For the love of fabric

Most quilters will tell you that they just love going to the local quilt shop, quilt shows, fabric stores, and just can’t help themselves when they’re there. While they don’t usually disclose the amount of their purchases, they will entertain you with descriptions of the copious amounts of fabric that they just HAD to have.

As a quilter I can confirm that this is true, and if I didn’t do it for a living it might genuinely be an addiction. Just to give you an idea, these are my fabric bins:

They are all full. I have them sorted pretty well by base fabric color. Some have long yardage of a few fabrics, some have many fat quarters and small lengths of 2 yards or less.

The sad part really is that there is more. I have this stack of scraps I just found, and this box of scraps, and these other bins with more fabric. Oi vey!

When I go to the fabric store, my intentions are always to buy what’s on my list, which today, included pink fabric (on the top edge of the purple bin on the table there), yellow thread and fusible interface. I got all three. Plus some pretty blue fabric, remnants of yellow with butterflies, Dallas Cowboys fabrics, blues, reds, purple and black. White on tan, pink dots, a pretty brown, marbled yellow… the list goes on. Seriously, I bought all this.

I would imagine that most other quilters are in a similar position. We have really good intentions, but going into a quilt shop is like sending a five year old into a candy store! All those pretty colors and neat patterns, ideas churning with each quilt or pattern spotted along the wall. I know that every piece of material that enters my cart has an intended purpose at that point. It’s just a matter of executing that vision. Or, I truly believe that I will absolutely NEED that color and pattern in an extreme yardage in the near future. Need I tell you! 

Of course, in the case of Paducah, I had the OPPORTUNITY, which is entirely different, but sometimes overlaps with the need bit. They had whole bolts of cream and black marbled EXTRA WIDE fabric, which is great for backing! Well, I found it for almost half normal price, so… I couldn’t help but buy it! Yes, I bought two whole bolts. Those are pictured to the right below with 10 yards of stabilizer tucked behind and a few bins with what? YEP, FABRIC!

Maybe it’s not an addiction, maybe it’s just an obsession. But then, is that really much different? Happy shopping, and happy quilting my friends!