11/11/11 is Corduroy Appreciation Day!

Okay, so who knew there was a Corduroy Appreciation Club?  And that today- 11/11/11- is Corduroy Appreciation Day?  you know, uh, 11/11/11.  This is the date that when expressed in writing most resembles corduroy since 11/11/1111, which was 900 years ago and I don't think corduroy was even invented then.  Thanks to Slow Cloth for pointing this out.  I totally missed the New York Times article yesterday. 

Anyhow:

The only corduroy I could find in my workroom today is this tote bag- a particularly nice one with pockets, sturdy, lined, welted, underwired to hold its shape, from Neiman Marcus.   Thanks to my sister-in-law Marguerite- I am the frequent beneficiary of her eagle eye for red accessories!   Bags, scarves, wallets, socks, business card cases, you name it- if it's red, she snags it for me. 

If you're interested in corduroy in quilts, check out this blog post by Barbara Brackman. I myself once used corduroy prominently in a quilt- the first quilt I ever made, in fact, circa 1979.  This was no art quilt.  It was made the old-fashioned way- using scraps of fabric leftover from clothing that I made and actually wore, an old blue cotton blanket for the filler and the binding, and some pink terrycloth for the back that I bought to make something but never used.  

I can't remember what the corduroy was originally used for, but I had enough to make a border for both front and back.  The colors used to be a lot brighter!  Although this quilt is rags and tatters now, I keep it because it was my first, and the earliest embodiment what became the spirit of my taste: what we now call repurposing; what later came to be called shabby chic; and a mixing of disparate elements in a style that we now kindly refer to as eclectic.  But I know that really this quilt is just plain weird.  Hey, it was 1979!!

I've always been a big fan of corduroy, and I'm glad that it has its own special day, but I think the most important thing to take away from Corduroy Appreciation Day is the realization that fabric nuts of all kinds are just plain crazy.

Other people's grandmothers' scraps

The yield at Stormville Flea Market was even better than usual this time.  Here are the contents of a bag full of quilt scraps, for $10.

I am overwhelmed with wonder about the women whose hands created the quilts these scraps came from.  Textile is like the mitochondria of human culture- passed on through the untold generations of womens' hands.

I'm not sure how I'll work with these since they all have batting and backing and are quilted.  Since they're quite old and the battings are cotton, they're pretty musty and they need cleaning.  Certainly all these have been washed innumerable times, but because of the exposed raw edges of the little pieces, I think I have to use them first then launder my finished product. 

Some of these are pretty homemade looking, but there are also some pieces with quite skillful quilting.  I wish I could have seen the whole quilts they came from.

I also returned with quite a haul of embroidered hankies, doilies, tablecloths, and kitchen linens, many with hand-crocheted edgings and hand-made lace or cutwork trims- to add to the not insignificant stash I already have!  Not to mention my precious feedsacks.

Am I crazy?  I work with fabric all day, for a living.  I think about sewing projects all the time.  When I have some free time, I sew for myself or embroider my ready-made clothes.  I have probably a thousand yards of decorating fabrics scraps and on bolts, which I've secreted all over the place like squirrels hide nuts.  I have I don't know how many yards of quilting cotton fabrics for dozens of unmade projects.  I have old textiles that were made by my grandmother and great-grandmother.  And still- I go to flea markets and buy other peoples' old fabric scraps.

Feedsacks

What does a true fabriholic who sews for a living do in her time off- she collects more fabric, of course!
I had a good day at the Stormville Flea Market- I made some significant additions to my feedsack and vintage fabric collection.
I've been collecting these for a couple of years now and I swear I have plans for them.
If you don't know what feedsacks are about and want to find out, check out this article on quilting history. 
I'd write a bit about it myself but really it's Memorial Day and I'm about to leave for a nice hike at the Pawling Nature Reserve with Camille. 
Cotton sacking wasn't just for feed- you can see I have a few other fabric sacks for sugar, salt, seeds, and wheat paste.
Another time I'll add photos of other vintage fabrics I've collected.  I'm fascinated by embroidered hankies, doilies, and kitchen towels.  Aprons.  Pillowcases.  I have a Sunbonnet Sue quilt my great-grandmother made.
Gotta go!  Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Unfinished Projects

How about something totally off-topic?
My friend who made the beautiful Roman shades here in my studio, back in January I think, had a few unfinished projects sitting around that she brought here the other day.
They reminded me of some of my own unfinished projects and we thought they'd make a nice change of pace for a post topic.
The top quilt is one of two she made for her twin girls, begun when they were very little.  And now they're about to graduate from college.
All that has remained to do on this one is some of the quilting and the binding.
I adore the traditional folk-art palate and feel of this quilt, especially the red suns with yellow rays. And the quilted stars in the red squares.

The 5s and 0s are squares for a quilt she began for me for my 50th birthday.  When she showed the project to people, they were horrified to think of a quilt commemorating a birthday that most of us would prefer to ignore!  So she put these squares away and they've been bundled up in a closet for 6 1/2 years. I, however, was rather proud of turning 50, more or less still intact, and would have loved that quilt and wished she'd gone with her own instincts!  It's too late to use them for 55 since that's come & gone.  Maybe I'll take them from her and finish them for her 55th.  Or maybe she'll make two small quilts for us both.
The day is coming soon when I'd look at this quilt and remember fondly when I was "only" 50!! 

The bottom picture is a quilt top that I made nearly 20 years ago- it practically takes my breath away to think 1990 is so long ago- the piecing is all done except for a border.
By my taste nowadays I still love the colors but wish it were a little less bright and I wish I'd used a little more black.  So I'm trying to decide what to do with it.
I thought of tea-dying the whole thing to dull it up, and perhaps using black thread to quilt it.
Or maybe black embroidery.
Or tie-quilt it using black and maybe tiny black buttons.
Or black applique.
Definitely black binding, and black in the border.
Or all the above.

Day off

What could be more fun than sitting on the floor, sorting your button collection?
(P. S. that lace- it's about 75 years old- my great-grandmother Leatherwood made it- see previous post, below.)

Do we work 7 days a week???....

......Well, no! But sometime we work odd times.
Sometimes early in the morning, or late at night, or the weekend.
You know how if you work for yourself you can make your own hours..... ha. More like, you can work every hour and never be done.
It is not a hardship when you really love what you do, and I love sewing, and I love sewing window treatments. If I weren't doing that, I'd be sewing anyhow, in my spare time.
In fact while cleaning up today I gathered a little stash of fabrics I'll be using in my kitchen. I made Roman shades from the animal print and have a couple of little things to make that I'll piece using this collection.

My friend is back today sewing 4 Roman shades for her home. She's a great seamstress and we enjoy working together on our own projects helping each other out.
She's working on a gorgeous Nina Campbell print- banded on 3 sides with (naturally!) mitered corners.
But here she is taking a break. She wore shoes today that match her project.
While she's been sewing, I've been continuing the cleaning process. Does this look clean and organized? Ha, maybe not to you, but it's awesomely clean and organized compared to yesterday!
This side of the studio is where I cut fabric, and do all the stapling of the sewn treatments. These shelves hold all the tools- measuring & cutting fabric, as well as all the power tools. You can't see the cutting table to the right and until I finish cleaning up, you're not gonna. Under that table is the compressor for the staple gun.

Believe it or not, we'll probably be back tomorrow- Sunday- to keep this flow going............................