I have a problem…

I have been an avid collector, stasher, hoarder of vintage fabrics for many years. I hunt, I gather and then I get too scared to use these one offs. My head fills with questions and I panic…

“What if I never find any lovely vintage fabrics again?”
“What if I think of something better to use the fabric for later?”
“What if I make a mistake and the fabric is lost forever?”

I suffer the same dilemma with most of the items I collect for my art and craft and it is becoming a bit of a problem. Not to mention I am suffering some serious organisation/space issues about the house, especially now that we have a little third person to consider who seems to be gathering a stash of her own.

I just found these samples in a box that my folks bought down from Sydney. Every time they visit they bring more of my ‘junk’ that I had stored under their house. That means I collected these pieces over eight years ago. Oh dear, that’s a little embarrassing! I found most of these at the Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. Oh how I LOVED that place. There’s a little one in Vic but it just doesn’t compare to the scale of the two Sydney ones…and for my sake that’s probably just as well! Most are fabric swatches from sample books so are less than one metre square. On the plus side many come in bundles of the same pattern in various colour schemes so there’s quite a bit of potential there for some crafty cleverness.

I know it’s a little late for new years resolutions, but I am going to attempt to make some changes. My ‘resolution’ is two-fold. Part One: Get organised and resolve storage issues (Oh boy this one is a bit overwhelming!) Part Two: I am going to try and take the leap and finally start using some of my stash.

I am scared, I am excited, I am optimistic. Wish me luck! If I succeed you’ll see the result here in the coming months. I wasn’t ready before, but I think I am ready now!

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 12th, 2006 at 5:51 pm under textiles, treasure hunt.