Mary Roediger has taken being a coffee lover to a whole new level.
Roediger’s work traditionally consists of garment sewing and embroidery work, but she’s always been interested in the artsy side of textiles and natural fibers. The artwork she creates in her spare time has been displayed at the Wells Library, 5200 Washington Road, for several years.
“Every exhibit is different. I’ve displayed hats, purses, upcycled things, and I’ve done a lot with recycled denim,” Roediger said. “I’m not trained as an artist, but I’ve always been intrigued. I always try and stay open to what’s coming my way.”
Roediger’s latest exhibit is Cup O Joe, a display of several different projects made out of all of her used coffee bean bags. Roediger grinds and brews her own beans, so it only made sense that her love for coffee inspired her artwork.
“Everything is inspired by coffee itself or coffee bags. Most all the bags I get are from coffee I’ve had over the years,” Roediger said. “My daughter and I knew we were saving them for some purpose, but we hadn’t really come up with anything until I told the librarian it was time for me to make this happen.”
One of Roediger’s creations currently on display is a Christmas tree she describes as “over the top,” made with folded pieces from 10 different coffee bags. She has also created couple of Christmas stockings made from cotton fabric she stained with actual coffee.
“The Christmas tree took the better part of a whole day to cut out all the pieces, fold and put together,” Roediger said. “It’s just a matter of looking for a way to repurpose something that would normally be thrown out.”
Although some of Roediger’s pieces of art are Christmas-themed, not everything up for display goes along with the holiday season.
“I found these gold mesh fabrics and made a beach hat out of that with different things from coffee bags,” Roediger said. “I also made a beach tote. The pattern was something I developed a long time ago, so it made sense to make another one. I tweaked what I wanted to do and made it from stained fabric.”
As long as Roediger drinks coffee, she will continue to collect the bags she hopes to one day turn into more projects to create and share with others.
“I want people to know to not give up on something, but consider how it can live again as a new thing,” Roediger said. “There’s a lot of ways we can reuse and recycle things all for the better.”
Rachel Everett, the youth services librarian at Wells Library, believes Roediger’s display has been doing very well at the library.
“The pieces are very informative, as well as whimsical — even I had questions about fabrics used,” Everett said. “And of course, we have lots of books to check out related to coffee and its history shown with her display that patrons might be interested in.”
Everett is quite fond of Roediger’s artwork because it is always a joy to have at the Wells Library.
“Anything she brings to the library and displays is always beautiful and thoughtful,” Everett said. “It’s often witty the way she displays them. Her artwork is beautiful.”
Maisy McClellan, a sophomore studying criminology, enjoys creating art herself and finds Roediger’s work to be intriguing.
“It’s a different medium, not like 2D art,” McClellan said. “To me it sounds more crafty, but it’s really cool having an eye to make art out of something like that instead of seeing it as trash.”
