I have so many memories of when our family would get up really early, put on our most comfortable walking shoes, scour the newspaper, then head out on a Saturday adventure of yardsale-ing. My mother had an eye for repurposing things, and a knack for finding those things in discarded piles. We would come home with our loot, damaged, broken pottery, furniture that was way overdue for a refinishing, and clothing that was definitely out of style. My mother then taught us to rips seams, add buttons, or cut around holes to transform an old shirt into a new dress. Or we would take hammer and nails, paint and brush, and repurpose a waterbed headboard into a living room sideboard. There was no shortage of ideas from her and no lack of energy from us. We were green before it was more than just a color. Being frugal was not just a trend in our house, it was our way of life.
Now that I have my own home, that up-cycling mentality has continued. Not only do we buy used furniture and clothing, we compost, recycle, and reuse everything we can. We took a dining room buffet table (that we bought used) and turned it into our bathroom vanity. I use an old farmhouse kitchen table (again, bought used) as my computer desk and sewing table. My growing stash of fabrics is colorfully displayed on an unused DVD stand, and all the shelving on our sewing-pantry-playroom walls was gathered from scraps we had lying around.
The same theme shows up in all of our quilts and other items. I do buy new fabric, especially if someone has a custom theme in mind, but I pair it with vintage or repurposed fabrics, even throwing in a few scraps if they coordinate well, to create a beautiful mix of old and new, nostalgic yet original, comfortably rustic quilted items.
As your children grow up, you may feel the desire to hold on to every scrap of clothing or every drawing they ever did, to tie you to the sweet memories that were made. We can do just that with a hand made quilt in your choice of fabrics. You can even send us keepsake material and we will transform it into a lifelong memory.
I also love discovering and coordinating different talents. Holly, the graphic designer and artist, offers color choices that I've never considered that are just amazing! She has been with us from the beginning and continues to improve and shape the shop to what it needs to be. Together the two of us are working to provide a quality product, customized for your needs, in a very short amount of time.