I have bought some fabric. Yes I have to confess that BUT I have stuck to my aim to only by fabric for specific purposes. Whilst in Mackay and Townsville I visited Spotlight and succumbed to some lovely fabric which I planned to make bibs for Handmade Love. These fabrics have featured in all the bandana bibs I have made over the last couple of weeks. I do still have some of the fabric left but most of it got used up including the metre (or was it 1.5m...I forget) for binding. Its all basically gone so it doesn't really matter. I got 2 fat quarters of funky Michael Miller Christmas print and 3 co-ordinating spots for the bibs. I got .3m of 2 other funky Christmas fabrics for bibs as well. Its all just about gone. I have bits and pieces of each fabric left. I could make a couple more bibs but not sure that we need more for the stalls. Thinking I should try some pot mitts or towel hangers.
I have acquired some more fabric from my mother in laws linen press. Sigh. If I am honest and count it all it is going to blow my stash numbers out of the water.
My MIL's cousin Ruth was about 10 years older than her. She never married and was always very fond of her little cousin Nancy and family. Ruth had a heart of gold and was always very generous but... well her gifts whilst well meant weren't always as useful as she would have liked them to be.
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| Cousin Ruth in the 1950s - in her 30s |
At some point she acquired some bolts of fabric - rather thick heavy cotton (like a heavy homespun) that she decided was ideal for sheets. She proceeded to make several flat sheets for the family. Trouble was... the fabric was of course not wide enough so had to be seamed down the middle and some of them she patched together to make long enough. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to sleep with a seam under you... or over you for that matter. So these sheets, made from quite good quality heavy cotton, were largely unused because they were uncomfortable (another time she did a stretch knit course and learned how to make men's undies. She promptly sewed a heap for my brothers in law (Fixit Guy had left home by this stage) but being economical she used every skerrick of fabric and this meant that many of them had seams down the back of the undies. Again... not comfortable. I think the young teenaged boys that my BILs were at this stage weren't keen on them at all so I don't' think they got very used at all. Ruth and my Mother in Law were always very close although they were 11 years apart in age. Ruth died towards the end of 2005 and my mother in law died just a few months later in February 2006.
Ruth was very practical and no nonsense - bit rough and ready but loving and generous so the family never told her that her gifts weren't always appreciated. The sheets were still in the linen press till I liberated them this trip. They should come in handy for backing of quilts at some stage. But it is hard to count them into my stash when I don't have a use by date on them.... Just tallied it up 4 sheets and some curtain fabric... just over 14m of fabric. Oh that hurts.
Then when I got home I found a Massdrop parcel had arrived with my fat quarter bundle. Neko by Hyakka Ryoran. Isn't it gorgeous.
There were 20 fat quarters in the drop which was 5 yards or 4.7m I do have a project in mind for this lovely fabric so we will see how we go.
I have already told you in other recent posts that I made
16 bandana bibs and 12 baby bibs (4x10" long and 8 x8"long)
I also made 2 hanging towels for my sister in law. I found the new hand towels in my mother in laws linen press (despite the fact that she died 10 years ago, much of her house on the property is as it was when she was there including the linen press. I raided it this trip for a few bits and pieces myself and found these hand towels. My SIL uses them. Like me she likes a thick full towel rather than the little half towels made out of tea towel. They were green and I happened to have some green with me... the spotty stuff I had used for binding as well as some darker green check. She seemed very happy with them... no photos of course.
So the stats for the last few weeks
Weeks 39- 44
Fabric Used 3.01
Fabric Added 18.90
Year To Date
Fabric Used 138.29
Fabric Added 76.70
Net Used/Added 61.59 used
Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times
Ruth was a beautiful woman, too! She sounds like she'd have been fun to stitch with. Since they were sheets, I wouldn't have counted them in my stash ... you're way more a stash stickler than me!! LOL! Your new fat quarter bundle is fun! And I admit, I had to look up what a linen press was...have never heard one talked about before! Where have I been??! :)
ReplyDeleteisn't that funny ... I didn't realise that Linen press was an Australianism. Well at least not a word used in the USA (I'm guessing that is where you are from) Yes I am a bit of a stickler for the rules... actually my husband teases me and makes me count it if I am going to use it in a quilt and then count it as fabric used. I did agonise over it though. I didn't want to count them and I ALMOST didn't bring them home so I didn't have to count them. Isn't that silly!! Will just have to knock out a few quilts in a hurry and use them as backing. Actually they will be great to dye... maybe that will make it easier for me to count!!!
DeleteWhat a blessing Ruth was to her family. You have some great family stories, be sure to write them down for future generations to read. A few quilts and your will be able to count the sheets as used. My Aunt, in Oklahoma, had a linen press where she kept all my grandmother's quilts.
ReplyDeleteRuth sounds like a fun and practical person. It's good that the family appreciated her good intentions and let the rest go.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to count stuff as in, especially if you are working hard to get it out. Still you are doing well on the out side of the equation. If those sheets are still hard to count as in, maybe thinking about how much you'd have to pay in terms of today's dollars to get the equivalent might help the sting a bit.