Once upon a time

A long time ago, when I was young and beginning my career, professional people didn’t wear shorts and flip-flops to work.  Professional people dressed for their jobs in professional attire. 

Ladies wore dresses or something unheard of today…a pants suit,

and, gentlemen wore suits and ties.

Now, it’s not like I was a lawyer or anything.  I worked in a call center and no one ever saw me face to face.  But, that didn’t matter.  It was believed that if we dressed professionally, we would  behave professionally.  I won’t get into whether that worked or not because it was the 80’s and professional behavior still involved drinking with the boys and upper management flirting with the “girls” in the office…in front of people…like there was nothing wrong with it.  Sheesh!

Anyway, I wore a suit or sport coat, with a tie, to work every day except Friday.  On Friday, we had casual day and you could wear your slacks and an open collar shirt.  Not jeans, but still, more casual than Monday.

I dressed like a fashion plate.  Not because I could afford it, but because I had a lot of friends that were hitting that 35 hump and their bodies were changing shapes and I benefitted from their hand-me-downs.

In the 90’s, I hit my 35 hump and those suits no longer fit, which was okay, because by then, jeans at the office were the thing.  Much more casual, much more resilient, much much much more comfortable.  I left my suits in the closet, pretending that I’d ever be a 29” waist again.  They hung there as a reminder of what used to be, covered in their dry cleaner’s plastic bags.  So many people were donating their suits to goodwill at the time that they had no value, so rather than donate mine, I got the idea from Martha Stewart to cut them up and make them into a quilt. 

Now, here’s the thing about cutting up a suit that dearest Martha didn’t mention.  While the shell of the coat and the lining of the coat are both clean, what’s between them is a filling of dust that has been trapped by many dry cleanings and when you take the lining out of the coat, you release that into the environment.  I got through 3 suits and a sports coat before I got totally sick of the whole thing and donated the rest to goodwill.  I couldn’t breathe and the dust layer in the extra bedroom that I was using as a sewing room was a quarter inch thick. What a mess. 

Anyway, I cut the suits into 5” squares and sealed them into a ziploc bag and there they waited for the day that I would get back around to that project.  It became my oldest UFO and was bagged up and ready for at least 10 years.  In that time, I collected other pieces of flat suiting fabric and a piece of red and black plaid for the backing.  I think most of that came from my Mom’s sewing room.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Rob moved the quilt we were using as a lap robe in the living room into the bedroom to protect his dog’s chair from damage…yes, it is a people chair, but the dog thinks she owns it.

Anyway, about that time, I was assessing my UFO’s and decided, hey, why not start with the very oldest one.  I don’t have to work them in order, but still, the first one is a good place to start. 

The quilt is about 52”x68” and is going to make a great laprobe.  You probably see the mistake I made in the sides (top and bottom of this picture).  I didn’t see it until it was all assembled and I took that row out and tried to fix it and made it worse and then tried to fix it again, thought I had, sewed it all back together again, and realized I’d made the exact same mistake I’d started with.  Not taking it apart to fix it again.  This will do. 

It is tied at every intersection with #5 black pearl cotton thread.

And, it’s backed in this great red plaid that reminds me of a sleeping bag.

I photographed it today, just after finishing.  Next step is to toss it in the wash and then line dry it.  Most of this is wool with a bit of poly thrown in, so it can’t go in the dryer.  I’ll need a low humidity day when I can hang it on the line and we’re looking forward to that kind of weather this weekend.

In the meantime, hanging on the back of the sofa, you can’t even see my mistake.

And, I have enough squares to make another one this size, but in the trip around the world pattern and two miniatures that we’re going to put on the back of the recliners to protect them from hair products.

I can hardly wait to start the next one. 

Be well and have a great Thursday.  Saturday is Project Linus day and I’m planning to attend.  I need to get something cut that I can piece at the meeting and I’m planning to take Alba, so people can ooh and aah over her. 

It will be her first outing.

She’s so excited.

Lane