the science of fabric love

I was ironing a stack of fabric the other day that had come out of the wash. Now that I have an iron that works, ironing isn't so bad. Plus it helps that I love looking at it, touching it, and dreaming up things I can do with it while I make it nice and neat. Most of the fabric has a project attached to it - but I found myself thinking of all sorts of other things I could do with it. That's when it came to me - the reason we love fabric and tend to collect it and like to just look at it.

Do you remember learning about potential energy? "It is called potential energy because it has the potential to be converted into other forms of energy . . ." (from Wikipedia). I remember the example of a ball at the top of a hill having a lot of potential energy. As it rolled down the hill it used up that energy until it came to a stop at the bottom, dead and lifeless.

When we have a nice piece of yardage it has all sorts of potential - quilts, bags, clothing, scarves, curtains, boxes, liners, etc, etc. And as soon as you take that first cut into it's energy begins to be released. Sewing it up in a frenzy we turn the ideas into something concrete, it's fate is sealed. I think this is why we collect it. It's full of ideas and dreams and I know for me, I'm always worried I won't like the finished product as much as I like just looking at the fabric itself. Fortunately, each completed project becomes my current favorite. But the difficulty is in the starting. Taking that first cut.

I was talking to a friend the other day, actually a couple of different people have expressed this same sentiment, that when they need a little pick me up they go spend some quality time with their stash.

Ahhh, the luxury of dreaming.