Monday, September 1, 2008

The Carol Collection

Well, as Cidell has already shared, we had an amazing adventure on Saturday. Carol, the mother of Chelle of Necessary Chocolate, has decided to go quilting full time and was ready to purge her fashion fabric stash. Let's start with the proposition that now that this gorgeous fabric has made it into my hot little hands it will have to pried from my cold dead fingers so Carol's generosity (and Chelle's in resisting the temptation to take it herself) is quite amazing, inspired, and...well...generous. Wow.

We drove through some lovely farm country to Carol's even lovelier home, and then stepped into the mecca of her sewing room and *then* into the nirvana of her stash closet (enough mixed metaphors in there for you?). Her sewing room is gorgeous, with room for two cutting tables, a big table for the machine with knee lift so it can be free arm or table-set, and two sunny windows. And the closet. The closet! Chelle had given us some preview photos but wow, the closet was amazing. So organized! The fabric was beautifully laid out and organized by fiber and color. Though some pieces were over 20 years old, they had been kept in pristine condition. Certainly something to aspire to. Carol had some nice stories to tell us about some of the pieces.

Because the fabric had been set out all neatly in the closet it looked like way less than it was. Oh my goodness. We could barely get all the fabric into the car. This is a glimpse of Carol's sewing room, with me grinning like crazy surrounded by gorgeous fabric.







We got back to DC and I laid all my fabric out. You can bet that I considered doing a Scrooge McDuck through all this fabric. It was only Cidell's presence that restrained me. But seriously, this is major sewist pr0n. Do you see all the gorgeous colors? And textures? And scrumptious wools and fabulous silks? It's amazing.





Here is the debut of The Carol Collection.

The Carol Collection

I love that we have a lot of the same taste in colors, especially for teal/aqua/turquoise/blue-green/green-blue and all variations thereof. I am having a blast coming up with mini-wardrobe capsules. The possibilities are just amazing. In fact, I realized later a few fabrics are missing (yes, there are a couple more!!!!) because I had pulled them out to play with.

You can take your own Scrooge McDuck virtual dive through The Carol Collection. Just be sure to empty your pockets before you leave the vault! I'll be checking!

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You would think with all this fabric I'd never need to buy any again. But, um, I neeeeed shirtings now. I need them. I can't wear all that wool with jersey tops! So I stopped by G Street to take advantage of their 25% off sale for Labor Day to stock up on zippers and thread and found a few shirtings on the $2.97 table. Only seven yards. No big. *cough*

8-31-08

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lucky lucky lady!! The teals and blues will look wonderful on you and this season's colors no less!! Joy! Linda

loopylulu said...

All these fabric pictures seriously make me giddy. You both are such lucky ducks.

Lisette M said...

Wow, wow, WOW!!!!

Anonymous said...

what a great story and treasure ! The pics tell a good story of happiness! And...I left a comment in flickr--what pattern is your lovely pink dress! I think, it is a perfect warm Fall day dress!cindy

Big Sis said...

Wow, I think I'd be burdened by awe and worry (with a twinge of fear and guilt), and end up WISHING I had taken more or what I really wanted.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Do you remember standing in my fabric closet and wondering how I acquired all of that fabric? Well you are on the slippery slope downward now baby! *LOL* You got some amazing pieces and I can't wait to see what you make from them!

Little Hunting Creek said...

This is how it starts - people say, how did you get so much and I say some was from my Mom's stash, some from my DMIL, some from this person...pretty soon what you have is SABLE. I love the colors too!

Sew-4-Fun said...

Oh my, oh my, oh my!! You are one lucky lady! Those are all my favourite colours too, hint, hint. :) And Carol's sewing room IS heaven!

Anonymous said...

Mom loved having you! She especially mentioned the way you loved the texture and feel of the fabric - she knew that she'd found a kindred spirit. She's excited that it's all gone to someone who will love it.

Rose said...

What a lovely collection of fabrics, and so nicely organized. What a wonderful gift! I can't wait to see what you create from these materials. Have fun! :)

Cennetta said...

Oh My! This is like looking through the window of a candy (fabric) store. BEAUTIFUL
Happy Sewing!
Cennetta

Anonymous said...

I am crying just a little bit looking at all that fabric. I wish it was mine. (Watch out if I ever end up in your neck of the woods!!!)