mid August, it's dry and thirsty.

I haven't been making much progress in my etsy shop lately. When I got my online etsy bill, it was so minuscule, that I got the message; I hadn't listed very many new items. It's not easy to stay indoors and sew on these beautiful Florida beach days. Discipline goes right out the window. We're the last ones here of our winter snow bird friends. It's quiet at the pool and there are few cars in the parking lot. I would imagine the year 'round residents would enjoy the respit during the summer months. But, many of them say it's too lonely. Today, I vow to make a blouse. Yes...that is my solemn vow.

It's a treat to see so many visitors from far a wide on our live traffic feed. Why not leave us a comment so we can get to know you? Just click on the word "comment" at the bottom of this blog, log in with your email, and let's get to know each other.
And don't forget to visit us at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com for lots of pretty aprons and tops.

Prints & Chintz and all that....

A Warm Up! Finally. Temps should be back up in the 70s this weekend. Yeah! I need my vitamin D. A little sun bathing is in order. We've decided to do a couple of small projects here this winter since we're feeling a bit "spent" from the kitchen remodel back home. Rich is going to paint the upstairs bathroom vanity and put new tile down on the floor. This condo complex is nearing 50 years in age. The fixtures are a bit dated, to say the least. We upgraded the kitchen a couple of years ago but the bathrooms are still wearing bell bottoms and beads, if you get my drift. Our bathtub, sink and toilet are a very Robin's Egg Blue! Yikes! Not ready to tear those out yet, so the vanity will get a nice, clean coat of white paint and the floor tile will be white with a little gray/blue tinge. I'll use my camouflage talents to dress it up with some nice towels and soaps and it will be just fine...no...it will be terrific. I'll post some pics on that when it's done.

I decided I have enough aprons for the time being which leads me to my other chronic disease....making blouses and tops. I experimented by listing several in my etsy shop this past year and they seemed to be well received. I've got some absolutely beautiful Amy Butler fabrics that will be spectacular in our Aprons Gone Wild baby-doll top design. I'm working on number one today. A fellow etsian emailed me about making one of my halter tops in Michael Miller's "carnival" print, so I've ordered the fabric from my favorite fabric suppliers, Charlie and Lindsay of Fabric Supplies on the Internet. The lightening speed with which Fabric Supplies ships out an online order is something to marvel at. I actually got a bit carried away on their etsy web site the other day and ordered several beautiful prints. Fabric always inspires me. But, I can't decide which one to pick first! Look for something new soon in one of these beauties on apronsgonewild.etsy.com