HANDS ACROSS THE SEA

strips of hand dyed linen on old hemp sheet
to make a smart shopping tote

ticking scraps left over from cushion-making

long narrow strips gathered and hand-sewn make good non-slip hangers
ticking and provencal print scraps

more ticking squares added to a n old coarse-woven sheet for a contemporary look cushion

  It's always nice when someone you know gives you a mention, especially if it is favourable - and Kaari Meng, my old friend (but she is actually quite young) has written a skittish Blog about my frugal ways.  She is quite right, I never throw anything away and that does not mean that I have awful piles of useless rags cluttering up the place!  What I actually do is much more interesting for me - it's a form of sieving, rather like a granite quarry where all the stone has to pass a certain size and be bagged up in separate  packs and sacks  The biggest pieces, which are often the cut-off bottoms of too long curtains, often slightly weather- marked from the open French windows of French country chateaux, are cut into wide strips and mixed with toning plains to create cushions, using up the old braids and trims to make a pleasing frame.  The smaller pieces are cut into long strips about 6" wide and then cut again into lengths up to 12" long and joined together with short seams into strips in two or three different patterns (they could be all blue, or multicoloured tickings with the stripes placed in alternative directions, or mixes of plain and pattern).  They will make more cushions and tote bags;  and other oddments will make a band across the bib of aprons with pockets to match, and the final scraps, especially pretty printed 19c. cottons, are bagged in  new poly. display envelopes and sold to quilters and toy makers who love all vintage bits and can use the tiniest scraps for faces and paws.   .No problems getting rid of buttons which I remove from all throw-away items and I have three friends who will always dispose of them to keen collectors.  My scheme is to join up with like-minded friends and start the merry-go-round spinning.