This time, the big task was to tackle my mom's vast thread collection. She had a lot for of cotton for regular quilting, but even more for embroidery. and also a bunch of polyester threads for clothing. And then the bobbins -- different ones for the Brother and the Viking respectively.
Last time, I tossed the 3-drawer chest of Madiera embroidery thread, but it was all still sitting there. It was rotten, and breaks if you just look at it. Beautiful, but a nightmare to work with. It's too bad -- I remember when we bought those sets. I also remember my utter frustration trying to work with it after it had aged a bit, until I realized the thread was just rotten, and couldn't handle the normal tension of sewing through a machine.
I usually only use cream, white, gray, or black cotton for piecing quilt blocks. This is always on the back (or inside the quilt), and never seen from the from the front side. But my mom, was quite the shopper -- She has thread in every color imaginable ... in cotton and Rayon (gone now) and Polyester ...
I saved the multicolor threads, because I use those in quilting the sandwiches. I also saved some of the neutrals -- just to have some basic supplies up there when I visit. Although my sister's bright idea is to transform the sewing room into a guest room, we'll keep a practical sewing corner, since that is the spirit my mom imbued into the space.
I haven't touched the Anniston-Robeson embroidery thread. Those will go with the sewing machines -- Those threads are still good yet -- strong and lustrous.
Next time I'll tackle batting and possibly the scraps -- 3 bins of scraps. Sheesh! I know I'm making progress, but there's still a lot to work through ... Inch by inch and bit by bit.
More bins of fabric to the Charity Quilters of Oshkosh this week. And lots of patterns -- many of which my mom actually made and gave away.
I know I should say something philosophical here about the threads of life, but I'm too mired in the actual stuff and dispersing it all to go that route right now.
3 comments:
All those threads! I don't have THAT much but plenty more than I probably need, especially if I don't get back to quilting soon! Hmmm . . . I think I should appoint you executor of my sewing room; you are getting such good experience working through the accumulations of a long-time quilter and seem to be pretty sensible about what to keep, toss, and give away. Uh oh, I can hear you screaming a long NOOOOOOOOOO from here - lol
Idaho is a little far to travel every month for this kind of work. Although -- perhaps that will be my retirement job -- My Unca Ray had a job clearing out houses after people died. Trouble is, now his house is "full" of other people's stuff. That might be a dangerous occupation!
Well, the estate would pay for your travel expenses and it's really quite lovely out here. ;-) I didn't realize there was such a thing as your Uncle does but I CAN imagine it would be an occupational hazard to keep a lot of what you were clearing out. I could arrange for what a friend of Mary Stori's did: have her studio loaded into one of those pods and shipped cross country right to Mary's door. It took her a very long time to sort through it all and do as you are doing, even had a friend join in to help. And some years later she's still dipping into the fabric she kept. I did the same with help sorting and clearing out my friend Judi's studio after she died. Did I need all that fabric I took home? Of course not, but it would have been even worse had I not been splitting it with our mutual friend who helped. We just had one day together to do it and it was overwhelming and emotional just as I'm sure it has been for you. But at least you've been able to tackle it a bit at a time. I love the idea of keeping a corner of that room for sewing as it transitions into a guest room. Hang in there!
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