Oh, Shirt

Before I married, I probably did a thrift store outing at least once a month. I would usually go to more than one store & I would often have my Mom with me. After moving to Texas, there were fewer opportunities, less time & I got out of the routine of thrifting. Then several years ago, a Goodwill store opened up just minutes from our house. I was so excited! I went once. It was early in Mom's move to nursing care & it just made me sad being there alone, so I left & did not go back.

A few weeks ago, I took a stay-cation from work. One of the things I wanted to do was revisit the Goodwill. I went & among the curtains & linens, I found something labeled "laundry bag". The fabric looked vintage & at $2, the price was right. Examining it at home, I realized I had just gotten a feed sack that was still an actual sack! Well, this primed my thrifting pump! So in 3 days, I visited 3 Goodwill stores. At the 2nd one, I looked at the men's shirts & found lots of large (VERY large!), good quality, crisp-from-the-cleaners blue & white dress shirts. Well, what can a fabricholic do? I am now the happy owner of 12 de-boned men's dress shirts (longing for a few more, maybe some gingham & some oxford solids).

I have no business starting something new -- there's the birthday quilt I need to get busy on plus several more small gift projects & then there are aaaaaallllll the WIPs I have hanging around now.

But that didn't stop me.

A Detour

Recently, I learned that my cousin's husband has stage 4 esophageal cancer.

Together, my cousin & her husband are a formidable pair; on an even playing field, I'd bet on them over cancer. But as you know, cancer rarely fights fair. They have quite a battle ahead of them. There isn't much I can do from such a distance, but the one thing I can do is make a quilt to warm them during treatments &, fingers crossed, recovery.

He was in the Navy when they married -- a handsome sailor in his dress blues at their wedding. So I thought country-style, Americana fabrics would be appropriate. A pull from my stash (this was a total stash quilt, from top to pieced batting to backing  -- very satisfying!),  a quick & easy pattern from Timeless Treasures & a quilt will soon be in the mail.

Number Eleven -- Wordless*

* Because, really, what can I say?