The sound of silence? Not quite

I haven't posted since the very beginning of the week.  For the first half of the week, that was because my back was bothering me and I didn't wish to inflict my crankiness on the blogosphere ... I tried to work on the apron during it and made so very little progress ... it may be a quick and easy project under normal circumstances, but cutting anything out of fabric with back pain is akin to torture.  Things got a little better on Wednesday, so all the pieces *are* cut out.

I was starting to put the apron together Thursday, when a box arrived in the afternoon ... yes, another from FabricMart!  Then Thursday evening hubby took me out to dinner then we scooted down the road for a little shopping: I dropped him off at Hobby Lobby then ventured down to Hancock with a calendar coupon and sales flyer in my hot little hands, with my intended target being the linen selection that had just gone on 50% off sale ... and the coupon giving me an additional 50% off that!

It's rare for me to escape Hancock without unplanned fabrics jumping into my cart ... and this was no exception as they already had four tables set up for their unannounced "clean sweep" sale.  Best of all, the gems were on the $1/yd table:

Very front is 110" wide sheeting ... only 1-1/4 yd left on the table but that's enough to make four pillowcases.  Left front will be a new simple skirt, as I am certain I have a cotton to make a matching pink tunic or blouse!  The olive and maroon cotton will be a shirt for hubby ... who at first didn't like the fabric but last night was asking if that will be the next garment I make.  That big white blob is my actual target: handkerchief weight 100% linen I got for only $4/yd ... I took all 7 yards and 25 inches Hancock had left.  The best part is leftovers and decent sized scraps can be made into monogrammed and embroidered hankies as gifts ...

The FM box:

Linens to left, cottons to the right ... and stuck in the middle is a rayon challis whose colors I could not resist.  (apologies to Stealers Wheel)  This box ended up having a couple surprises: the beige cotton I had thought would be shirting fabric is actually a nice sturdy bottomweight that will make ME killer shorts or capris (emphasis on ME since son doesn't like it).  And that grey-looking salt-and-pepper linen on the bottom left washed up a bit coarser than I anticipated, but will make the absolute perfect summer blazer to wear over a classic blouse in that awesome tidal blue "couture"/heirloom quality linen that I pretty much splurged on just to see what it was like.

So yesterday I was bouncing between the sewing area and the laundry area, trying to get all these new fabrics prewashed along with a few previous acquisitions to round out laundry loads.  The apron is close to done, but it should gets its own post.