random thoughts – Day 2,320 (Wednesday) – fabric and corn

Fabric and patterns haul.

Months ago, Mom mentioned she had a lot of fabric that she wanted me to go through to see if I wanted any of it.  This morning, we went through two baskets and a plastic tub of fabric. Mom kept the sports team fabrics and a fleece hat pattern for possible projects and I ended up leaving with most of the fabric and a box of 50 patterns, many from the 80s and 90s, plus sheets with instructions for various construction techniques. Mom is glad to have cleared out some stuff. 

The treasure trove includes some garments in various states of completion. A cute cotton summer top is 99% done, needing just one already hemmed sleeve set in. A tan linen jacket is half sewn. A gray lined vest just needs buttons and button holes and its coordinating jacket is cut out and partially sewn. Mom said she never mastered buttonholes and a friend used to do them for her. There were several projects started when my nieces were younglings and it’s unlikely their now grown selves will fit into the various summer shorts and tops laid out and still uncut from as long as 27 years ago. One pair of shorts is in SpongeBob fabric. 

As a sewist with a variable attention span, I understand how things get started and not finished. When I left Tennessee, I donated bags of fabric yardage with coordinating zippers, buttons, and thread, bought with great optimism and energy that disappeared, sometimes before I made it home from the fabric store. I have my own projects from as far back as the 1990s where the patterns were laid cut out, set aside “for now,” and never revisited due to lack of time, evaporation of interest, change of mood, or whatever.

Mom’s unfinished projects are fascinating. I almost began working on some right away, but then Mom invited me to accompany her to a farm stand and my energy was redirected to the thought of buying corn. The farmstand was small and busy. There was a great variety of amazing looking vegetables and fruit. I bought four ears of corn and a zucchini. Mom bought a lot of stuff.

Fresh corn.

I neglected to note the name of the farm when we arrived and forgot to pay attention along the way because we were talking, so I may never be able to get there alone. Mom is a navigation expert and I would never be able to follow the twists and turns of all the backroads we took even if she told me. Next time, I’ll pay better attention.

The corn was delicious. I shucked and cooked all four ears and ate two with supper. Then I polished off a bunch of cherries. Then I took the evening walk for the mail and had a stomach ache most of the way. There is probably a lesson in there. Let’s see if I remember it.