Mom's Stash: One Very Long Post To Finish It All Up

Yesterday, I noted all the fabric in the giveaway. Today I will continue with the odds and ends.

A few patterns and craft books:

This craft book called Hearts and Flowers, showing all sorts of decorative crafts using miniature artificial flowers ... if you like this, scroll down further and check out the case filled with artificial flowers as well. I also have a dozen or so miniature hats for decorating as pictured on the cover and some narrow ribbon left from the lace, trim and ribbon giveaway from last month. I could put together a nice little craft package around this book for anyone who wants it. Perfect for a Mother's Day craft for a Girl Scout troop, 4-H club or similar group.

A Simplicity pattern for wedding accessories: garter, ring bearer's pillow and head piece and some small favors. This has been opened but very gently used.

These two quilting patterns, one from Butterick and one from Dream Spinners. Both are unopened and unused and both have traditional country style motifs on relatively small projects: wall hangings and pillows. I figure these would be good for beginners as well as for more experienced quilters.

All these sewing notions ... I have just packed them up in one gallon size zip-loc grab bag ... they include Wright's soutache cord, single and double fold bias tape, rick rack, piping, seam binding and designer ribbons ... most packages still sealed. These are in a variety of colors but with emphasis on Christmas colors and pastels since Mom apparently used these for making doll clothes ... for which she seemed to favor pink and pale blue for everyday as well as kelly green for Irish dolls and red/green for Christmas dresses. This grab bag will go to the first person to request it ... a good deal for a seamstress who makes either doll clothes or children's clothing.

NEXT THE WIPs: Now I need it to be clearly understood that my mother started these projects and them abandoned them ... so anyone who gets them will be getting a project that has been worked on by another hand, with all that implies so far as skill levels, stitching tension, amount of work accomplished, etc.:

Bucilla Swedish Weave Afghan Kit: Brown, Off-White and Tan. Mom just barely started this piece ... only a row or two woven. The colors are nice and neutral. So I believe it would fit in with just about any decor. And for those of us living in the northern continental US, this is the perfect time of year to work on such a project. Picture yourself sitting in a rocker with this afghan draped over your knees as you work. This would make a perfect charity afghan ... I know many people participate in Prayer Shawl ministries through their churches ... I imagine this would be a quick and easy project for such a program. If no one claims it, I will ask one of my Confirmation students to complete it for a Christian Community Service project and donate it to our parish's Midnight Run for the NYC homeless.

Dimensions Needlepoint Kit showing a cottage room warmed by a fireplace. My mother actually started this piece and has stitched the better part of the top ten rows. Here stitching is neat and tidy so anyone wishing to finish this piece shouldn't feel compelled to frog what little has been stitched. My mother carefully sorted out all the wools and hung them by hanks on a plastic hanger. It's a rather large piece, when I laid it out to get a sense of its size, it completely covered the top of a standard snack table. I am guessing it is about 18"x24" but I didn't actually measure it.

There are also a kit that opened but not stitched, Janlyn's Amish Doll. This is on Aida cloth and the bottom of the Aida whrere the photo shows a shadow has been pre-treated by the manufacturer ... the shadows are actually dyed onto the fabric. There is a small rust mark at the top of the fabric where the needle was inserted, but I feel sure that treating that spot with a q-tip dipped in a 50% solution of bleach and water will take care of the problem. the Floss is provided.
And, some odds and ends that somehow didn't fit into any of the other posts:

Strands of inexpensive craft beads, most in sealed packages. There is a wide variety of colors: lots of white and ivory; pale pinks, blues and lavendars; various shades of green; some purple; some irridescent. These are the sort of things you would find on a rack at an A. C. Moore or Michaels ... we are not talking high end quality. I assume my mother used them as trim for doll hats or to embellish the little bouquets her dolls carried or the corsages they wore. You can request the whole lot or just some particular colors. I suppose they could be used to trim ornaments or biscornus as well.

Lots and lots of miniature artificial flowers [ribbon, silk and fabric]: I really haven't the time to sort these by color and type ... so just make a request for the colors you like and I will fill it if I can.

And the tools for making your own fabric covered buttons. If no one claims this, I may try stitching some small floral motifs over one on 40ct linen and make some hand embroidered buttons for my dark green blazer or some of my blouses and sweaters. I have seen this in some photos and I have to admit, the look is really pretty. I am not sure I really want to go to all that trouble but the end result would be stunning. And, of course, I would salvage those buttons even after I stopped wearing the garment.

I AM SO DONE WITH THIS!!!!! My need for order has been disturbed so deeply by the chaos that was my mother's stash [which took over my dining and living rooms for the better part of two months] that I now feel the need for a "rest cure", as they used to call it in gentler times. I can deal easily with the remaining requests and the boxing and the mailing since everything is now sorted and tagged and filed in a coherent order. I am also blessed inasmuch as two of the folks who have left requests have indicated that they are willing to take anything that is left.

I want to thank all who adopted this "stuff" sincerely and from the very bottom of my heart. My frugal soul just couldn't bear to throw all this sewing and stitchery stash away ... and yet, even with my fairly acquisitive nature, I couldn't justify keeping things I had no intention of ever using ... the horns of a quite a dilemma! But the internet stitching community came to my rescue ... helping me to reclaim my dining and living rooms, save my marriage and spread a little sunshine as far away as France and as close as upstate New York. And thanks to those who commiserated with me while I was in the throes of this project [even to Nic who proactively stated that I couldn't send her a thing], my thanks for the sympathy and the empathy.

And to my husband, who bore patiently with the mess and somewhat less patiently with my curse-driven sessions at the computer: don't ever, ever, ever let me take on such a task again ... you may feel free to take such steps as binding and gagging me or locking me in a dark windowless room until the urge to be helpful passes.

But soon, all this shall be gone. And when it is, I am going to put some Enya CDs on the player and settle down in my rocker with my Snugglee and a pot of perfectly brewed tea, close my eyes and simply drift ... for as long as the universe will allow.