Scraps from the Free Swap!

At the last free swap, I made a beeline for a lady I knew was a source of fabric. She passed me the two bags of it that she had brought, and I took them away unopened. 

Score! 

There is nothing more fun than washing and ironing out a whole pile of new fabric. 

Several were a whole yard or two, best suited for sashing or future-grandbaby dresses. But my favorite part of the deal actually isn't the large pieces. I like the little scraps and strings the best! They keep me calm for a long time, washing, sorting, ironing, and arranging in my string box. 

 

That one little chunk of quilt-shop quality butterfly fabric was easily the coolest piece in the two bags.  

See, I have a new ironing board cover!  Isn't it pretty?  Especially compared to the old one which was burned and stained, but still had its picture posted all over on the internet. 

There's my box of scraps, revitalized with fresh stock. 

Status of My Stash

On hearing the explanation of "She who dies with the most fabric wins," one of my children exclaimed, "Mom would win that!"
Ooooooh, no.  Nowhere near.  Not even in the running.  I have a pathetic stash compared with the actual competitors (I've read about a few of them!!) but it's about right for me.  For one thing, I have no more storage space than this!
So, for the amusement of the world, here's the status of my little me-sized stash. 
I have three closet shelves, each 2x2 feet square.

This pile was mostly donated by friends.  There's quilt-scrap calico in the front, and behind it, several nice pieces with whimsical pictures good for curtains, aprons or scrubs, none of which I have the least use for right now, but "you never know" (the song of the clutter-bug) also some four-yard cuts of satin or sparkly fabric that could be useful in case we suddenly need an emergency evening gown in gold, pale blue or royal purple (you never know). 

This shelf is nice fabric I've mostly bought over the years as I saw it for a good price, 4-6 yard pieces for making dresses out of, and some was donated.  The plastic box in the middle of the stack is lace fabric and trim. 

The third shelf is the solids or yard-dyed fabric that would be suitable for making medieval garb.  There's a couple of dark blue or green cotton sheets in there.  Am I above wearing something made of old sheets?  I think I've established my level already...
And there's one piece in here that actually looks somewhat like linen!  So, all of this is my SCA-picking stash. 

The American History of Feedsacks

I’ve been reading some articles on the history of using cotton feed sacks for everyday cloth.  Pretty interesting aspect of our domestic history.

Initially these bags were plain unbleached cotton with product brands printed on them. In order for women to use these bags they first had to remove the label….
In spite of their efforts the entire brand label didn’t always get removed and sometimes it didn’t seem worth the bother especially for making undergarments.  As a result there are some amusing stories regarding feedsack underwear.  “One young girl was out walking with her beau when she tripped and fell. Oh, how embarrassed she was when her betrothed noticed her underdrawers imprinted with ‘southern best’! Another story was about a woman who made her husband’s drawers from a flour sack and left the words ‘self rising’ on the cloth.”

http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/feedsacks.htm
Here’s one with better pictures of the fabric designs!  Some are really beautiful!

http://www.quilthistory.com/feedsacks.htm
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/rugs-and-textiles/feedsack-fabric
http://www.rickrack.com/wordpress/?s=feed+sack&paged=2
More samples of the lovely patterns.  

http://fuzzylizzie.com/feedsack.html
This page has more about the history, and shows a pattern book full of ideas for sewing things using the cotton bags! 

Image of a feed sack dress from the Smithsonian: