a hello from 1968...

last week the apartments that adjoin our old (c. 1831) town house suffered a devastating fire. fortunately, even though the fire was shooting flames 20 feet into the air just on the other side of the wall from the storage area of my studio, the quick response of the fire department kept our home from going up in flames, too. best of all there was no loss of life, but, sadly 19 folks had to find a new place to live. we had some damage from water, but our insurance company (USAA) has been quick to respond and will have everything back to normal as soon as possible.

to fix the storage area, however, requires me moving everything out - a daunting task since all my fabrics and supplies are there. only the ceiling, the wall, and the insulation above the whole of that space and my studio were impacted, so i've been feeling grateful not to have to deal with wet fabric and supplies. i've also been grateful that temperatures are below freezing; what a mess if it was summer and mold started growing everywhere!

yesterday i decided that even though i had just gone through things several months ago, this was a great time to re-evaluate what i truly need to keep and what i can send on for someone else to use. i'm happy to say that i now have stacks of fabric that the Resource Center at the Mennonite Central Committee in Ephrata has assured me they will be overjoyed to receive! that makes it sooo much easier to decide to part with fabrics i really don't need; especially in light of how my work has been changing the past year.

one of the delights of going through things has been finding old work. i was particularly delighted to find this little lady (13" x 18") that i had stitched on canvas in 1968 (!):

a bit stained, she still makes me smile. i particularly like her little buttons.

: : karen anne