Or the art of letting go and actually cutting into your fabric!
A funny thing happens when you start to sew - you start to accumulate fabric! And then you start looking for inspiration which leads you to blogs, which leads to pinterest and instagram. Lucky for me, I haven't been sucked into the last two but I do love me some blogs!
Finding quilt/craft inspiration blogs inevitably leads you down the path to favorite fabric designers which, of course, leads to hoarding said fabric designers fabrics.
Again, lucky for me, my house and budget are pretty small so I tend to hoard just the things that are just soooo cute that I couldn't possibly live without them...I would just wither and die!
Which leads us to the Rapunzel fabric from Heather Ross.
When the fabric came out, I bought one little tiny yard of miss rapunzel in the sweetest pink color. (I also bought the owl and pussycat, sleeping beauty and the suns - apparently i was flush with funds that day!)
And there she sat, in the little fabric bin I have under my sewing table. Every couple of months or so, I bring out the bin, look through all the "good" fabric and think, oh i should really do something with this...immediately followed by
"no, it is soooo precious, i can't possibly take my scissors to such cuteness!"
Then, I would fold it back up (the other way so as to not have the creases all be in the same spot) and back she would go into the bin.
Until one day, I decided enough was enough! and made my way to the giant fabric store and found some coordinating fabric to make me the cutest rapunzel quilt!
And then...mom saw the photo of miss rapunzel and asked for the smallest bit of it for her birthday - no problem, i thought, i'll just go on etsy and get some!
HA!
Apparently, miss rapunzel and all of her counterparts are going for a gazillion dollars!
Oh no!
I cannot cut into rapunzel now - she is worth too much money - A whole yard!! Why, that's worth like a hundred dollars!
What am I doing, what am I thinking?
And then I saw other heather ross fabrics for sale on etsy and
OH MY GOD!
What was I thinking cutting into those cute matryouskas and the stripes and making a quilt and why, why, why, did I put the VW van material in that window and now it is faded!! Am I a fool?
A day passed...(no cutting into rapunzel)
And then, I walked by the shelf with the little pile of fabric and I thought, "Why yes, i guess I am a fool!"
A fool for wanting to live with the cutest fabric!
To have a cute quilt of smiling stacking dolls to pull out of the cupboard and put on the couch and make me happy.
And, yes a fool to put the van fabric in the window but it makes me smile every time i walk into the laundry room.
And, what about miss rapunzel?
Well - see for yourself!
She is no longer entombed in the fabric bin but is free to mill about with the other quilts.
Everytime I see this sweet little quilt, I will be happy to know that I was brave enough to cut into the "good" stuff!
Do you dare cut into your favorite fabric? Did it give you heart palpatations? Or are you happy that you can now enjoy it in some way besides sitting all lonely in a bin?
PS - as you can tell from the photo, I didn't get too crazy with the cutting, just the stripes to keep as many little rapunzels intact! Bravery does have its limits, you know!
Get out there! JCoy
