Friday 10 February 2017

Timeworn fabric sorting .... a great way to relax!












Aladdin's Cave with wonders and
forgotten treasures.  Its a world
I happily loose myself in.





What's a girl to do when she just can not stitch? Well as you know I have planned a trip going around England, France, Paris and Italy on a treasure hunt with stop offs along the way ....  But yesterday I decided to go into my inner sanctum which is known to most as my stitchery room or sometimes where it looks like wars have been fought and lost in ..... It can get messy its how it is sometimes.

I thought is was time to sort out the two paisley and eiderdown fabric drawers I have and so It was time to brace myself and get in there. I also knew that other fabrics had been put in there and things
were in the wrong place. They do say it gets worse before it gets better don't they? well it has because I am full of cold and can not breathe properly so sat on the floor with a box of tissues, candles lit and pulled out one drawer!.....  Then of course one drawer is not enough because there are two drawers with fabrics in so both had to come out and search and seek was the mission of the day. The scissors, antique rabbit pin cushion and star button were not in the drawer with this gorgeous paisley but I could not help myself photographing it with them on there! ... David Bailey moment!

Well of course then you start looking at the fabric and remembering where you bought it and how much you paid for it and how lovely it is and feeling the very timeworn beauty of each piece ... yes you guessed it I did not get hugely far in the 'tidy' part really and is worse right now but over the next few days it will get better.

To my surprise I had all sorts in the first drawer, it must have been me hurrying to clear the room at Christmas so that some floor could be seen and the little bed in there was free for someone to sleep in, whilst praying all the stacked clear boxes did not fall on them if they sneezed!!!

This piece of vintage hexagon quilt along with others was amongst the drawer contents, folded nicely not screwed up or anything but not in the quilt pieces box! ... I knew I had to dig deeper and I had a job on my hand....


These gorgeous pieces of quilt and I can unpick it into these sorts of pattern ways
 to do something with or indeed cut pieces out of it but I am thinking that these shapes are really beautiful and would look gorgeous when framed.. then of course there is the question to add to or not to add to.....

A little word on each might look good and a tiny button as a full stop but I think these are beautiful enough without adornment and somethings do not benefit from it. Of course you could cut it about and makes a few cushions but then do I really want to do this.  Well for now they are wrapped up and in the box they should be in but the box it getting full to bursting so some has to be sold on or indeed used.  I am collecting to be able to take classes too as you know ... come on forever house, show yourself!!

By now I was getting intrigued to know what other buried treasure might show its hand, it was getting exciting and I was in heaven ..

I came across this tiny weeny vintage sampler in red and white ( I have a weakness for these!) and it is not framed but I think I was thinking that I might add a border of gorgeous vintage fabric to it before framing and had put it in the drawer for that purpose.  It has tissue paper on the back strangely enough and it is timeworn and has a couple of teeny holes in it ... and I love it!

Well it has come out of its hiding hole  and has been put in a project basket with three fabrics that are contenders for the border and maybe I might find another fabric and add four different fabrics around it and then frame it.  I do have some of the glass frames that hang on a chain and you can see both the front and the back in them.  I have bought one of them to put some hexagons in that have gorgeous vintage old paper with calligraphy style writing on so I think that both the front and
the back should be seen.  In point of fact I prefer looking at the back of them but did not want to cover up the large fabric side either so thought these kind of frames are perfect ..  a bonus is I can do that myself so I think this weeny sampler is going to get the same treatment....

In addition I found this tiny bundle of vintage fabrics tied up in the corner of the drawer at the back ... I have brought that out for my jar of hearts and now they will be cut out and stitched ....

Then I found three pieces of vintage log cabin quilt each carefully laid flat at the bottom of the drawer and individually wrapped as well and I remember buying these at the Summer Brocante .. they are stunning and
again I must have had some idea or not ... thing to do is for me to look at last years or the year before journal to see what I had to say about them then I can make an informed choice... I think from memory I was just going to have the three piece framed side by side and leave them as they are or stitch the date on one .....

This one on the left is a particular favourite of mine as I adore the colours and love the way the lines of the log cabin in this quilt piece is slightly wobbly and it makes for such an interesting piece.  This quilt would have been stunning and the writer and history lover in me wants to know about each piece of fabric and wonders if this quilt to speak would it say there were several ladies sat around stitching this for a trousseaux or was it just
one lady who stitched this out of bits of clothes that were too threadbare to mend anymore?
Take a look at the piece of fabric on the second panel here on the right at
the top.  Its a beige colour with little blue flowers on it and I think it really is so perfect.

The last one of the three is this one on the left and my favourite piece of fabric in this log cabin panel is the very light blue ( almost denim) with the tiny white flowers on it on the right of the panel at the side.  When these three panels are side by side they look really rather lovely so they have been packed to go to the framers next week reading to be behind glass.  My framer laughs at me because always have one last stroke of the fabric for framing ...


Well that is it for me today and I hope you have enjoyed this little read this morning.  I am hoping that I will feel much better next week and although the cold may not have left me completely my eyes will have stopped streaming ....

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you back here on Monday.  Happy Stitching!XX








8 comments:

  1. I have baskets of fabric and each time I pull them out I'm saying "ooh I'd forgotten about that". I can feel a foraging session coming on.
    Hope you improve as the day goes on.
    Lynn x

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Lynn!

      I would love a follow up on your comment.. What did you find? It is an exciting expedition to go on... I am still at it ..
      Have a wonderful weekend
      SarahX

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  2. Poor you with the cold. Mine took 2 weeks to finally disappear, and now it is hopefully as distinct memory. I am having to tidy up my Yarn Room ready for refurbishing, and I cleared out from under the bed, but instead of remembering where I got things I was saying I didn't know I had that! It was all a surprise, but that what comes from having a poor memory through a head injury! Most of what I found was even more yarn, and a blanket that I had forgot I was knitting in beautiful aran colours. It now needs unpicking as there are a few mistakes. Enjoy your foraging sessions! x

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    Replies
    1. Morning Sandy
      It is a wonderful thing to be doing and of course there is a sense of achievement attached to it for me as I do love it when things are really tidy, it sort of lifts fog away from my brain.. With us creative types though we get into a zone and it all soon unravels.

      Good luck with the refurbishing and I would love to see the finished blanket sometime...

      Have a fabulous weekend....

      Sarah x

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  3. Hope you feel better soon. You'll have to store some bits in the little vintage pockets I sent.......

    Julie xxx

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    Replies
    1. Hi Julie

      Oh what a good idea did think about that, being my head is full of cold I guess. Thank you again for my gorgeous gift you really are too generous.

      I wish it would go because it is such a waste of time and I am a very bad patient ....

      Hope you are well and have a wonderful weekend.

      Sarah xx

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  4. Yes I know what you mean about colds being a waste of time - you just cannot get on because you don't feel like it

    Julie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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