I’m a collector of cloth.  When a pair of jeans is no longer wearable, I cut the legs off and save the good denim pieces. I save scraps from all the garments I make for myself and others. I find cloth at garage sales. Some of the most interesting pieces come from men’s shirts (really!).  I know that if I don’t have enough cloth to make even a small garment, I can make a quilt. One winter I took some of my favorite cloth prints and made squares in the log cabin pattern.  When I had enough of them, my aunt Helen helped me decide how to place them together.

This quilt became a tablecloth.  Most of the cloth was left from a dress of mine (the darkest blue), some dresses I made for the girls (the blue and white prints), a skirt that I recycled (dark blue plaid), a few men’s shirts and assorted scraps, and a red print that I bought new just for the quilt. Since it’s kind of a patriotic color theme I use it in the summer over Memorial Day through July 4th. Every time I look at it I remember the dresses, the shirts and the people who wore them.  So, you see, I have several reasons for loving this item.