Apron Quilt Inspiration

This is the interactive 3-D apron quilt which hangs above my kitchen sink:

It's about 14" x 20". Each miniature apron (about 4" wide) hangs free from a white square of fabric; the white square is itself a pocket. The pockets are filled with kitchen implements and funny postcards. You can see my favorite postcard displayed in this shot, but you don't need to squint to read it because... 

 

Here's a closeup. The lady has an important message:

That's an Asian stew implement sharing the pocket.

For Baby Boomers like moi, aprons evoke the 1950's and 60's. I rarely wear them (pretty much only on Passover), but my yiddishe Bubbie (grandmother) sure did, and I have a collection of real vintage aprons, plus images of vintage apron patterns. These all helped inspired the tiny aprons I created for the quilt above.

For example, here's a vintage apron pattern with a curly-tailed bird/rooster (?) pocket: 

Which inspired my bird-pocket mini-apron: 

Here's a cascading flouncy apron: 

Mine has a simplified flouncy shape. I went wild with the dreadful shamrock fabric and tiny green rick rack:

Here are two vintage aprons with heart themes, the first with a heart-and-dove pocket, 

And the one on the right below has two hearty pockets, a sweetheart neckline, and bow-tied shoulder straps.  Is that not deeply adorable?

My heart apron is below, right. It has only one heart pocket.

And speaking of dreadful fabric, with the red apron on the left above,  I made maximal use of watermelon print fabric. (The black shapes are watermelon seeds) I gave it a green rind waistband. Let's face it, aprons don't get much tackier than that! 

Or do they? Here are some more vintage apron images from my files that perhaps will inspire a sequel to this quilt (by you or me). 

There's a kitties-peeking-out apron: 

Awwww. My teenager would have loved that when she was 4. I believe the top pocket kitty is an applique, and the bottom pocket contains a kitty-shaped potholder. 

There's the Mexican hat apron: 

Which may or may not cross the line into objectionable ethnic stereotyping.

There's the layered upside-down tulip skirt apron, 

(or is that a crocus?)

And finally, giant happy head aprons: 

(With matching decapitated potholders). 

Except for the white pockets, the whole quilt was made with vintage print fabrics that I couldn't possibly use anywhere else. (Like that shamrock fabric). The rick-rack is also vintage. 

Feel free to use the comments to tell your apron stories!

[Update: I am delighted to share this link on the awesome Nina Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Friday project, at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/. ]

[Update, 1-21-13: If this post makes you want to make a full size apron, here's a long list of free patterns online: http://tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns-tutorials/

And booklets of downloadable patterns can be found at:  http://tipnut.com/56-free-apron-patterns-you-can-make/]