Office Geese

Don't go there

But if I do go there, should I bring scissors?

Last spring, I went with several HMQG-ers on a day trip to La Grange, Texas. If you are ever anywhere in SE Texas, you really should make this trip. La Grange is a charming, old-timey Texas town. It is also home to the Texas Quilt Museum. The museum, begun by the organizers of the International Quilt Festival, is housed in what was once 19th century retail space & has been beautifully restored to a new purpose -- that is displaying quilts.

When we were there, the special exhibit was butterfly quilts -- beautiful quilts in a beautiful space! I was standing in front of a quilt with another Guild member, um, a 'mature' woman like myself. This quilt had a large variety of fabrics, not just cottons, but satins, brocades, velvets. I don't remember who said it first, maybe we said it together, but we each had the same thing on our minds -- cutting up our wedding dresses! Both of us in happy marriages, for years we've lugged around our dresses & allowed them to take up space. Neither us see much likelihood of anyone ever wanting to wear our dresses. We told the rest of the group what we had been thinking; the more recent brides looked horrified, the ones with more candles on their anniversary cakes looked intrigued.

I loved my wedding dress! I remember like it was yesterday shopping with my Mom, putting on mine & immediately knowing, "this is MY dress." But now what? No daughters, my nieces either have different bodies or are already married. I'll never again be able to zip the tiny thing, so I can't even wear it as a Halloween costume! Yes, I could sell or donate it, it may be getting old enough to be considered vintage. :-} Or I could incorporate the fabric in patchwork -- kind of a have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too approach.

A few years ago I stumbled upon Cassandra Ellis. I liked this quilt & I really loved her attitude & approach to quilts & quilt-making. She has transformed my thinking about fabric & combining fabric in quilts! Chunky hunks & precious slivers of treasured fabrics make beautiful, meaningful &nurturing quilts. The old & the new; silk, cotton, velvet, wool -- all together in one quilt. I have dear bits of very old family clothing, many of them rayon, with which I have long wanted to make something. Ms. Ellis may be my Muse.

I'm not there yet, but if I go, I may bring scissors.

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.

Repurposing

A while back, I was going through the mountains of stuff in my sewing room -- a Sisyphus-ian task -- and came across a large stack of vintage, printed tablecloths. They are bright & cheery; I have some that belonged to my Mom & Grandmas, some my Mom bought for me, some I bought myself. Back in my denim-skirts-and-vests days (don't judge -- though I'm sure I looked a pretty frumpy), I made clothing with them. I have a shirt & a vest or two & had plans for more, but never got them made.

Last year, HMQG had a garage swap day. We brought in our unwanted fabric, notions, patterns, books & other craft supplies, let our friends pick through our piles & take what they wanted. (I brought home less than I took to the meeting! Yay me!) As I was making my pile to give away, I added several of my old tablecloths.
Then I took them out.
Then I put them back in.
Then I took them out again.

So I *still* have that large stack of tablecloths -- now, what do I do with them? Well, as I was piecing my pine trees, I was wondering what I could use for the back. With all the white, I wanted something light in color, maybe something with green & red. Then a lightbulb come on. I pulled out a cowboy print tablecloth that was a good size, but I didn't like the cowboys with the pine trees; none of the florals nor the plaids quite did it either. Then I found a smallish, square green & white one -- my search was over! I added some bands of leftover Christmas prints, a back was born & a quilt was finished!