Beginning a Stash

So about a year ago on my crafting odyssey I made it a rule not to buy new supplies and instead to work with what's around the house. That's not nearly as ascetic as it sounds. I had tons of already-acquired things to work with: lots of lovely fine art supplies, a stack of nice paper from our DIY wedding, several boxes of purchased and donated beads, and of course whatever I could creatively repurpose and upcycle.

(A digressive aside. I really love that word, "upcycle". I only learned it maybe two months ago and I think it's slowly crept into my favorite word pile, joining the ranks of "exegesis," "repellent," and "humorous." Sample conversation at our house:

Misha (editing a grad school essay): I can't believe you only used "exegesis" twice in this paper. Isn't someone else in here an exegete? Come on!

Me: Oh, that's humorous.)

Where was I? Oh, yes, supplies. For sewing my rule has meant only working with cast-off clothing, which has been working out well enough. But of course all rules are meant to be broken as I have now acquired actual pieces of fabric. Used end-pieces, but still. At Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, there was a booth selling remnants, and I picked up two great Alexander Henry prints (Picnic in pink and 2D Zoo in sage), a very cute Heather Ross print of Blue Goldfish from her Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries series, and a Judy Rothermel Aunt Grace (R35) pattern that I'm not sure I really like. Also, I freecycled a bunch of small floral patterns and a couple of solid color linens (none have selvages so I'm not sure where they are from). I'm pretty excited to finally have my own small fabric stash. Now if I could only get over the anxiety of cutting into them!