Portfolio of older work

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

More Nancy Crow's Barn Scraps

My mother pinched every penny twice and had no shame about it.  It was how she was able to raise 5 children on a very limited budget and still quietly put a little money in the bank every week for her retirement.  So when Nancy Crow said that I was "worth it" when I told her I hated to waste fabric, it just didn't sit well.  Instead of  throwing away all my fabric scraps, I packed them away in my suitcase and shipped them home.  And I am having the most fun with them.  I am still putting together the larger scraps into blocks like this new one.
And now I have started working on the smaller scraps.
Turning them into fabric beads to use in embellishing some of the  blocks.  These are drying on the straws I am using to shape the beads.

6 comments:

  1. I never thought of straws. What a great idea and of course i love your improv wok!

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  2. I love the idea of fabric beads. I was just sorting through SCRAPS which I hate to "waste" also even though I have closets full of fabrics. I used to be a dyer and had a company called "true colors"......when I closed my company all the bins went to the attic. Now we put in a/c thankfully and had to empty the attic......so MORE fabric in studio........some needing to be redyed.........anyway, I'm still fascinated with the small pieces for beads.....can you go into more detail on how to make?

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  3. My mother & yours must have been related! I still have a hard time throwing out fabric pieces, no matter how small--or ugly...

    I've heard that Nancy Crow is slightly "socially challenged" and that's one of the biggest reasons why I've never wanted to take a workshop of her (besides the $$, of course!)

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  4. So funny - sounds like Nancy (grin). Still if a quilter can't save the scraps and reuse them for something else - who can???

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  5. Oh, I love playing with scraps!!! I find them liberating. Yardage can be intimidating but scraps can just be 'played' with. They're a great way for me to loosen up and try new designs.

    That comment wouldn't have sat well with me either. Frankly, only someone with no financial/budget pressures works that way. Power to her for being a very successful studio artist but her attitude comes across as entitled.

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