LindaRuthie

I have been sewing and crafting for almost 40 years. Needless to say, I have a lovely stash of supplies that I would enjoy swapping. At the moment, I am obsessed with aprons. I have made more than a dozen since December, some for gifts, some for swaps, some I sold and some for me. I'm using lots of bias tape, rick rack and cotton prints. I love the old feed sack type prints and I'm always looking for kitchen and food print fabric. I collect vintage apron patterns. My favorites are the farmhouse, cover-up styles. I have collected a few vintage half aprons, mostly embroidered gingham, but I don't wear them. I also enjoy card making, scrapbooking, making beaded jewelry, embroidery (chicken scratch and redwork at the moment), knitting scarves and quilting.

I live in Western Massachusetts, in the town I was born in. I've been married for 16 years and have one son, age 11. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home Mom and even luckier to be homeschooling my son. He and I enjoy mysteries, studying nature, history and collecting things vintage. We all like to travel, but finances keep our trips close to home (New England area). That's OK because there's plenty to see and do in New England. We keep 2 aquariums at our house. One has fish and the other, a young Eastern Painted Turtle named Neville. He was rescued from my father's pool last Spring. For anyone with allergies, my swaps will come from a smoke-free, furry pet-free home.

Most of my reading at this time is whatever we are studying for homeschool. We all love reference books at my house. This Christmas my husband bought me the National Geographic Atlas of the World. I love it! I enjoy books like "Weird New England" and local history and legends, including ghost stories. In my younger days, I'd have to say my favorite book was 'The Once and Future King'.

All-time favorite show is 'The Andy Griffith Show'. I love to learn something watching TV, so History Channel, Food Network, HGTV and Discovery Channel are usually what I watch. My hubby has me hooked on 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Men in Trees', 'Pushing Daisies', 'Kyle XY' and 'Ghost Whisperer'. I also love 'Monk'.

I have always loved old musicals. One of my favorites is 'The Slipper and the Rose'. I don't enjoy watching horror or violence.

I grew up listening to my parents music and I still love Big Band and 50s Rock and Roll. Absolutely my favorite singer is Ella Fitzgerald, with Nat King Cole a close second. My son is hooked on The Monkees right now, so that's usually what we listen to in the car.

I can't say there are any colors I do not like, but my favorites are green and purple. I prefer bright, clear colors as opposed to muted colors.

My favorite styles of apron are 40's and 50's styles of full apron. Or 30's and 60's. :o) Any style with a bib front or a smock/cobbler apron is great. I love scalloped edges, cherries, shabby chic roses, polka dots, rick rack and unusual details. I'm not much for ruffles. I do wear an extra large (size 20) and I find that the "one size" patterns are a bit small for me. I started swapping here just so I can get enough of a rating to join the apron swaps. But I am having a blast with all my swaps!

I enjoy gardening in my yard. It's a bit challenging as we have many shade trees. But I have 25-30 different Day Lilies that I love, and half a dozen different Hostas. My favorite flowers are violets. I enjoy bird watching and try to keep the feeders in the yard full. I like Sodoku puzzles, especially if they aren't too hard. I enjoy walking in the woods and have done a bit of Geocaching. My favorite season is Fall. I like coffee and tea.

• Dotee Doll, when I first saw these I didn't really get it, but wouldn't a basket of Dotees look cute in my sewing room?
• Pin Cushions, I love the bright felt embroidered ones and the cotton print ones with a button in the middle.
• Something with old silverware.