Chicken Feed

One of the (many) advantages of working at the library is that I don't have to be shy about asking for interlibrary loans. (Actually, you don't need to be either, but many people are.)

My latest request? Vintage Feed Sacks: Fabric from the Farm by Susan Miller.







Of course the first thing I did was flip through, oohing and aahing over all the designs.












Have I ever mentioned how much I love red?













Then I recognized one of the patterns! My mom gave me three pieces of this fabric she'd bought at a rummage sale, saying maybe I'd want to make dish towels out of it. Neither one of us recognized it as a feed sack!










Later in the book...another one! I bought the yellow version of this pussy willow print at the thrift shop for--I can hardly believe it--fifty cents.

I spread it my sacks out and tried to imagine a whole bunch of them, filled with chicken feed, all stacked up at the feed store. That must have been some sight!




The book also includes folksy stories about growing up on a farm and the history of printed feed sacks. It's interesting reading, but the photos are the star of the show!