hands on

I suppose it's partly because of reading the wabi sabi book that an overhauling mood is upon me. My clothes closet got done. I mean completely emptied, sorted, and only what I absolutely want and wear back in. All other piles disposed of properly. Almost.

Following the flow, after looking for that quilt in storage in the barn, I suddenly had 3 tubs and one trunk full of fabric and quilt pieces in the house.

I sorted by color.

What will I do with all this fabric, now that I don't quilt any more? My hands and wrists are weak now, and they ache if I do too much close needle work.

Oh, looking through the folded cotton fabrics took me down Memory Lane.

Dresses, doll clothes and a Wizard-of-Oz Dorothy Halloween costume I made for Lesley.

Old curtains, even some from Istanbul (that small yellow and taupe flowered print in the yellow pile, which was in our kitchen there). I need to tell you the story behind this fabric some day.

Old pieces that were my mom's, like the two doilies on the same pile, which I remember from my childhood.

Silks and linens from Thailand, China and India, brought as gifts to my parents by the foreign students who lived with us when I was in high school.

Even a sari that must have been given to my mom, although I don't recall her ever wearing it. I'd like to get a blouse made for it and wear it myself.

We had many Indian friends, and they were so generous giving gifts to us.

I found this skirt at the bottom of one of the bins, a sorry place for a treasure whose value I can't even begin to understand. I bought the British (Liberty, I think) fabric somewhere, in the States I think. I took it with me to Istanbul and had a tailor make it into a skirt that I wore and wore. As I hold it in my hands now, I think it may be one of the most precious things I possess.

Oh, and look what I found googling "Liberty fabric": J Crew came out with Liberty fabric skirts last year. Styles always come back around, eh? And oh by the way, this is one of those full skirts I was admiring earlier from the Paris show. Won't I just be the cat's meow wearing this vintage skirt (if I can lose about 1 inch from my waist)?

I think I know what I want to do with some of the fabric: braided rugs.