Quilter's ADHD Strikes Again

The giant mug rug/table topper looks so nice beside the bed that I eyed the bedside table on the other side when changing the linens.  I measured the oval top and have some leftover (or orphan) blocks from the double 4-patch left that will work well for this project.

What distracted me was the bedside table... or the Martha Washington-style sewing cabinet that serves as a bedside table.

There's something about sewing cabinets... not sure what it is other than someone I knew used the cabinet to store her sewing stuff back before there were decent closets and storage drawers, baskets, bins, etc.

This one has glass pulls... I love glass pulls...

I have a similar sewing cabinet in the guest room being used as a bedside table as well.

I was surprised that no one in the family wanted my grandmother's sewing box... so its been living with me.  It is simpler and was handy to carry from its place by her chair in the living room to the front porch so she could sew/tat/crochet while visiting.

This cabinet has a little sliding thread tray...

...which is removable.  I can see where my grandfather repaired the sewing cabinet when it got wobbly...

Underneath, is a ziploc bag where I put all my grandmother's sewing supplies so they would stay together.

 

Once seeing the bag, I needed to explore it again because it's been quite a while...

Buttons, hook-n-eyes, snaps, a paper measuring tape, and a cloth belt...

...a round plastic zipper box (anyone else remember these?), empty but being used to store rolled up double-faced satin ribbon...

...sewing machine needles...

...something that looks suspiciously like the bias tape makers

...Clark's (before Coats came along) crochet cotton...

...more thread, buttons, a seashell, a packet with hinges (handwriting is my grandmother's)... the little green thing is a cork that my grandmother used to hold her sewing needles... not sure what the wooden thing is with notches but I suspect it was used to hold thread...

...another cork with a pin, the rhinestones are strung on thread, a bolt of lace...

.. a tatted medallion and a crocheted one, both made by my grandmother...

...and a few items every thrifty woman kept on hand.   After examining everything, I put it all back...  I'm just not able to discard these things...   

My parents were children during the Depression and my grandparents reared families during those dark days.  I heard a lot of "make do or do without" growing up... guess it stuck.

 

I did finish one project yesterday... if you remember, I had four of the flower blocks left... so I made a mug rug with the last one...

...don't want even one block going to waste!