Sunday, January 16, 2011

I've been going through boxes and storage cubes again. My goal is to make enough room on the other side of the basement to move my treadmill to. It's currently on my son's side and I am uncomfortable going in and moving things around just so I can exercise. I feel like I'm invading his space.

Aren't these lucious? They're velvets that I've collected over the years. Many many years ago...we won't say how many...I got interested in quilting and really wanted to make a crazy quilt. That was long before the kind of crazy quilting of today. All I was going to do was embroider pretty stitches along the seam lines. I had no money back then so my acquisition of "fancy" fabrics was done in bits and pieces. A velvet dress at a garage sale, a bit of brocade at the clearance bin, more bargains at garage sales and second-hand stores. So over time, I've amassed enough elegant fabrics for probably half a dozen quilts! It happens that one of the storage cubes I went through today had those velvets as well as several "satins" and taffetas and other shiny sparkly fibers.

I spent some time taking clothing apart and reclaiming the fabric, zippers and lace. I decided to wash the velvets as I couldn't remember ever doing that. They turned out gorgeous! I know I have more elsewhere. I particularly remember a piece of gold velvet.

Miss Chewie had to check it out. I've been pushing her off my chair where she sits on the arm while I bobbinlace because she gets in my way. So of course, she takes every opportunity to try to get close to me now.

I also went through a bunch of "wood". I used to do a lot of decorative painting and would still love to if I had time. I collected wood pieces at all of the aforementioned boutiques too. I probably got rid of about half of it. Much of what I kept is doll furniture big enough for a little girl to play with. (like my baby granddaughter will be doing as the years fly by!) I'd forgotten I had a miniature ironing board. There is a stepstool and a chair, both perfect for toddlers. I hope to get my garage going in the next two months and by Springtime, I can be in it, painting and refinishing these lovely pieces. I haven't been able to do any of that with my old garage as the mud and dirt fly in everywhere and would mess up my work.

I was going through another bin of fabric and found a lot of evenweave stuff that I can be practicing my hardanger and drawn thread work on. I felt a bit overwhelmed at that point so I'll go through it again later and get rid of some things.

9 comments:

  1. I do admire your perseverance. Your velvet collection is admirable ... those colours! So rich and saturated. I am sure you will turn that fabric into something elegant!
    Fox : )

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  2. Your crafting resume sounds much like mine - a little of everything - and with all the supplies included. Even the supplies I've forgotten about that I happily stumble upon whenever I decide to clean it all out. I will never know how I think I can finish what I plan in my lifetime - but it's fun to be able to go into my "Woman Cave" and pick a project!

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  3. heyyyy, I have bins just like this you can go through if you are tired of doing your own > grins wildly....

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  4. Ha Bri! Don't hold your breath!

    Happy BB - yeah...even as I get rid of stuff, I'm dreaming of even more things to make. Dreaming about it is half the fun.

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  5. Man, those velvets look luscious! I, too, have dreamed of crazy quilting, but I've never done more than that. Someday...
    I wish I could get up enough energy to go through my craft stuff. Do you think some of yours would rub off?? (through the internet no less?)
    Hope your hands are doing better.

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  6. Hands! I meant to mention those. Doing much much better but I keep slathering lotion on and while I'm cleaning, I wash my hands a lot and put more lotion on.

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  7. Isn't it fun finding those hidden treasures? I've been finding all sorts of projects that I was determined to complete. Some day...

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  8. the velvet is beautiful, I noticed how your cat likes them too...LOL I love finding things I forgot I had too.

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  9. Gina I like your cat!

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