In my various profiles, I mention that my grandmother, Edie, is the one responsible for my venturing into jewelry, etc after helping her when I was a child with her craft business. When she passed away a hair over *gasp* 12 years ago - my mother & aunt divided up all of her supplies. I've ended up with a good amount over the years too because, in all, that was about 3 buildings & 1 school bus* worth of supplies + her shop filled to the brim with finished goods for sale + all of her sample designs in yet another workroom. I'm serious when I write that she truly ran her own business, that we toured the SE doing craft shows & walking into manufacturer showrooms [many of which she knew the owners by their first names].
Right, the point.
My mother & kid sis will be moving back down to Florida soon (from Atlanta). At least for now, mom's decided to let me take all of her share of Edie's beads & halve her share of the old fabrics. >She knows that if she finds a project to use ANY of it that I'll be happy to send it to her right away< So we spent the majority of Saturday going through beads & fabric, all the while reminiscing.
Today, I'm going through the stuff that I brought back home with me. It's silly, really. It's like Christmas going through all of this bounty, but I keep tearing up.So many memories.
My aunt, mom & I have sort of a pact between us regarding Edie's supplies. We can use any of it up in a design & sell, but not solely as supplies for sale. In that way, we hope that she's proud & pleased from afar that her collection is still making others happy. So that's why you won't see any of these fabrics or beads up for sale as supplies in my shop. (Sorry quilters!)
For now, I'm simply overwhelmed. I still have another carload of beads to bring home. And while I'm positively itching to play with the fabrics...I think that I'm going to set them aside for the moment. They all have to be laundered, that's for sure. I mean, they're in the 40+ age range & there's a history behind them [that I know & will share later in a separate post]. That, & I'm too close to them just now. Some of them would do well as flowers, but for others it would be an injustice to hide their charming prints.
Edie, we forever love & miss you.
♥ - Kat.
*school bus storage - no joke. my grandparents had a retired Escambia County school system bus out by the greenhouse & Edie used it as storage. When I was little, I used to climb up on the hood in the evenings, lay back against the windshield & look at the stars. 100% true.
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A peek at some of the vintage fabrics:
