Basis For Taste In Fashion with Fringe

"I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch."

  Gilda Radner

 

Me too, Gilda!  No matter how fashionable, how warm, on sale or what color...WOOL is not on my fabric or yarn lists.  If I think about it, I could come up with several other reasons why I don't do 100% wool...besides ITCHY.

 

Gilda made that fashion statement back in the 1960's when about the only Wool I knew much about was Wooly Bully by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs.

 

Some things never change...like who dictates what's in Fashion and what one should wear.  'Twiggy'...posed in Wooly Bully...was all the rage, and I do mean RAGE. I'll never forget my Dad's RAGE, "Sue, you may be a TWIG, but you are not going to school dressed like that Stick Girl."

  "Dad, it's Twiggy, and everybody's wearing mini's and boots."

...Yep, I got the classic reply...If everybody jumps off a cliff...yada yada!  I had to ditch the Mini, but got to keep the Fringed Boots!  Loved those Fringed Boots and Faux Leather Fringed Shoulder Bag.  Carried that Fringy Bag through all the years of HippieDom...read about that HERE. 

 

I've always liked Fringe.  My first Yarn Crochet Project was a Poncho.  One of the things I loved about that triangle poncho was that it had FRINGE all the way around.  Not all my Family members loved Fringe the way I did, but they acted really happy to receive a Fringed Poncho or a Fringed Scarf or Fringed Afghans for Christmas, Birthdays and National Fringe Day.

 

Now that you know how I feel about Fringe, you won't be surprised that it's still a
Focal Point in my Crochet today.
 Is it in FASHION today?
You Betcha....Versace, Nina Ricci...Rodarte, and Me are 'Trending on the Runway' with Fringe!
 Versace and company HERE.

Me....on CollectInTexas BlogShop  and ETSY Store.

I am *On Trend and **Chiconomical with my handcrafted
***Couture Crochet Cowl~Scarf.

****WOWZER...Yes, all the RAGE today are Cowls and Scarves and a

Fashion Lingo du Jour to go with the latest thing in Accessories...without WOOL!

*On Trend...The most stylish way to say something is trendy.

 

**Chiconomics...How to live fashionably despite the economic crisis or restricted funds.

 

***Couture...The business of designing, making and selling highly fashionable, usually custom-made clothing/accessories for women.

 

****Wowzer...An exclamation made when something is really surprising.

 

OMGaGa....is that her wearing my Wowzer Scarf?  Thanks, LadyG for your Celeb Endorsement.   

See the Collection HERE on COUTURE CROCHET Scarves.

HERE on A Quilt Store&More ETSY Shop.

 

Linking To:  How Sweet The Sound's BLOG SHOP

What To Do...Knit~ Sew~Quilt~Blog

Undergoing 'Self Analysis' is not helping to solve my dilemma of WhatToDo???   I keep thinking there is something wrong with me that I can't settle in on ONE project and get it finished. 

I've always been a multi-tasker, and thought having two, four, six or eight projects going at once was manageable.  Dividing my time between them kept me from getting bored, gave me a variety of topics to blog about, and within a reasonable amount of time, bragging rights on two, four, six or eight FINISHED projects.

Now that I think about it...more 'Self Analysis'...all that 'Mega Multi-Tasking' was 'BackInTheDay' when stockpiling/collecting sewing machines, fabric, thread, notions, books, patterns, and every known sewing thingy known to womankind kept me in a frenzy.  I might not be in this Self-Inflicted Needlework mess if I had stopped with the Sewing/Quilting Obsession.

But Nooooooo!!! I had to do the same thing with Knitting, Crochet, Needlepoint, Embroidery, Beading/Jewelry, Weaving, Baskets and Ceramics.  Ceramics....I can't even begin to go there with all that lead to in equipment, tools, supplies, studio space, and on and on.  I also won't start on collecting/dealing in antiques and dishes.
 

I have just figured it out....there IS something WRONG with me...OverDoArexia!

 

Actually, I've known for quite sometime.  As in most afflictions, the cure is a long drawn out process, is painful, hard to swallow, exasperating, expensive and is not covered by Medicare.  I was hoping Obama would care, but everytime I type in ODArexia the website crashes.

So here I am trying a Multitude of Fixes to eliminate SOME of my ODArexia  rashes, anxiety attacks, and fears of what will happen to my STUFF if I'm not around to dictate it's fate which in all likelihood would be Craig's List, Garage/Estate Sales and Create an Ad on Facebook.  My DIL is an expert marketer in those venues.

