A gift of fabric

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Recently I was blessed to receive four bags of fabric! The bags were for full-queen comforters, recycled as a quilter might dream, lol. One was all solids, two were a mix and many of the pieces were a yard or larger, SCORE! The last bag, on first glance, was of much smaller scraps, and I opened it last, finding quite the treasure; one and a half inch strips, mostly neutrals, many being Width of Fabric (WOF) in length!

I divided the prints into stacks; stuff for the grandgirls, autumnal fabrics, batiks, Christmas, low volume (Most of which was one-yard cuts, sweet!), and a small pile, maybe no more than four or five pieces, for a Kawandi quilt I'd like to make. I didn't make it through all the solid hues, and those fabrics weren't run of the mill cottons; they felt like a blend of cotton and linen, what treasure!

The fabrics also felt HEAVIER than what I currently sew with; the oldest piece was dated from 1997, but who knows from when these were purchased. The giver is older than me, and noted she still needed to go through her novelty prints. I am still pleasantly in shock from this generous gift, as well as having started a string quilt after pulling a couple of handfuls from the bag, pressing them, then choosing a WOF strip, aligning it with another made up of three scrap strips. Currently I have four rows accomplished and much yardage left to use.

Do I ponder clearing out my own one day, how could I sew it all? The granddaughters will enjoy these spoils with me, maybe the grandsons too. I need to ask about the solids; are they a linen blend? Another project was bagged up inside a larger bag, but I don't wish to continue that, merely use the finished pieces for my own purposes. Like those neutral strips; the next time I see my friend, I will inquire about what had been her intentions. And I hope she's pleased I'm moving forward with those string scraps, hehehe.

My right shoulder has been troubled since I raked leaves yesterday afternoon. Note to self; avoid raking hah! This evening I won't do any hand-stitching, perhaps I'll finish going through the linens. Again I was stymied at how thick is the fabrics, even some Free Spirit feeling much hardier than what is now sold. I feel like I will NEVER need to buy fabric again, oh my! That's an understatement of the massive variety. That so many cuts were of a yard-plus gives me shivers. My friend's generosity is substantial, much like my gratitude.

This definitely spurred me onto some sewing; other than my handwork in the evenings, I haven't felt much like sitting at my machine. I did make a green panel and plot out the orange, but now those orange prints will wait, patiently I hope! I'll get back to that after Halloween, orange not only for pumpkins.

Green is complete. The orange needs time under the presser foot.

Orange is autumn. Orange is warmth. Orange will lead to yellow for that panel, and once it's completed, then I'll dive in head-first with that string strip quilt. I'm currently thinking of a two-inch border once it's about fifty-some strips long, then another border, maybe four inches? Not with those linen-blend prints, but from my solid stash. Some blue certainly, I like me some blue. Then we'll see where the Spirit leads.

But for now I have more fabric. Prints I didn't choose, yet they chose me. A project I never conjured! Time to wrap this up, tying it together with gratitude, affixing a shiny bow of grace. Enjoy your week and keep your eyes open to gifts. 

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