Fiber fanatics

Piles of fabric scraps — from 4-inch squares to half-yard swaths — beckon from a large table, where they’ve been sorted by size, not color or texture.

Metallic-edged linens lie atop leather, or faux leather, or silk, cotton or blends, in stripes, checks and paisleys.

All are free and there for the taking. No limits.

Is this heaven, or what?

Artists, craftspeople, home sewing enthusiasts, teachers — all have come to the FabMo fabric giveaway, which is held once a month in Palo Alto.

Beginning 11 years ago, Jonathan and Hannah Cranch noticed that Bay Area interior designers were throwing away discontinued fabric samples, which ended up in the landfill. Hannah, a Spectra art teacher in the Palo Alto school district at the time, thought she could cut them up and use them for art projects.

So every six or seven weeks she and her husband, a local contractor, trekked to the City, filled a couple of garbage bags with design discards and distributed the goods to fellow teachers. Over time the couple of bags turned into carloads, and the Cranches needed to rethink how to give it all away.

“We got to the end of the school year, and no one wanted it,” Jonathan said, so soon they were posting their giveaway on freecycle.org.

Today the Cranches organize a once-a-month giveaway, inviting anyone who wants to repurpose the cloth, carpet and tile samples, odd tassels and trims or wallpaper to come and get it.

On a sunny afternoon in June, Amy Pinneo of Palo Alto was sorting fabric to get ready for the monthly giveaway. An artist who’s been sewing and weaving since she was a little girl, Pinneo makes complex bags using five or six different fabrics, sometimes hiding a pocket under an elephant’s ear. She sells some of her creations via www.etsy.com, which features handmade local crafts.

Pinneo, who at one time designed fabrics, quickly recognized pieces that retailed at $180 to $400 per yard. As a volunteer sorter, she had first dibs on carting her favorites away.

Palo Altan Judy Wagstrom creates art dolls that she sells at Christmas shows and boutiques. “I get everything (here) but the jersey used for faces and hands. The hair is mohair from goats,” she said.

“It’s just so much fun not knowing what you’ll find,” Wagstrom said after coming to the fabric giveaways for a year. And, she added, “It’s a social activity. You find out what others are doing.”

Rather than competing for the choicest morsels, fabric gleaners often share what they’re looking for, whether it’s a particular shade of rose or something as esoteric as “ecot,” a warp-painted cloth. Some get together for coffee and swap tips on how to work with a particular fabric or make a tote bag. Others offer advice on how to get rid of the labels on some samples (“Use Goo Gone,” one experienced shopper suggested).

Suzanne Olson, a therapist from Los Altos, comes to the FabMo giveaway to tap into her artistic side. “I see this as a vehicle to assimilate different ideas,” she said, noting that she’s made cell-phone cases and quilts.

“The fabrics are so unusual, so unique, they almost invite creative response,” she said.

She chooses her fabrics by her visceral reaction: “I tune in to its potential,” she added.

Judy Maybell of Mountain View was looking for inspiration while sorting. In the past she has worked with a group from Peninsula Bible Church to make quilts for foster children, who get to take the quilt home after camp.

“I took some to a women’s retreat where we made collages of our lives. It was very personal and meaningful. It inspired a friend to do this with a survivor’s group,” Maybell said.

Other artists and hobbyists made appointments — to make sure everyone has a chance to take the time they need to choose — and came to the giveaway. One jewelry maker was seeking a particular shade of purple to coordinate with a wall-hanging sculpture she was envisioning with an amethyst prism, another for just the right fabric to applique on a T-shirt. A teacher was seeking small fabric squares to help her sixth graders make potpourri gift bags.

Jan Scardia from San Carlos has worked with textiles for years, but it was the custom wallpaper that drew her eye. She’s figured out how to make gift bags and little origami boxes that incorporate the folds of the wallpaper samples. “You see things unexpected, that you never thought about before,” she said.

Some make stuffed animals and dolls, others do napkins and placemats, wall hangings and purses.

“This is like going to the paint store,” noted Nancy Desantis-Vannice, from San Mateo.

And some create clothing, including Margaret Winters from Atherton, who has made a linen jacket, as well as a coverlet for a sofa.

When hesitant, other “shoppers” encourage newcomers to just take what appeals; one can always bring it back in the future, if inspiration fails.

Mostly women have come from San Jose to Burlingame to participate in the fabric giveaway. The former discards have been incorporated into quilts sent to Fiji, Ghana or the Philippines and auctioned off in support of the Special Olympics, Jonathan Cranch said. “The response of the community has been very welcoming,” he said.

After turning their home into a fabric refuge, the Cranches are negotiating for a regular space in the warehouse district of South Palo Alto.

The last few months, FabMo events have been held at Fiber High, a small-business incubator that offers high-speed Internet connectivity. A member of FabMo was driving by and noticed the name on a sign. “It’s a short transition from optical fiber to fabric,” laughed David Gjerdrum, managing partner at Fiber High. The hope is that several fabrocentric organizations can find a way to share space, Cranch said.

In the fall, he added, a FabMo Artist Exhibit is planned for Oct. 24, when participants can see what others have done with all that fabric. cblitzer@paweekly.com.

What: FabMo fabric sorting and giveaway

When: Sorting: Wednesday, July 29; distribution: July 30-31, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Aug. 1, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sept. 3-4, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sept. 5, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Where: Fiber High, 895 Commercial St., Palo Alto

Reservations: E-mail fabrix@fabmo.org to reserve a time, or help.fabrix@gmail.com to help with sorting.

Info: Visit www.fabmo.org.

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