I pulled the fabric from the dryer in a big bundle and brought it to my studio. There I untangled the thinner pieces which were tied up in the loose threads from the frayed edges of the material. I smoothed them out with my hands and folded them.
Then I placed them neatly in piles making order out of chaos.
The fabric sat in two boxes in the laundry room for a while. I’d go through it to look for fabric that I might be able to use as I worked on a quilt or potholders. When I did I’d come across the notes that Sharon put in with each bundle of material wrapped in paper. Some were written right on the wrapping others tucked between the folds.
“This is left from one of my kids weddings-lots of table linens we still enjoy using” or “I love this winterberry fabric, but I’ve had it for years and never made what I was going to…so I hope you can use it”
I used the dahlia shower curtain for the backing of my “Who I Are” quilt. Sharon wrote about it…”I was going to face the hem so we could use it, but haven’t done so….Makes me think of your garden.”
In between writing letters to my representatives and washing and folding Sharon’s fabric, I got my “Who I Are” quilt ready to be mailed to its new home.
I knew I wouldn’t have been able to start working on something new today. But there was something soothing about folding the fabric and finding a place for it in my studio. Something in its predictability and repetition. Something I could depend on.
i love your hope potholders .. will you be making anymore? if yes i would love to buy one
Well Rosie, I do enjoy making them and putting them out into the world, so yes, will make more then. I’ll let you know when I have them. Thanks for asking.
Thank you Maria. I’m very grateful to be able to share fabric and the memories attached to each piece with you. Gives me great pleasure to see where your creativity takes you, and to know the fabric I have loved is finding a new life.
Well thank you Sharon. I always love the stories behind the fabric. And you have many of them. 🙂