Two things at once

Bit by bit, my fabrics are leaving the premises. The stash has reached the point of paralysis  - not only do I no longer know what I have and where it might be, but I know it would take another two lifetimes to "use up" all the fabric. 

As I rummage through this or that cupboard, I find useful things - fabric and UFOs to give to Project Linus, for instance, and potential tablecloths, like these -

The turquoise tablecloth-to-be will need a colour catcher each time it's washed, judging from the one used in this wash!

At the same time I'm getting out quilts of various sizes from this century and even from last century. Of course family gets first pick, so these are some of what's left -

In one of the many plastic bags I found a coat lining, of an old fur (second or perhaps third hand, of course) from my cold-winter Canadian days. The label says it was made in Halifax (looks mid-century); the lining is silk and the interlining is a fluffy cotton. "Prairie points" finish the edge of the pocket, a nice touch -

 I kept the pocket and the label, and the discarded lining was later joined by other "rags" for recycling. It's getting a bit easier to let go of things. (At last!)

A friend came in search of patchwork fabric. There were many glad cries and appreciative murmurs as we went through the drawers one by one -

Note the tidy appearance of the red and green drawers. They've been like that for about three years, untouched. I haven't had the mental energy to start a new project and choose fabric for it...

But as we move to the blue and yellow drawers, things get a bit more chaotic -

Faced with another, daunting project with an upcoming deadline, there's nothing I'd like more than to get those drawers into perfect order! Of course, once time is available again, I'll have lost interest (been there, done that, still got the mess...).

A big bag of fabric left the building! -

And now, "What Was I Thinking" -

Looking at these, I came to some private decisions about this work, if "work" it is, rather than practice or play. The upshot is, it was fun to do and I did it in hope of it turning out surprisingly well. We live in hope, do we not! And if reality proves otherwise, there is no shame in sending it to landfill; even a charity shop would send it to landfill. I can't think of anything else to do with it -

"Crazy" sweet wrappers

Some of these might have become Bookwraps
(I made 120 or so for the Guild tombola in 2013;
enough is enough)

Samples and dead ends

More samples and sadly-dead ideas

Anyone want a beaded table runner??

At time of writing, fabrics in heaps and bags are everywhere. You hear about the lull before the storm, but this is the storm before the lull.

An hour or two of tidying and bagging should sort out most of it, and there might even be time to "curate" some ziplock bags of "craft fabric" for the charity shop or the quilters' bring&buy.

And the quilts pulled out for a fundraiser ... those need to get sleeves, labels, prices ... tomorrow ...