As for me, I am an Online Marketing Hack, but I'm trying to recoup some of my 'Simple Pleasures Treasures' with the opening of CollectInTexas Blog/ETSY Shop, harassing my Facebook Family and Friends, and drawing attention to my plight by writing this post.  Is it working?  So far on ETSY, I have listed over 100 yards of fabric and several dozen quilts and quilted items....you've heard the saying 'selling like gangbusters'....not happening!  I'm afraid I'm in the wrong 'Gang' for today's Hip-Fabric buyers who make their aprons with designer fabrics not feed sacks, and the 'GrannyGang' I run with are all trying to downsize, too.

What am I going to do???

I'm going to Knit, Sew/Quilt and Blog!

What can I say...It's What I Do!
 

PS...As long as you are here and not suffering from UROwn OverDoArexia,
you might like to browse around my ETSY Shop. 

Just click on the Pink Texas Button.  It will sure help cure what ails me.

Linking To: 

 Beverly's How Sweet The Sound Blog Shop
Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday

Finally, Some Time To SEW

What's with this 'No Time To Sew' lately?

Well, I'll tell ya how it has been with me for a couple of months....yes, it has been months since I clamped on the quarter inch foot and pieced a quilt. It's been one Re-something or another after another.  First there was a shoulder thingy that needed Re-adjusting and Re-covery time, then there was Re-turn trips to visit Mama.  Next I decided to Re-vamp CollectInTexas Gal to include one more 'Collection', and without a doubt the most 'No Time To Sew' came with the Re-Opening of A Quilt Store and More ETSY Shop.

 

Re-Opening with Nana's Blankee's was a good move, or so I thought.  Turns out, I need more Blankee's, and with Re-establishing and Re-stocking the Bags, Fabrics and Quilt Sections there's been 'No Time To Sew'. 

 

You might Re-member the post Hey Diddle Diddle from back in February when I was making Baby Blankee's from Quiltmaker's  Big Baby Block Series that started with the January-February 2013 issue. 

 

Such easy patterns and so quick to piece together.  So, when I had a special order for a 'Girly Nana's Blankee', this pattern popped into my head. 

 

I didn't fiddle around this time either, and quickly put together these fabrics, sharpened up the Rotary Cuff Cutter...oops...shoulder thingy...and snapped on the quarter inch foot. 

 

Funny thing about these Fabrics...they were next in line for the next Fabric Section on the ETSY Shop called 'Youth Novelty Fabrics'.  No worries if you like it and want to make a Blankee with these fabrics and this pattern...there's plenty more which will be listed soon.  I say soon, but not until I've finished this one and pieced one more for NANA'S BLANKEES.

Here's Hey Diddle Diddle....click HERE to view details on A Quilt Store and More ETSY Shop.

Okay, I now have Some Time To Sew...finally!

I'll have 'Show and Tell' when 'Buggy Cuteness' is finished...watch for it!!!

Calling All Quilters...Here's YOUR Kinda FABRICS!!!

Introducing CollectInTexas BlogShop's Quilting/Sewing Motif Fabrics

I have been 'Under The Influence of Fabric' for much of my life.

Never so much as when I owned a Quilt Shop. 

 It was a fantastic way to be totally immersed in the 'Sewing and Quilting World' and to share with other Quilt and Fabric Lovers an aspect of creativity and friendship found in that realm of amazing people. Another of my Favorite Fabrics besides Vintage 1930's and 1930's Reproductions, are Sewing and Quilting Motif-Themed Fabrics.   As with the Vintage Fabrics, the time has come to De-Stash the Sewing Themed Stash.

So, here they are...

the now out of production, hard to find, 100% cotton, QSQ (quilt shop quality), hoarded, and petted fabrics that will surely put YOU Under The Influence of Fabric, too!

In the quilt fabric world Hoffman is known as a top quality designer, manufacturer and producer of Quilting and Sewing Fabrics. 

Here's a small wall quilt I made with Needles and Pins fabric. 

It's for sale in A Quilt Store and More HERE.

Click on ETSY Link for the Fabric

Quilters know that coordinating fabrics is key to a successful quilt. Here are a few Quilt/Sew Motif Focus Fabrics and their Coordinates now listed in A Quilt Store and More.  Click on ETSY Link to view each collection.

Thank-you for visiting CollectInTexas BlogShop and taking a look at A Quilt Store and More ETSY Shop. 

You can Browse all the Pages by clicking on the Home Tabs or at ETSY Shop Home Section where all the categories are listed with details on all the inventory.

