Excess

I’ve  badly ripped the skin on my left hand, so all my plans for the day flew out the window. Instead I’ve been piddling around all day, looking at things I often don’t often really look at, namely, my fabric stash. Wanting to make some faux chenille pot holders for Alison’s birthday was what got me started. The first requirement is some Tuscan orange cotton fabric.

I looked in the closet stash. Nope, there’s just one orange piece but not the right orange.

Then I checked my stash in and on the six-drawer chest. Lots of pieces there, but nothing close to what I need.

That wasn’t the end of possibilities, not by any means. I went to the basement, where I have stashes in a raft of banker’s boxes and plastic tubs. Right away, in a box of men’s shirts, I found one made of this fabric. Hooray!

What I find remarkable is not that I found an appropriate piece, but that I have collected such a huge amount of fabric, both new pieces and thrift shop garments that I can cut apart and reuse. (If my knee didn’t hurt I would go back to the basement and take pictures of the collection.) What did I think – that I would live forever, sewing every day of my life?

It’s a funny thing that I and many other people have amassed far more objects than we will ever have time to use or enjoy. Maybe that’s what the first part of a person’s life is about – acquisition of worldly goods. But now, toward the end of life, we are stuck with all that stuff.

Well, I’m putting out word right now that when I croak, which can’t be many years away, my fabric stash will be up for grabs. There will be a wide variety of things to choose from – woolens, cottons, rayons, linings, silks, and even a couple of rolls of nice leather, not to mention all the sewing notions. Let me know what you want. I’ll keep a list with my will. I can’t bear to part with my stash just yet. Who knows when I might need a piece of Tuscan orange fabric?

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer

Post Script: I just read a column in the New York Times titled, "Let Me Count the Days." It's all about how we will never use up all of our supplies. One comment on the article seems particularly appropriate to quote here: "Among knitters and crocheters who buy yarn and stash it in the closet for future projects, there's an acronym for this: SABLE = Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy."