Recycle, Give Away or ????????

For a month I have been thinking about giving away a lot of stuff in my studio.

Books, equipment, old class room samples, projects, never completed,

fabric, yarn, cords and more.

 Books are easy to give away but I wanted them to go to people 

who would really use or enjoy them.

 Two art teachers came by last Sunday and took quite a few things. 

And, then this week, two granddaughters took a few more books.

 In getting out old classroom samples and projects never completed

I was seeing my past work with different eyes. 

The art teachers took some but I still have a lot more to give away.

 Much time had been spent creating for the teaching of hand embroidery.

You can almost tell the era of each sample by the colors and textures

and the use of found objects.

 I used the sampler idea often as well as large or heavy yarns to show off the stitches

 This must have been from my bright and heavily textured era....

another unfinished project.

 This was an unfinished sampler with textured embroidery and heavy yarns.

 I have always wanted to pour white paint over an entire embroidery,

so I tried it on this old piece this week. It really drank the white paint.

It actually needs another coat of white to do what 

I want it to do but it is taking forever to dry.

 A large embroidery on a rough linen that I never finished. 

I just might rethink this piece.

 I could tell that embroidery above had been influenced by some old geodes  

I kept in the studio both for the color range and the flowing design.

 At one point when I was doing a lot of workshops I became enamored 

with stripes and made many samples

 The workshops included manipulated fabrics.

Some workshops were aimed at sewers interested in functional items 

and some were looking for ways to develop ideas and designs.

I can see this sample used perhaps on the back of 

a jacket or vest or as table runner. 

I look back now, at so many old samples and projects I had forgotten

and wonder if some should be finished....

However that is a past life and new ideas are coming to me every day.

So I am giving away the past.