Originally Posted by bkb
need . the mother of invention.
Absolutely, poverty meant use it up or go without. I still remember my MIL, who was the most inventive and creative woman I've known. She took a bag of donated double knit pants and reupholstering her old kitchen chairs. The result was useful, colorful, and durable. I admired her immensely. Waste Not , Want Not was her motto. She and I would haunt the white elephant sales for cotton dresses with usable fabric in them. We would then make quilts from them. Nothing went to waste. We lived on a cattle ranch and the men's work shirts would get all faded and ragged. We would cut the tails off the shirts for quilt squares because the fabric there was still good. The the rest of the shirts were utilized as oil rags or other things. Now I have all the fabric I can use and poverty is not an issue but I treasure the time she and I had and all she taught me. I am still pretty thrifty and her motto is my motto. She passed decades ago but I still miss her.