Primitive_Quilts_and_Projects_-_September_2019

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JENI GASTON is one of the three founding sisters of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine. Throughout her life, Jeni has

practiced fiber arts, and ended up making a career of it as a designer and quilt shop proprietor. With her sister Gretchen, she

launched the online Rug Hooking Store, and later the Woolen Willow quilt shop. She has created more than 100 original projects

and has been published in four magazines. Jeni enjoys dyeing wool; designing quilt, rug and other wool projects; and spending

time with her family—her husband Glen, her grown children Kristen Taylor and Kris Gaston and her grandchildren.

MARY FALCSIK is mom to Gretchen, Jeni, and Judy—the creative founders of this magazine. With an adventurous spirit and zest for

learning, Mary taught her daughters to sew, knit, appliqué, embroider and lots of other fun lessons along the way. She is retired from

an extensive career as a legal secretary and freelance typist. Mary and her husband George live in Williamstown, West Virginia. They

have five grown children, eight grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

AskMom

Whether you are a new

quilter or seasoned

sewer, we all encounter

challenges during the

creative process. Send

your questions to jeni@

primitivequiltsandprojects.

com, and longtime quilter

and rug hooker Jeni

Gaston might address

them in a future issue.

Letters may be edited for

style, space and clarity.

Dear Jeni,

I was wondering if you have any tips on embellishing ordinary useful

items, such as aprons and tote bags...these are things I would rather

purchase than make, but I would like for them to be special.

Thank you,

Carolyn

By Jeni Gaston

Dear Carolyn,

Thank you for a great question! I have the same problem. I don’t have

much time for sewing bags and aprons for myself, and I would rather

spend time making quilts or hooked rugs. I have found a way to add

some personality to some plain things that are cheap to purchase, fun to

embellish, and could be great gifts!

I walk most every morning with my dog Chester, and don’t always have

a pocket to put bags in for when he needs to stop and do his thing, and

for my phone if I want to listen to podcasts while I walk. Also, when I run

into my sister Judy on her walk, we walk together

and talk about ideas. I wanted to have something

to put a small notebook and pen in, my phone

and a dog bag. I came up with this idea. I found

for $1 the canvas aprons at Lowes. I think you can

find them at other home improvement stores as

well. I embellished the front pocket to cover the

Lowes advertisement with a little wool penny rug!

This would also be great for many things, not just

walking the dog!

The next idea was to add some fun things to a plain

cheap canvas tote bag, that you see pictured. I made a

cute little bird pin cushion, a pocket out of upholstery

fabric, and added some wool scallops to the top. It’s

been a fun bag to carry my stitching or work in! I hope

you have fun with these ideas and that you share what

you make with us and our readers!

Thank you and happy stitching!

Jeni