As I was making the bed the other night, the hem ripped off the side of one of the flannel sheets. I'd bought these sheets at a yard sale for $2 about 5 years ago; they didn't owe me anything.

"Don't worry about it," I commented to Homer, "When we next change the bedding I'll just throw these away. We have plenty of others."

Now, what does that have to do with quilting, you might wonder. Well, let me change tracks here.

I  have a friend who is obsessed with quilting. She has these computerized sewing machines that she programs, and they embroider and sew while she runs the sweeper. She has this contraption on which she places the sandwich of quilt top, wadding, and quilt bottom, and it does all the intricate quilting patterns while she watches a movie.

She loves to quilt.

She collects the fabrics that the manufacturers produce, and follows their kit patterns, and gathers with others who do the same thing.

And the whole thing confuses me.

See, I have a 96 year old cousin (yes, really) who still quilts by hand. Her dining room table is a quilt frame with a piece of plywood on it. She pieces everything together by hand, she quilts the tops to the bottoms by hand.

She loves to quilt.

And I've seen the PBS documentary The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend, and been fascinated by the story of these resourceful and strong women.

They loved to quilt.

However, they didn't have Thimbleberries or Mary Maxim or Alexander Henry. If they did, I'm pretty sure they could never have afforded the price of these fabrics! They had resources, and determination, and wisdom, and soul.

So what does this have to do with my torn bed sheet?

Well, there is a lot of talk about scarcity these days. Scarcity and shortage. My torn bed sheet took my thoughts to when I lived on the farm. My mother-in-law would take a torn double bed sheet, remove the torn bits, turn the weak sides to the outside and the strong sides to the inside, and make a single bed sheet. When that got worn, She would keep the good pieces for mending and use the worn pieces as rags. When she made a quilt -- usually from my father-in-law's old work shirts -- she would use two layers of the old sheeting scraps for the wadding, and the larger pieces of old sheeting for the backing.

She loved to quilt.

My mother-in-law was also very good at reusing sweaters. She would knit a sweater, and when the cuffs and elbows went, she would unpick it all, and knit the good yarn into a vest. When that got worn, she would unpick that, add some other reclaimed yarn, and make a different vest, or an afghan, or gloves and hats and scarves.

Most of us take so very much for granted these days. Rip the sheet? Never mind. Throw it away. I've got another one here somewhere. Yet there is still good fabric in that sheet! It can be used for a myriad of things!

I still maintain that if we have enough to throw away, there is no shortage...   although I know many will disagree with me. 

I've had more peppers than ever in my garden this year. I've eaten, given, frozen, and canned, and I still have peppers. And zucchini and kale. The Brussels sprouts are taking over the homestead at the moment. This is not a shortage.

When the local thrift stores have signs outside saying that they are no longer accepting goods in large quantities, this is not a shortage.

It makes me wonder if we have been presented with the illusion of shortage, in order to get us back to being the strong and resourceful people we're supposed to be -- although I'm sure many will disagree with that, too. That's fine. You're allowed your opinion. I'm allowed mine.

And that bedsheet? Cut up for the wadding for one of the "kiss-me-quilts" that ysabetwordsmith  and I have so often discussed.

Thus endeth my rant for today...