Natural selection
This morning, I was contemplating how squares might fit together. I grabbed a selection of four-inchers and laid them out. My desire for order asserted itself strongly. I was missing one piece needed to make four four-patches. And the piece I was missing needed to be of the thin drab olive green fabric that came from a pair of pants. I loved those pants, but they wore out very quickly. They had embroidered and cutwork motifs on the legs, very elegant. And some tucks.
This started a vast sorting project, looking for the remnants of the pants. I know there is more of this somewhere. I upended two large containers.
Natural categories seemed to form. Desire for order comes in handy sometimes.
- Black and white and large pieces, possibilities for backgrounds
- Pieces of the right size and shape to become squares
- Strips of various widths and lengths, possibly for fabric coil baskets. I envision stitching a long row of them together.
- Dyed pieces mostly vintage linen, mostly from Deb L.
- Silk scraps, mostly dyed by me
- Wool scraps
- Tiny pieces to be moved to a little basket of tiny pieces
- Favorite prints
- Cotton cloth from India
- Cotton shweshwe cloth from South Africa, very bright
- Remnants that may be suitable for fussy cutting of foliage
- Icky pieces and trash that I hate running into in my scrap collection, for discard (already halfway out the door)
- A heart that I stitched out of blue velvet – kind of an oddball find. Probably meant for inclusion in a needle book but ended up being too thick.
Long story short, I didn’t find the pants material. But I found something close in the right size and shape. Which is satisfying. I also feel less lost and confused project-wise. And handling cloth is such a pleasure really.
once upon a time i tried to sort
but it never lasts, because just rummaging through is such joy and often leads to complete surprises.
LOVE the violet square
I don’t think it will last, but it’s good to have the strips separated anyway. Those I want for baskets. You’re right, the serendipity of finding unexpected matches is really something special.
sorting is like conceptualizing. sometime I sort one way and then another, especially with color. perspective might change with anything. I like this post.
I’m changing my attitude toward sorting. I tend to avoid it, but it is really enjoyable once I get over that hump. And a great generator of new enthusiasms and ideas.
sorting … bigger pieces by color … then separate bins for small and smaller pieces, regardless of color … last, the bin that fills up the fastest: just used and needs to be put back away … ha!
love how your arrangement had my eyes moving … grouping the colors into threes and then fours and then nines …
I felt your pain- looking for something that you sort of know is somewhere but where. I lost an envelope of dye samples sent from California. Mistakes the owner thought I would enjoy. Yes. I did enjoy. they were lost for quite a while since I put them in a safe place. Laughing. Now they are front and center. Always where I can see them. Of course, now I don’t actually need them…but…
So many times I’ve lost things, given up, find them later. Or I find things I didn’t know I was missing when I’m looking for something else. All part of the process, I guess!
“Tiny pieces to be moved to a little basket of tiny pieces” made me smile, because of course! Searching as process is fun, loosing is just frustrating, in my book.