Chicken or the Egg?

Last week I attended my guild's monthly meeting. You may recall that I recently cleaned out the Sweat Shop and gave away and sold a lot of "stuff" I didn't think I'd ever get around to using. At one point in the process, I was starting to feel like that neighbor with ten zucchini plants in August--how could I possibly get rid of all this stuff? Who would take it? Right about then, two things happened: (1) Bonnie Hunter had a "garage sale" with links from her blog to everyone who had stuff to sell (there are still some "garage sale" things left in my Etsy shop if anyone's interested) and (2) a couple of you mentioned that guilds often have "free" tables; a prime place to donate anything unwanted. Hallelujah!

By the time my guild's meeting rolled around, I had two large-ish paper bags about 2/3rds filled with fabric. I planned to take it all to the meeting, but I got cold feet and only took a bit over half of it. Because, after all, I didn't want to bring more fabric than people could possibly absorb at one time. How sad would a pile of orphan fabric be to find itself left on the table at the end of the night?

That night, I arrived at the guild hall about 20 minutes before the meeting. There were a number of ladies milling about the various tables, including the free table; in fact, I found it hard to get close enough to the table to unload my bag o'fabric. I waited a few minutes for an opening but everyone remained planted around the table. Finally I resorted to grabbing fabric out of the bag, one handful at a time, and snaking my hand between the closely packed women to drop each handful of fabric on the table. With each handful, I'd move along to the next little opening and repeat the process, over and over again until my bag was empty. Then I stood back to see if my discards would be adopted or left behind.

A few minutes later, when a small gap occurred and a line of sight opened up, I was amazed to see that the table was completely bare of fabric. A school of piranhas could not have done a better job stripping a leg of beef.

Now I'm not suggesting my giveaway fabric was ugly, but none of it was anything I'd get excited about--obviously, since I was giving it away. I started wondering whether these women simply saw fabric and grabbed it, no matter what it looked like, or whether what they took was something they truly wanted/needed/LIKED! It also made me think about things like greed versus sharing. And I know the economy has been hard for people the last few years, but I also know that some of the people who are always at the head of the "free" line are people whose pocketbooks aren't hurting one bit. Then again, I'm charitable enough to believe that some of the fabric will likely end up in projects donated to those among us who will find a great deal of comfort in whatever they receive. Besides, who am I to judge? I'm the person with no self control, who is so self-indulgent, she wastefully buys much more than she needs. No stones thrown from these hands!

But then I also wondered how many of us FIRST have a passion for fabric that makes us turn to quilting as a REASON to buy fabric, and how many of us FIRST develop a passion for quilting that leads us to buy the fabric. Which came first for you? Do you know?

As far back as I can really remember, I've loved fabric--the textures, the colors, and the designs. I tried making clothing one or two times in my life but I didn't really like the results that much. AND I was still sane enough back then to realize I didn't need more fabric than I'd ever be able to use, so I pushed my desire for fabric to the end of my potential addiction list. When I realized quilting could be more creative and artistic than sewing together four-patches made from old, discarded clothing, the fabric and quilting addiction jumped to the top of the list again and my sanity fled out the door.

At any rate, I still have about half a bag of fabric left to bring to the next guild meeting. I'm not sure how I'll do it next time, but I think I'll try something different. Maybe I'll get there earlier or wait until the meeting has begun before getting the fabric onto the free table. Maybe I'll give it to the community service people. Maybe I'll donate it to one of the other tables. I guess I'll have to give it some thought. I'll let you know if that last half bag of fabric leads to any other fabric psychology revelations.