A HUGE thank you to Kristin at Sew, Mama, Sew! for inviting me to write a guest article on Tuesday. I’m absolutely loving Quilting Month, the quilt of the day is my favorite part. Lots of new visitors have come by (welcome and thank you!) which I celebrated by breaking my RSS feed.
So… another HUGE thank you to Esther for letting me know. I’m one of those bloggers that send people little notes telling them that things are broken, I never really know if people appreciate that or think I’m being a busy body, but I sure appreciate when I get them!
How did I break the feed? I installed two new Wordpress plug-ins and changed some code on my template to claim my Bloglines feed. How did I fix it? I just undid everything. Pretty fancy, huh? I swear the technology is getting the better of me these days. Uncle!!!!!!!!!!!
The vintage fabrics are the result of attending a private sale. A local artist decided to sell her collection of vintage cottons and feedsacks and invited a group of interested fiber gals. She had finally decided to let go of her fiber days and focus her energy on jewelry making. Yes, we had many discussions about how much these fabrics would go for on eBay!
Walking into her home, I was a little faint, the fabrics were washed, folded, and neatly organized in plastic bins and neat piles, waiting patiently for new owners to discover the print that called her name. I set a budget of $100, that seemed a reasonable amount for a once in a life time opportunity. “Ha!” you say, yeah, me too, but getting a divorce after 16 years over vintage fabrics struck me as silly.
The budget forced me to focus on the things that I just absolutely had to have. The seller kept a half cut of everything that was purchased. I SOOO understood that, what is it about not being able to let go of the precious fibers that we collect? The budget was exceeded by $20. The discipline I applied makes me happy, no losers in this round up and family peace. I continue to lay them out and stare and smile. Actually using them in a project is going to take some time!
How could they do quilting month without you? It looks like you made a great selection of fabrics.
What a great selection of fabrics you got! I try to do that too, only get the ones I have to have. Still, I spend an inordinate amount of time in quilt shops.
I love you guest post over at SMS. That table runner was fabulous, the quilting gave it such movement. I’m totally digging quilting month.
I’m so glad you were able to participate and that you’re enjoying the daily quilt selections… You really lucked out with these beautiful prints!
I’m glad to hear that the budget was pretty closely stuck, too–I agree, it’s not worth getting a divorce over..LOL. The fabric selection is beautiful, and I’m sure the projects you will create with them will be even more so.
Ohhhh budgets are soooo hard! I actually manage to stay in mine but then feeding the kid is top priority around here…silly too cuz she NEVER eats!!
Congrats on the article! Those fabrics are luscious. Perhaps it’s enough to just sit and stare at them!
Congrats on the article! The fabrics are wonderful, perhaps it’s enough to just sit and stare at them!
(swoon) Those…fabrics. Affection for your work/blog is the only thing keeping me from a wicked fit of envy.
Really love the article, too! And can their be higher praise than “magical mixture”? I think not. You deserve it.
I saw the article and thought it was great! Congrats
I LOVE the blue/green fabrics. Swoon!
Love that fabric. Oh so fun! What happy things you’ll be making!!
I. love. those. fabrics.
From the looks of it, staying even close to your budget really was a show of great discipline. I’m glad I’m not the only one that finds myself weighing sewing purchases on the scale of “…but is it worth my marriage?”
I am also enjoying quilting month, and was so excited to read your article! I’ve been reading your blog for quite awile now, and absolutely love looking through all the photos of your projects!
Those fabrics are amazing and inspring! Congrats on sticking to your budget– you are much stronger than I am!
Great vintage fabrics Kathy … you definitely scored! How did I miss that you had an article on Sew, Mama, Sew? Gotta go and check it out now.
Congrats Kathy!!!
drooooooooool.
Those fabrics look really, really great! How lucky, I can’t imagine the sheer will power it must have taken to stay in budget!
So beautiful and I think you can more than justify the spen with your Ebay money. : ) That is how I try and market it to my husband.
Remarkable fabrics! You showed excellent restraint! Congratulations.
Congratulations on the article!
And oh-ma-goodness, those fabrics are GORGEOUS!!!!!
Oh my, such gorgeous fabrics!! I particularly like those greys in the bottom middle mmmmmm. Oooh and the green and orange up in the top left corner. I’m impressed with your restraint but you did pretty well anyway!
ah, you already received the congrats, but… here, have some more:
CONGRATS! *-*
and some fabric envy!
think i need to shop a little…
Those fabrics look absolutely lovely! Congrats on the article on Sew Mama Sew!
Oooh–I can’t wait to see what you do with those fabrics!!!
Well done for (almost) sticking to your budget. I find it so hard to think rationally when it comes to vintage fabric – it’s like I’m possessed by some linen obsessed 1950’s housewife!
I saw you over on Sew Mama Sew. Congrats!
Ooooh! Vintage fabrics! Just as I’m contemplating what to use for the Dear Jane…
Ohhhh, I’m in vintage fabric heaven! I love the 2 aqua and 1 red fabric in the top right of the pic. I don’t think I would have been able to stick within my budget. I would have kept telling myself ‘but its a once in a lifetime thing!’ lol Have fun creating!
congratulations on the article. but more importantly, congratulations on scoring an unbelievable stack of fabric. I am green with envy!
I just wanted to add my congratulations on your article on Sew,mama, sew. I’ll confess that I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, but “meeting” you through the SMS quilting month has finally prompted me to say hello.
Congratulations on the article!! I love how the vintage items are still so “current”. Just shows that good design is ageless.
Oh Kathy those are delicious!!! And congrats on the article!
Love the fabric!!
Sure a great selection of vintage fabric’s… were they all in the smaller prints range or just the ones that you chose? I grew up during that time, It’s funny to me how that is called vintage! Makes me feel a bit old! LoL. Such is life! No matter what, we all get older! Enjoy!
jean-o
Jean-o: She had EVERYTHING. For whatever reason I’m always drawn to the smaller vintage prints. It was fun to see each person’s pile as we were checking out, everybody had their own unique take on what appealed to them.
I’ve had the “keep new” box checked in bloglines on this entry since you posted it. I’m getting just as much joy out of looking at your fabrics as you are owning them! OK, I think I’d have more joy if *I* owned them. Man, what a haul. I definitely would have had trouble with basic civility if I was at that sale.
Woman, you have to get in the vintage fabric flickr group and post some close-ups! http://www.flickr.com/groups/vintagefabric/
No pressure.