fabric

For years I’ve been collecting fabric.

It started when my first daughter was in kindergarten. I had been laid off from an advertising agency after it lost its only client. Needless to say, it doesn’t even exist anymore. It was the most creative job I ever had. I loved the excitement of sitting at my computer for hours and hours coming up with snappy headlines that described what else? Computers. I got paid to think and brainstorm with people much more interesting and smarter than me. I learned from them, celebrated their torn black jeans and nose rings, listened to their liberal opinions, and basked in what I didn’t know that would make me a better writer and artist.  They were opening up my world. I had possibilities. And this is what I believed about myself when I got laid off. I was a work in progress. And as I spent more and more time with myself in my home, I realized we both needed a makeover. I started with the house because it’s easier to put yourself off. It began with fabric for pillows, then I moved on to fabric for curtains, and eventually fabric for slipcovering the sofa. My house had exploded in beautiful fabric. Florals, checks, brocade, toile, block prints, sheers. I loved putting odd patterns together, folding it a different way, stapling it to a board and mounting it to my window. I loved the feel of it, especially good thread count. A good thread count makes all the difference.

To me, fabric is exciting. It can become anything you want. When I bought my first yard, my daughter was in kindergarten. Next year she’ll be attending high school. And like my daughter has grown, so has my collection. Now I have so much of it, bolts are unraveling all over my house. Bolts are in the only two closets we have, under my bed, and even more yardage is neatly folded in storage tubs. I don’t even think my husband realizes I have a back alley business. And even though my sewing machine is no longer working and hasn’t worked in years, I won’t get rid of the fabric. I still collect. Because someday I will get back to the place there I will do something with it. It’s all in the possibilities. Just like me.

My favorite fabric sites:
fabricguru.com
calicocorners.com