Addiction to Fabrics Starts Early!

I grew up creating and crafting very young.

I was raised up on the farm, with parents who believed in using up what was there, reusing as much as possible, and making do if the needed item wasn't available. Think Depression Era/WW2 Era parenting. Mom started me out with cheap pieces of fabric and a pair of scissors, making very very rough clothes for my Peaches and Cream Barbie. Mercy those were some rough clothes!!

Time moved on and I learned how to hand sew more accurately, mend rips, add buttons, etc. My doll clothes creating improved. I learned to reuse old clothing of my own and create from the fabrics gleaned there. I also had an interest in fashion magazines and cut out the models to use as paper dolls. That only fueled the love of textiles. I wanted to feel the fabrics the models wore.

In school we still had Home-Ec, and I honestly despised it. I didn't understand how to handle tension on a Singer Scholastic 717, and was too afraid to ask for fear I'd be made fun of. We as a family didn't have lots of disposable income to buy fabrics for projects and the patterns that were popular at the moment, and my larger body wasn't built for trendy styles either.

It took almost 10 years after high school graduation to pick up more interest in sewing and fabrics. I bought a sewing machine and some cheap fabric from Walmart, and taught myself how to use that machine. From there I learned how to make my scrubs for working in the nursing home. They were still pretty rough, but at least wearable. I was a single mom by then, and it did help save some money on uniforms.

Fast forward some more years, and I started making scrub tops to sell, and earned a little on the side to help supplement income. My seams improved. A dear friend taught me French and Hong Kong seams, and that made a huge difference in the integrity of my work. I learned to make dresses and skirts, jumpers, bloomers, baby items, you name it. Then I got into quilting, using up pieces I'd accumulated from sewing clothes, as well as incorporating my late parents' clothes I'd kept back to one day make something from. I picked up inspiration from a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt on display in the local public library, and developed a love for hand sewn quilts immediately.

As I've grown older, I've taken more to English Paper Piecing, string quilt blocks, and other avenues for scrappy pieces as tiny as 3/4 of an inch to go into use. Waste not want not as I was taught!! I've procured through the years a massive amount of fabrics, plus joined into a couple of wholesale warehouses that sell exactly what I love, and also have purchased quite a bit from favorite local fabric shops. I still hold on to the smallest of pieces to make my EPP hexagons, diamonds, and squares, as well as paper pieced blocks.

I absolutely love taking a flat piece of fabric and turning it into a 3D creation, whether it be clothing, a quilt, potholder, pillow, whatever. The creating process is relaxing, or as a dear friend puts it...therapy! It's mostly cheaper than a therapist. Well, mostly. And the thrill of the hunt in finding new or vintage fabrics is part of that therapy.

I hope to help you as well in your love of sewing and quilting, by offering quality fabrics from our home in rural Kansas. I understand well budget limits, time limits, a dozen projects in progress, the thrill of finishing one and then the wandering around seeking the next. I fully understand collecting, petting, looking at, gazing lovingly and longingly at fabrics. In other words, I'm a fabric-holic like most quilters and sewing folks. I see no hope of recovery, nor do I want to recover!

So now that you know a bit about me, I hope you enjoy the rest of my site and visit often! Thanks for stopping in!