Ready to gab about some positively fab vocab?

By “fab” I mean fabric, which is, of course, fabulous.

What I have in mind is a little quiz.

Come on, you know you love it when I tease your brain.

Here’s how it works:

I’ll show you a photo of fabric, complete with a quick description, and then you’ll guess what it is. This may be super easy for some of you, but you never know when you might learn something new.

The answers are posted at the bottom of this entry, so don’t peek until you’re finished!

1. A reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers with a pattern formed by weaving:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; Brian0918

2. A heavy cotton fabric that is woven and then sheared to create a short, soft pile on one side:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; deviantART Subscriber Beatminister

3. A form of lace that may be described as “decorated net” formed by a pattern at the bottom that is covered with machine-made net and then fine muslin, through which the pattern can be seen:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; Socialambulator

4. A soft woven fabric of various fineness that was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber (hint: I wrote about union suits made from this fabric):

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; Sg829100

5. A fabric with loops that can absorb large amounts of water (that’s a giveaway for sure!):

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; MatthiasKabel

6. A medium-weight, balanced, plain-woven fabric made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarn:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; Flickr: Kent Wang

7. A class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics often made in colored silks with gold and silver thread:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia; Yelkrokoyade

Answers:

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Tell me, have you ever been in this situation?

There’s a car coming up the drive …

Psyche Opening the Door into Cupid’s Garden by John William Waterhouse (1904) via Wikimedia Commons

A quick peek reveals a guest arriving,

and your house is—let’s be honest—a mess.

Dishes undone,

socks on the stairway,

ongoing projects laid out hither and yon.

Photo by Luca Masters via Wikimedia Commons

The scramble begins—grab and stash! Spritz lavender in the air. Break out a box of biscotti.

Within a minute and a half, your Potemkin village is perfect,

well—let’s be honest AGAIN—as perfect as it’s going to get.

Utter a hasty prayer that the closet door stays shut

and then fling open the door and declare,

“Welcome! You’re just in time for tea!”

Image courtesy of Reusableart.com

Potemkin village?

You caught that, didn’t you?

Our word-of-the-week refers to a “pretentiously showy or imposing façade intended to mask or divert attention from an embarrassing or shabby fact or condition,” says Dictionary.com.

The term took root, according to legend, when Russian military leader Grigory Potemkin erected fake settlements, full of fanfare, in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787.

Painting of fireworks during the visit of Catherine II of Russia in Crimea, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons