A few days ago I was looking at my shelves full of fabric as if for the first time. I thought of how almost all of my fabric comes from people who read my blog and how amazing that actually is.
People send me fabric that they can no longer use. The fabric that they bought on trips all over the world and have kept for years. They send me the fabric from their own work that was never finished. They send me the scraps from the work they did finish.
Much of the fabric I receive has sentimental value. Elizabeth sent me her mother’s hankies after she died. “I could not get rid of these for some reason.” she wrote me, “I also do not use them.”
Susan sent me a tea towel with sheep on it that a friend brought her from Ireland 30 years ago. “She knew I was an insomniac and said it would give me some sheep to count”.
The boxes and bags of fabric seem to come in bunches. I was expecting the fabric that Donna sent. She emailed me and let me know it was coming. And within a few days of receiving it, an envelope came from Barbara too.
I didn’t expect the box of fabric samples that Fran sent from New Jersey. Her husband, Dan, who passed away last year was in the fabric business. She found the samples in a drawer and thought to send them to me.
My work is made so much easier because of all of you who send me your fabric scraps.
Last week, when I looked at my shelves stuffed with material, I brought my hands into prayer over my heart and bowed to each shelf, silently thanking all of you who have thought to send me the fabric over the years that helps make my work possible.
