Saturday, September 16, 2006

~I am obsessed~

I'm working on a black and white Cathedral Window quilt. The foundations are black and white fabrics and the windows are denim (junk jean fabrics). I want to make it full sized at least, and maybe queen. I work on it darned near every day. I've done all of the machine work, so it's down to hand work and I can do that while I hang out with the family, watch TV, travel, or whenever.
But! I am terribly obsessed with black and white fabrics! I can't seem to buy enough varieties. I go to eBay and cruise the black and white fabrics, I go to Hancock in town and cruise the black and white fabrics, I ask on our message boards and on my other sewing email lists, and I've done trades. I dug down into my fabric stash and even checked the closets for any recyclable black and white cottons or cotton blends. All I need is a 10" square, right? It's gotten to where I must have more.... must have more.... must have more.
People think I'm nuts and I must say, they could be right.
It's actually fun, though, to have a "purpose" in a project. To go to a yard sale and see white on black or black on white fabric is like discovering a gold mine for me these days. I'm easily amused.
I'm not quite so affected when it comes to the blue jeans. I've been saving and dissecting them for years. I have two containers full of denim in various states of repair and shades of blue. I use that for a bunch o'stuff, including taking a long leg and tying three knots in it and producing a pull toy worthy of my German Shepherd, Lindsey. (She is also my sewing companion, by the way, resting her head on my leg while I sew or taking a nap on the floor behind my sewing chair while I'm at the machine.) Well, maybe I am a bit obsessed about junk denim. I also feel as though I've hit the motherlode at a yard sale if I see jeans for 25 cents!
Don't even ask about my thread. I must have a million spools and every one will get used eventually. Let's see, I have the thread rack in the living room on the wall that I rotate spools on to match the seasons, I have the container on top of the bookshelf in the sewing room filled with thread spools and cones, I have the drawer of the serger desk filled with thread spools, and oh yeah, the basket on the wall next to the sewing machine is filled with threads. Can you have enough thread?
I did weed out my patterns. Now I only have four boxes full.
And there is my obsession confession. I suspect I'm not alone.