Linking To

 

From Flour/Feed Sacks To Quilt Treasure

How I Save and Use Vintage Flour/Feed Sacks....

Believe it or not, this 1930's quilt was headed for a RagBag to be used in a machine shop.  It's true, the star blocks were part of a hand pieced top with ripped and stained sashing.  The cotton batting was falling out and the backing and binding were shredded from being tucked under coiled springs.

How did it get from a Rag to a Quilted Treasure? 

I saved and repaired eight star blocks....enough for two small quilts.  Carefully removed the useable backing which were squares of different flour/feed sacks that had been tied not hand quilted.  Cut the backing pieces into strips for sashing around the blocks. Added a border from my stash of flour/feed sacks and used the same original 1930's print for the backing.  I hand quilted one and longarm machine quilted the other.  They are now part of my Vintage Quilt Collection.

You, too can create a Flour/Feed Sack Quilted Treasure!

I'm happy to share some of my Vintage Fabrics with you....here are the Flour/Feed Sacks in my ETSY Shop.

Click HERE for ETSY Shop

Thank-you for visiting and browsing CollectInTexas Blog&Shop!

What's Your Definition of VINTAGE?

Are you a 'Stickler' for correct use of Vintage, Antique, Retro and Collectible?

I wanted to get it right for the 'VINTAGE TAB' and 'ETSY Category'!

vin·tage noun \ˈvin-tij\...1: a season's yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard; 2: a collection of contemporaneous and similar persons or things.

vin·tage adj \ˈvin-tij\...1: of old, recognized and enduring interest, importance, or quality:  classic;  2: Old-Fashioned, Outmoded. 

~Definitions from my Vintage Websters Collegiate Dictionary~Edition 1965~

Whatever your definition of 'Vintage', please note that mine is used as an adjective

 and based on my date of birth, I also qualify as a noun.

In the decade before my birth...1930's...Feed and Flour Sacks were 'Useable Collectibles' and a commodity during the time of the Great Depression.  It was also a time that held some notion of romance at the idea that women could make something beautiful from something so mundane as a 'SACK'.
 

Feed Sacks were used for sewing well before the depressions and for several years after. The evolution of the feed sack is a story of ingenuity and clever marketing. 

 

 Initially farm and food products were shipped in barrels. Between 1840 and 1890 cotton sacks gradually replaced barrels and the invention of the 'stitching machine' in 1846 made it possible to sew double locking seams strong enough to hold the contents of a bag.

 

The first ones were made of heavy canvas and then of  inexpensive cotton sized to correspond to barrel sizes...one barrel bag held 196 pounds of flour.  The brand name of the flour was printed on the bag.  Women quickly discovered these bags could be used as fabric for quilts and other needs.

 

With the influx of rayon and other synthetic fabrics, the bottom dropped out of the cotton market causing Feed Sack manufactures to take a different approach in their marketing strategies.

It took awhile for feed and flour sack manufacturers to realize how popular these sacks had become with women.   The first feed sacks began to be sold in colors around 1925 in colorful prints for making dresses, aprons, shirts and children's clothing.  By the late 1930's there was a heated competition to produce the most attractive and desirable prints.  This turned out to be a great marketing ploy as women picked out flour, sugar, beans, rice, cornmeal and even the feed and fertilizer for the family farm based on which fabrics they desired. 

 

With the flour industry consuming the largest share of the feed sack market, it was not hard for the farmer and his wife to purchase their goods in feed sacks. The Sacks came in different sizes and the quality of the cloth varied with the item it carried. For example, sugar sacks were much finer in weave. By 1914, sacks came in pound sizes, and by 1937 President Roosevelt standardized sizes by measurement...50 pounds feed sack measured 24x38; 100 pounds measured 39x46.

I have been a Feed/Flour Sack Collector and Quilter for many years. The 1930's Original Fabrics as well as the Reproductions of those fabrics are my absolute favorites. When it came time to close out my Quilt Shop several years ago, I KEPT ALL of these favorites. Now as I reduce my STASH again, these Feed/Flour Sacks are going to A Quilt Store and More ETSY Shop. A few are listed THERE now, and more are to follow including the ones shown in this post.

Linking To:

Beverly's How Sweet The Sound

PINK SATURDAY

Photos by CollectInTexas Gal....1925 Newspaper and Farm Life magazine from my Iowa Mother and Grandmother's collection.  Isn't that amazing?

History of Feed and Flour Sack from:  Buchanan County, Iowa Historical Society  

Tablescaping With Quilts

When all your BEDS are outfitted with Quilts...where is the next place to show off and display quilts?

