When my grandmother passed away, she left me all of her fabric.  She actually started giving it to me several years ago, boxes of it, every time I came for a visit.  And each time I left with a box my grandfather would say “surely you could take a little more?”

And now that I have her stash, and my stash (minimal though that is), I really have more fabric than I know what to do with.  And I didn’t even take all of it.  Maybe half….she had a lot! 

I can’t lay a baby quilt on the floor of my sewing room anymore.  Too many boxes.  And I try not to think about the boxes and bags piled in the basement.  But since they block the way to the washing machine, I know I am going to have to deal with them.  Soon.

Thus begins project number two – to find uses for my grandmother’s fabric.  For someone who likes to sew, it sounds easy.  I have no problem with the cottons – quilts, here I come!  But the others…..the others I picked out because I liked them for one reason or another, but I am not exactly sure what my grandmother was thinking when she bought them – except that it was a long time ago and styles were different then.  Here is a sampling:

This is a beautiful thick wool.     But what does one make with beautiful thick wool in these particular colours?

These flowers are so sunny and cute.  But poly-cotton.  Hmmm….

This one reminds me a bit of stained glass.  But it is thick and stiff…

Ok, I really love this one.  I love the wildness of it.  I love the bright colours.  And it’s shiny.  100% polyester.   I love that my grandmother was the kind of woman who bought fabrics in wild patterns and bright colours.  I really want to know what she was planning to make out of this!   I probably would have worn this as a teenager but my style is a little more subdued now (which is probably a good thing as I can imagine the impression I would make if I wore something made out of this fabric to work….I would definitely get some comments from my students).  I can’t help thinking it would make a great lining for….well…something.

I love this one too.  But it’s a strange fabric.  Nylon maybe?

Yeehaw!  Who doesn’t like hot pink bandana fabric?!  This one had a big chunk cut out of it, I wonder what she used it for?

And this is not even the tip of the iceberg.  So it looks like I will be spending the next year cooking my great-grandmother’s food and sewing with my grandmother’s fabric.  Nostalgic, yes, but I guess that’s just the kind of girl I am.

  I expect I will be working on this project for the next few years…or more.  I don’t have to use every last scrap, mind you, just have to get it down to a size that will fit in the sewing room.  If I made it through 5 or 6 of the boxes, that might just do it!  (Like I said, this is going to take awhile…)   If you have any suggestions for things to make with these fabrics, let me know!