Joanne9of12

Funny but I was just talking to someone about guessing how much our stash is worth. I honestly think I have a small fortune in my sewing room and I know lots of quilters that have at least double what I have. I've really made a concentrated effort to use my stash the last couple of years, but it is really difficult sometimes, especially when I go to the store and fondle the new fabrics.

montanajan

My Grandparents, who were immigrants from Croatia on Mom's side & Poland on Dad's side of the family used feed sacks because they came free with the price of flour. Depression era families knew not to waste anything. The sack made acceptable dresses and shirts for the families. There was no extra money to buy clothing, & one can only patch a dress so many times before it becomes a rag or quilt piece. My grandmother even saved & reused the thread if she changed a dress hem. I remember Mom making all our slippers from fabric scraps - we'd stand on newspaper, Mom drew around out feet to make a paper template, cut layers of fabric and sandwiched cardboard in the middle. The slippers were better than bare feet on a cold hardwood floor.
In a way, we recycled before it was fashionable to do so. Now things are tossed out that once would have been patched, fixed, repainted, etc to avoid spending precious dollars.

Jrrich

Hi there Redford, Mi. I'm from a little town near Lansing. Just wanted to say I love the picture of your kitty.

Marion T

I think Australia must still be living back in Civil War days - $25 isn't unusual here. Count your blessings, around $8.00 a yard sounds fantastic to me!!

pab58

Hello there!!!! Thanks! That's my little Bitzy! She's quite a sweetie. If you want to know more about her, here's the link: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-53833-1.htm

:wink:

FroggyinTexas

Thanks for your research and for sharing it with us. I, too, am a Civil War buff, but I learned something from you today that I did not know before. froggyintexas

Jo Mama

Also - try buying fabric in Europe. I went to a fabric store in Florence and ended up spending over 70$ a yard. Oooops.

pab58

Thanks! I absolutely love studying U.S. history and try to impart my enthusiasm of it to my students. Sometimes -- actually more often than not -- I do get them hooked, or at least they find out that history isn't just what they read in their (boring) textbooks!! Oops!! Did I just say that textbooks were boring??!! I am constantly doing research and bringing in primary documents, etc. to make history come alive for them. The best comment I received was from one of my former 8th grade students. At the beginning of the year she said, "I hate history!" This was before we had even started to study it!! I told her that by the end of the year I would prove to her that history was fun and interesting. She said she doubted it. Well, she came back to see me at the end of her 9th grade year, and she told me that she had decided what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted "to be a history teacher!!!" Can you believe it!!?? I was absolutely stunned! She said she loved history and that it was because of me. I was so very, very honored and extremely humbled! :oops:

audsgirl

At that time, fabric wasn't as wide as it is today, so they were only getting about 36" across. That makes it even costlier.

Sienna's GiGi

You sound like my english teacher from 10-12 grade. I wish we had more tachers like you.