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Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics

Gracious living that's light on the earth

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Earth Day reminiscences

Pondering Earth

Take a moment to ponder your relationship to Mother Earth. Photo: Aurelique via Tumblr.

In honor of this Earth Day, I decided to take a walk down memory lane to reflect on the personal relationship I’ve had to Mother Earth.

Among my earliest memories were times spent splashing around in creeks and sitting quietly in gardens.

In those days of benign neglect, as young as four, I was off in some nearby forested haunt scampering amidst the fecund soil, decaying leaves and verdant shoots of woodland wilds. I was too young then to imagine the boogeyman of Man or Nature, and so frolicked with true abandon, cosmically connected to the animate forces of Earth.

That’s stayed with me.

The need with no name

As much of a chatterbox as I can be, I have a side that’s bigger than most of my friends and even intimates realize. And that is a deep need and love for solitude, quiet oneness with what is, and a truly felt sense that I hear the “voices” of wind, and tree, and sky.

I recall even into my teens playing in sun dappled shadowy fortresses under hedge rows or weeping willow trees. Or warm breezes blowing the grasses of a schoolyard, abandoned in a heavily humid Virginia summer as I simply sat, perhaps twirling a clover or making a flower chain. The sky, rendered in palest of blues, constant above, endless myths writ in the clouds. My mind never more free from mundane details and petty concerns.

The spirit that never dies

In college in Richmond, Virginia, I routinely escaped the urban pace to stroll through the oaken canopied hills of historic Hollywood Cemetery, palpably in tune with life and death and life as one unbroken pulse coursing with the energetic streams of unknown depths implied in the yin of receptive earth.

Beneath grassy cliffs at the edge of the cemetery the mighty James River flowed, often the playground of my young adulthood. Fearful warnings against its polluted state seldom deterred me and my friends from perching on its rocks and wading in bare feet. The presence of beer our other flout toward safety.

Mother Nature holds us up

During that time I won a scholarship to the White Mountain Summer Dance Festival in New Hampshire. Harboring a secret of being afraid to swim in water I couldn’t see through, I went there determined to get past that irrational fear, vowing to swim at every opportunity without letting anyone know I was terrified inside.

Interestingly I earned the nickname “waterbaby.” .

The first night I joined a raft of others for skinny dipping in nearby Echo Lake. I proceeded to swim more than anyone else there that summer, even swimming to the center of the lake to lay on my back in the sun repeating the mantra to myself that “Mother Earth will hold me up, Mother Earth will hold me up, Mother Earth will hold me up.”

It took a lot to overcome the damage JAWS and the movie Piranha had done.

Mainely happy

After the festival ended I spent the summer with my boyfriend at the time, hiking the trails of Mt. Desert Island and camping at its Blackwoods campground in Acadia National Park. Meandering through moss covered creviced hollows riven with the fresh pungence of pine left sense impressions that remain to this day, the fodder of dreams.

I even took my daughters back for a week’s vacation when they were four and six to share my love for stingy, generous salt-licked Maine. I’ll never forget what troopers they were, their little legs hiking to the top of several mountains that week. We still talk about a deer’s foot we saw on one bald rock, the fur intact.

And now…

As an adult the times with nature seem harder to reach, and the time for solitude, too. I’ve had few opportunities to vacation in the past few years and live in a small town that’s more characterized in my neighborhood by cement than by earth.

Going out for temporary excursions to hike the nearby trails, while delightful, also feels a bit artificial, like my world is carved up into two zones that don’t even speak the same language.

I know it’s better than nothing to get in the car and head to a park for a day in the woods or a dip in the river, but…well I just can’t help but be envious of those with yards or a bit of land, any small patch of real land to just sit, or a place to work the land with all you’ve got to yield it’s miraculous gifts of life and death and life.

Fortunately soon I’ll have a plot in a community garden and I can’t wait to dig into the soil, dirt under my fingernails, planting new life while my mind settles into a meditative ease. I’m grateful that I’ll now have someplace for my need for Earth to be satisfied, though it too feels a bit artificial to have to go somewhere in order to garden.

Nature Deficit Disorder

I know others feel a longing and a need for earth, too.

Some say we’re all suffering from such a deficit of relationship to Earth that we can no longer see or feel our connection to her, and that that is a huge source of modern discontent, disaffection, despair.

This Earth Day I hope you’ll reflect on your relationship to Mother Earth and all her natural forms. And that if, like me, your life is more urban than rural or even suburban, you’ll find a way to reconnect to the rhythms of the seasons, the hours of the day and night in light and dark, the miracles of what we depend on in the natural world for our very aliveness—fresh air, fresh water, fresh food.

I pray that such inspiration from and with nature will light in you a passion to live life above all with an aim to enjoy and appreciate Earth’s gifts, while also honoring Earth’s needs.

–Lindsay Curren, Lindsay’s List

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About Lindsay Curren

A Christian, mama, and writer, Lindsay Curren (aka Lady Virginia) is also a passionate lifelong collector of vintage fabrics. "There's something inexplicable about the pull textiles have on me. I simply can't resist sourcing them, using them, and now selling them. Other fabric addicts will understand!"

