Vintage Inspiration & Accidental Collections

Vintage tablecloths are, I guess, one of my accidental collections. I first started buying them with the idea of overdyeing or cutting and piecing, and found myself hoarding them instead, unwilling to cut up any but the most tattered and stained.

And now, surely it shouldn't come as a surprise, I have learned  (from a sweet blog called A Charmed Life) that vintage tablecloths are quite collectable and that you can even find catalogs and lists and galleries with names, dates and manufacturers! Oh dear, another web-based fritter awaits me, as I try to track down the provenance of these lovelies. I must have about 50 now, and I still find them at quite affordable prices at thrift stores, flea markets and the like.

What's the attraction?" Some of it is purely visual -- the funky designs and colors, the outrageous tropicals and holiday prints. And some, admittedly, is because I was there then -- in the 50s and 60 when every bridge table had its lovely cloth for parties and tea and holiday open houses.

And, yes, sometimes a cloth finds its way into my work, often on one of my small studio or home wall altars.

Accidental collections are those assortments of things you never really decided to collect, but one day you look around and your home or studio or desktop or garden is full of them. Accidental collections have a kind of natural growth that usually has more to do with liking something than it does with investing in it. And whether you think your accidental collection has anything to do directly with your art or not, it probably has something to do with your strong suits and inclinations in the sensory world.

What are your accidental collections? How do they inspire you?

(Remember, if you comment, you will be entered into my raffle for a free copy of New World Kids, The Parents' Guide to Creative Thinnking)

Comments

[Pat S.]

My accidental collections have to be plants collected from friends. I have a truly magnificent ginger plant with the most unusual blooms. My night blooming cactus came from a friend in Houston and another one from a friend in San Antonio. Then there are the plants I collected from the farm in upstate NY where I grew up tho some won't grow in this heat. My sister gave me some of her iris when she lived in MT and then OR. I sent her some of mine and now they are in NM! These are just a few of many. I use photos of them in my art projects, too.

[Kristin L]

Someone once commented that I must like drawers because so many of my furniture pieces had them. Given my antique flat files and a small dental cabinet, I guess drawers are my accidental collection. I have a growing mushroom collection that started innocently enough with a postcard and pin cushion and but the help of friends has inadvertently grown ten fold!

[Suzan]

Based on your question I just realized that I must really like rulers; quilter's clear plastic rulers, architectural scales, metal and cloth measuring tapes, and metal rulers from 6" to 72" long. I wonder what it says about me that I have inadvertently collected so many measuring devices?

[rayna]

Hi Susie,

I, too, have a closet full of 50's tablecloths-inherited. Then there are the aprons... But my real love is the collection of antique tins and advertising signs I started buying in the early 1960's when you could still get them for a pittance. It's the color and the graphic elements that speak to me..especially the text.

[vicky sigwald]

Hi Susie

new to your blog...greetings from Buenos Aires in ARgentina
My accidental collections are pieces of paper. I pick them from restaurants, sidewalks, magazines, everywhere and after enjoying them in baskets around my studio I make them into collages.

[Judy Nolan]

Susie, as you know I talked about accidental collections in my recent blog post, "Capturing your creative ideas" (http://boomersandbeyond.blogspot.com/2009/03/capturing-your-creative-ideas.html). Without realizing it, I have acquired boxes in all sizes and shapes, but most notably with a nature motif. You'll find a dragonfly box and a butterfly box, a garden tools box, a bird box and a ladybug box . . . you get the idea! These elements have found their way into my crocheted and felted work through flower and button embellishments. I ask myself, "What else can I do with flowers?" Thanks for writing this interesting post.

[Susie Monday]

Thansk Judy for linking to me from your great eetsy user site. I found your blog to be very interesting and if I ever manage to get a eetsy store up I will certainly join in!

[Lauri]

I have several tablecloths myself, but I think my biggest accidental collections are thimbles and aprons.

I LOVE that first table cloth up there!