A treat in store is coming up for those who live nearby, or can make the journey. There is a lot of talent around, and some of it is due to be on display in NZ’s capital city very soon.

Meanwhile, I have added another couple of quilts to my own small gallery here.

The gorgeous blue cat quilt was made for me by a friend. She gave it to me when we stayed with her, and her family, in Greenwood, Indiana. My friend is a prolific quilter, far more so than I. And her work is testimony to all that practice she has got from the great many quilts that roll off her sewing machine. She is very clever, and also very generous, giving away so many quilts and quilt tops that she makes. No guessing that we both love the colour blue… and purple… and quilts.

The “Second quilt” is the second one I ever made, created from left-over scraps from the first one I ever made. That was 17 years ago now, but it took all that time to get around to finishing it! Shame on me. But then I had already confessed that I am not as prolific as my friend.

While holidaying in the States recently we came across a great many yard sales, especially along the length of one particular highway in Indiana. Folk had set up tables outside on their property boundary with the road, and those tables were laden with… STUFF. All kinds of stuff. Much of it was trash (in my eyes) but I am well aware that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. People were busy fossicking for treasure and there was much trading going on. It seemed that no-one could actually throw anything away, not even if it was broken, had parts missing, was filthy and barely recognizable for what it was supposed to be. Honestly, would you buy somebody’s partial denture? What for? Well, I kid you not… there were even some old false teeth on sale! Baldly grinning plastic choppers! Yard sales are also an exercise in reclycing, and I can just imagine many of those items that were traded soon turning up on the table of someone else’s yard sale. This STUFF, besides occupying entire garages such that the car must remain parked outside in the driveway, is clearly for passing around.

But what does STUFF and quilts have in common? Well, if any of you are quilters, or if you know of a quilter, you will know how good these folk are at acquiring and storing a certain kind of stuff… fabric! Fabric to a quilter is the equivalent of a painter’s palette. We must have every colour, texture, pattern, design under the sun… a rainbow selection of it in every closet, under every bed, tucked into this space, and into that space. Quilters are often collectors, specializing in their own particular STUFF of which they seldom have enough.

Well, I did get to see my Hoosier friend’s wonderful collection piled high in one room, not even surreptitiously hidden away anymore but boldly on view to remove any doubt that she is a “true blue” quilter. Such collections seldom get put out on tables at roadsides. We will share with other quilters, maybe trade pieces among ourselves, but this STUFF is wanted. It is loved. It is needed. It is the stuff of dreams… of all those quilts yet to be created.

Every so often I feel the need to travel more lightly on this earth. There are times when possessions become heavy and oppressive, even overwhelming. There is definitely a feel good factor in living more simply, going with less rather than more. All those yard sales brought it home to me again, and with today being the first day of Spring… a little spring-cleaning with the idea of sorting and giving away is back on the agenda for me.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21)