Keeping up appearances

Daisies by Pippijoe
Originally uploaded by Hoppo Bumpo

"Daisies", in this sumptuous red, is a sample of my latest acquisition. It is the second piece of Pippijoe's beautiful screen printed fabric that I just had to have. Daisies is destined to become cushions, while the other - the gorgeous Waterhen - is under construction as a bag.

I do use the words "under construction" advisedly. Daisies and Waterhen have joined the proud ranks of my other "under construction" sewing projects. All loved and attended to, but with only short bursts of time. Its a bit like having 14 children. The difference being that the older projects don't seem to be helping the younger ones. Shame about that.

Here's how its happened. Rather than stashing my fabrics, I make a start on everything. That way its possible to avoid admitting to being the hoarder that I am. Appearances are everything.

But even I have to ask myself, could this strategy be getting a little out of hand? My sewing table currently bears all the following (in various states of finish/unfinish): a skirt for a friend, pyjamas for Argy, a bag, a pair of children's trousers each for Argy and Bargy, a wrap dress, a toile for a pair of pants and a little waterproof satchel that I am fashioning to keep liquid antihisamine and an EpiPen in.

Actually there's more, but as the list grew, I became a little embarrased. So do I amend my ways and take the pledge: input stays in strict equilibrium with output?

Mmmm. It does remind me of that time that Mr Hoppo Bumpo grandly declared that for each new pair of shoes I purchased, one pair should be sacrificed to the bin. And come to think of it, all that happened back then, was that shoe buying activities went underground. A very hush-hush affair.

No, I shall embrace my many projects. I'm not hoarding; I'm ... ahem ... multi-tasking.