Why your TABLES of course!

Quilts are the 'Modern Day' scarves, doilies and table cloths. 

My grandmother Minnie always covered her tables with something pretty, and I do too.

How about you? 

Here are CollectInTexas Gal's Blog Shop Table Toppers and Runners.
Please Click on ETSY Shop LINK for Full Size Views

Rooster and Hen Roost Table/Wall Quilt                      SOLD

46x46 size. Perfect for a small breakfast table. Country greens, dark reds and mottled cream/browns gives this table/wall quilt a great country kitchen feel. Background fabric features pots of poseys and the backing is pieced with fabrics that match the front. Four corners and four border center blocks feature roosters and hens. Skillful machine piecing and machine quilting give this piece a very square and finished look. Binding is sewn on the front and hand stitched to the backing. 

This quilt is made with 100% quilt shop quality fabric and 80/20 cotton batting. It has been washed and has that cotton quilt look with a lovely drape over the table.

Listed at A Quilt Shop and More ETSY Shop HERE.

Your PayPal and Credit Card preferences accepted through ETSY Shop...also...Shipping information and preferences.  Email  collectintexas@gmail.com  for more information and/or alternate payment method.  

Red Work Rooster Fall Runner         $28.00          Details HERE

Tropical Spinners              $85.00                             Details HERE

TutiFruiti Spinners                  $80.00                   Details HERE

It's About Country Boy's Blue Jeans & Blankets

A couple of 'Country Boys' on their way to the shed. 

A moment captured for all time. 

A moment to be shared, remembered and enjoyed in the years to come.

You know, little guys in blue jeans grow up to be big guys who have their favorite, grungy, worn out "don't you dare throw away" blue jeans.  This is a perfect example of HiHoney's frayed, holey, rolled up and 'Forever Wranglers'.  I have a feeling that his grandson will not only follow him to the shed, but also through years of 'Forever Wranglers'.

The same can be said for their Favorite Blankets/Quilts.

New Listing in A Quilt Store And More...HERE

Details in Nana's Blankees...HERE

Linking To

 

ROOSTER RUNNER Crowing In ETSY Shop

NEW LISTING....

Red Work Rooster Fall Runner         $28.00 USD         Only 1 Available

14 x 57 Runner is perfect for a Fall Table Setting with selection of fall fabrics and machine embroidered Roosters in the popular Red Work on light corn yellow background. Each Rooster block is strip bordered in fall colored prints of Indian Corn, roosters and hens, country farm and a solid dark burgundy. It is bordered in an orange on orange paisley print with triangle pointed finished ends. Custom quilted with monofilament thread in a meander stitch with echo stitching around the three roosters.  Fabrics are 100% Quilt Shop Quality with 80/20 cotton batting. Fabrics were NOT prewashed and runner has NOT been washed.

Listed at A Quilt Shop and More ETSY Shop HERE.

Your PayPal and Credit Card preferences accepted through ETSY Shop...also...Shipping information and preferences.  Email  collectintexas@gmail.com  for more information and/or alternate payment method.

 

Combo Blog and Blog Shop...That's The Ticket!!!

I said I was going Fishing, I mean Stitching, but I what I really meant was both...Fishing and Stitching!

And I did!!!  This is what I caught.....

Actually, it's been in my 'Bait Bucket'...I mean 'Stitching Stash'...Oh Okay!!!

BOTH...for quite sometime.

 After FIVE years of CollectInTexas Gal being a Blog about:

Collecting everything from Art to Zippers

My Texas and Georgia Ancestors

Stories from Back In The Day

Knitting with SuKnitWitty

Quilting and QuiltALottie

Sewing and Crafting

My Grandkids

HiHoney

It Is Time For

This Woman's Place In The wwworld

of

UnCollecting (getting rid) of everything from Art To Zippers

Putting Ancestors in their Place...Tracks Blogs

Publishing stories about Back In The Day

Cure my Yarn-A-holic-ism and share Yarn-A-Rama Stash

Re-Open Sue's Quilt Store

Quilt for the Public and Sell Quilt Patterns

Market Sewing and Craft Projects

Whew...I think that ought to be enough for the new

CollectInTexas Gal Combo Blog and Blog Shop

While I'm working on the Blog Shop Pages...YOU can check out....

See Ya There and Back Here on October 1st....maybe sooner!!!

 

PS...I'll be keeping GrandKids and HiHoney for awhile longer.  I'm counting on their value increasing with age.