The Stash We Might Leave Behind

I've read so many mean and critical estate sale posts over the years that it makes me want to scream. Sometimes I do scream. One in particular that I read last spring motivated me to write this post, but I'm not linking because I don't want to sound like I'm attacking that particular blogger.

Why do quilters and knitters (and I'm sure all kinds of other hobbyists) feel like it's okay to attack strangers, especially dead strangers, because of how much yarn or fabric they had? Can't we just assume that they enjoyed it and be happy for whoever else got the great deal at the estate sale or auction, or for the group it was donated to?

I was going to say that unless you knew the deceased it's unfair to make assumptions, then I changed my mind. Because I've known some friends and neighbors of crafters or quilters or knitters who were just as snotty.

The idea that we shouldn't leave anything behind but finished projects seems unrealistic to me.

A decade or so back, I belonged to a church quilting group where one of the women had planned out every last one of her future projects. There were other patterns she wanted to make, but she'd decided  she only had time to finish a set number of quilts and was sticking to that list. Maybe I'm projecting my own feelings onto her. I hope that I was, because it didn't seem like a happy way to live. She was only seventy-four. That's younger than my own grandmother was when she opened the antique mall. Grandma ran that business for quite a few years before selling it and moving on to other projects.

These days, I quilt with a group that meets at another church. Some of the members have been working through the stash of a woman who suffered from dementia. Her family saw that quilting helped her, so they kept buying fabric. Her skills deteriorated from what they had once been, but she kept making quilts until the end. The ladies who are working from her unfinished projects have had to work around uneven blocks and weirdly matched fabrics...They do a phenomenal job of turning what she left into gorgeous quilts. And you never, ever hear a critical word about what that woman left behind. We should all be more like them.  We don't have to  salvage someone else's bad quilts, but we can be happy for whatever someone else made and not pick it apart.

I'm young enough that I don't think too hard about stash beyond life expectancy. I'm definitely not going to use it all up and I'm not worried about that.  (For the purpose of this, we're calling those cross stitch kits a collection and only talking about yarn and fabric.) I hope I've got lots of years of knitting and quilting ahead of me, but anything could happen. Drunk drivers cross the center line. Blood clots are a thing....and  there are lots of other things...

From now until whenever, I'm going to enjoy making quilts and knitting socks and stitching things and not make up deadlines based on fear of the future.

The First Frankensocks

I don't understand how this pair can possibly have taken as long as it did (I was definitely in a knitting black hole for days and days) but here they are -- 

These are made from the leftovers from three other pairs. They're a little more coordinated than I thought I was going for, but they're a respectable pair of socks.

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {10/19/18}

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.

{Thrift Shop Temptations} Not Saving the Stitches

I've never seen unframed needlework at this store, but last week there were three pieces hanging with the linens. Now that I know where to look, I'll check back.

The stitching on this unpriced piece was meticulous.

I loved the colors of this one and thought about picking it up to incorporate into a tote bag or something useful, but the stitching just didn't look right.

 These three were just perfect, except for the cutesy captions. I love the roots and the shading on the leaves of the carrots. But I'm stubborn and would rather stitch my own carrots than buy someone else's.

I didn't save the stitches this time, but I hope someone else came along and gave them a good home. Based on the color of the tags and the stitching on the geese and the veggies, I'm guessing these came from the same stitcher. And I did check carefully for supplies, but there were none to be found.