Suddenly Spring

A few short weeks ago, inches of snow covered the ground. Suddenly spring has arrived -- in color!

Stash becomes Purse

A year ago, I began a fabric stash. I purchased several fabrics at the local Hancock fabrics, then started finding pieces of fabric at garage sales and thrift stores. Of course, I intended to use these fabrics, so I also bought a couple of patterns for handbags, including one Amy Butler and one Laura Ashley.

Funny thing, the stash somehow became The Stash-for-Stash-Sake. Finding, buying, washing and ironing, folding, stacking -- this was enough! I could spend a stray hour just looking over the fabrics, sorting through the colors, restacking, and then leaving the craft room again. Almost every week I found a new piece to add. Ah, but now I need to create something with these fabrics. So here are my first efforts, sewn in the last weeks -- my new purses!

The week gone by

Thrifting this past week . . . found these wonderful stools and domes that I love to display things in . . .

Why is it such a joy to find a cast-off treasure? To search through all the cracked and chipped china, past the 70s leather coats, the plastic wreaths, the burned-out pots and pans . . . and then finding the gem. Aha! There it is! I knew it was here! I could almost feel it calling out to me. The joy of the hunt and the thrill of The Find. So satisfying.