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more about lady virginia

A Christian, mama, and writer, Lindsay Curren (aka Lady Virginia) is also a passionate lifelong collector of vintage fabrics. "There's something inexplicable about the pull textiles have on me. I simply can't resist sourcing them, using them, and now selling them. Other fabric addicts will understand!"

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Valentine's Day is on its way. Get 15-30% off thro Valentine's Day is on its way. Get 15-30% off through February 4th on red, pink, and some floral fabrics. Free shipping in the US over $35. Vintage fabrics are always 100% sustainable.

All our packaging inside and out is sustainable: clean and re-used. All sale merchandise is final sale.

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I had a stool at my home reupholstered in this Jof I had a stool at my home reupholstered in this Jofa fabric last year. There’s one scrap left in the shop for your project. Could fit a small stool or use it for #slowsewing #appliqué #quilting and more. Find it in the Vintage Fabric Scraps section of our #etsy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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Just in time for #valentinesdaysewing, this bright Just in time for #valentinesdaysewing, this bright and cheery flannel packs a 1960s era punch with its bold colors and multi-sized converging paisleys. Perfect for apparel projects like cozy pajamas or a fun oversized bag. Use it in home decor or upholstery to fashion a sheet or pillow cases, reupholster a side chair, and more. Great for crafts for Valentine's Day like stuffed flannel hearts with trim or a cute pair of boxers. 42.5" wide x 1 yard increments with up to 3 continuous yards available. $39/yard w/ free shipping in the US. Find it in our #etsy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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Charming craft pieces just in time to make a Valen Charming craft pieces just in time to make a Valentine present for the lover of Victoriana and/or Edwardian styles. Rare. Features well-dressed men, women, and children out enjoying a park environment, having tea, strolling, playing with toy sailboats, walking dogs, and more. Features what appear to be a Pug dog and a Lhasa apso.

36” w X 20” h for $49 w/ free shipping in the USA. Find them (we have 6 pieces) in our #etsy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio).

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Just listed: pretty vintage (and one 21st century) Just listed: pretty vintage (and one 21st century) fabric scraps for your smaller #slowsewing or #quilting projects. Perfect colors for #valentinesday gift making, projects, and crafts. Find them and 40 other #vintagefabricscraps (and 100s more larger pieces) in our #etsyshop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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RARE! Extremely rare and likely part of Greeff Fa RARE!

Extremely rare and likely part of Greeff Fabrics' unique "The Federal Collection" of the 1960s. This piece, "National Emblem" was made by special arrangement with The Henry Ford Museum and is a Good Housekeeping seal fabric.

Perfect fabric for the history lover, patriot, Father's Day, or simply for decorating in Federal Style. 

SIZE: Each piece (two are available and they are currently connected so if you buy both they will come as a continuous piece of fabric) is 36" wide x 40.5" long. $159/ea w/ free shipping in the US. Find it in our #etsy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics. Link in bio. 

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"Pavilion" from Greeff's "The Greeff Collection" w "Pavilion" from Greeff's "The Greeff Collection" was likely made in partnership with Warner and Sons and printed in England. A stunning glazed chintz chinoiserie in exotic and timeless colors offers stunning statement-making opportunities for your project.

The large central chinoiserie motif features a man with a parasol at the top of a set of steps. He has reached a silk draped pavilion with a variety of hanging ladders astride richly expressive trees and foliage.

Plenty of fabric for an upcycled pillow collection for home use or sale, oversized bags, Roman shades, cover furniture, and more! Perfect fabric for Grandmillennial and traditional projects.

A highly polished 100% cotton chintz with a stiff hand and low drape. $129./yard w/ free shipping in the US. Find it in our #etdy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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This 1996 Borderline Fabrics vertically striped an This 1996 Borderline Fabrics vertically striped and floral Indienne is titled "Coriander eau de nil." It's a stunning grandmillennial style piece blending gravitas with a relaxed glean. Made in Britain.

Perfect for 18th and 19th century reproduction decorator purposes, to emulate America's favorite historic house, or to create contemporary Southern traditional charm or a grandmillennial look. Gorgeous for small curtains, pillows, to cover a small chair or set of dining room seats, for oversized bags or totes (use interfacing for structure), etc.

Listing for one yard — as of the original listing there are up to 3 continuous yards. $119/ yard with free shipping in the US. Find it in our #etsyshop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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Just listed: Crisp colors and firm fiber combine i Just listed: Crisp colors and firm fiber combine in a stunning late 19th century (1890s)/early 20th century (1900-1915) upholstery piece for your restoration or home décor project. Big beautiful florals are perfect for eclectic takes on Shabby Chic, Granny Chic, Coastal, and Grandmillennial styles today. Sourced in France.

Delicate, romantic sensibility to the flowers, like an old color postcard or Valentine. Asters, daisies, tulips, peonies, Foxglove and more...

FIBER: Expertly woven heavy weight canvas, firm hand, little to no drape. Excellent for pillows, a taut Roman shade, lamp shades, totes, wall hanging, a table runner, etc.

SIZE: 28" wide x 1 yard increments with up to 3 yards available. $139/yard w/ free shipping in the US. Find it in our #etsy shop Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics (link in bio). 

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