I admit it. I’m addicted to quilting fabric….and thread, and rotary cutters and mats. I need to have a bumper sticker that reads “I Break for Quilt Shops.”
\nOne of my favorite quilt shops had a sale today. You could get 20 fat quarters for $20. I know….”What the heck is a fat quarter?” A yard of fabric is usually 36 inches by roughly 42 inches wide. A traditional quarter of a yard is 9 ” x the width of the fabric. To create four fat quarters you take that same piece and cut it in half, and then cut those two pieces in half along the opposite axis. You end up with four pieces that are 18″ by 21″. Quilters feel that you have more options with a fat quarter because the piece is wider.
\nQuilting fabric has become pricey. This particular shop charges anywhere from $8.50 to more than $12 a yard. Four fat quarters equal a yard, so I paid $4.00 a yard for this fabric. Quilting shops carry fabric that is designed expressly for quilting, and is first run. The quality of fabric is different from what can be purchased in chain stores.
\nI thought….I’ll go and get 20 regular fat quarters, and twenty of the batik fabric. Most likely everyone else will be out Christmas shopping and I can sneak in and out in a flash. WRONG!!! I should have known better. If I was willing to go so far out of my way today, you had to know that half the women in my town would, too. And, they did!
\nWhen I had my collection of sale fabric, I made my second mistake. I asked if they still carried a certain fabric. The shop assistant told me she wasn’t sure, that I’d have to look around. Well….by the time I got to the check out I had 61 fat quarters, and at least ten yards of fabric I hadn’t planned to buy.
\nWith the exception of fabric, I’m normally not an impulse buyer. I tend to buy most of my fabric in January, or at least, during the winter. All the quilters I know have what we call a “stash” of fabric. Mine is contained on shelves that are 10 feet wide by six feet high, and the ladies of my quilting bee give me a hard time about how little fabric I have. They are MORE addicted than I am, and would willingly admit it. One of them works at the shop that had the sale. I can’t afford to work at a quilting shop. All my salary would have to go to pay for in store purchases.
\nSo, tomorrow I will be ironing fabric. LOTS of fabric. Fabric in country style Christmas colors, and fabric with striking batik designs, fabric with florals and fabric with geometrics. The only thing I didn’t get was solid colors. The next question will be…
\n“Where the heck do I PUT it all???”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I admit it. I’m addicted to quilting fabric….and thread, and rotary cutters and mats. I need to have a bumper sticker that reads “I Break for Quilt Shops.” One of my favorite quilt shops had a sale today. You could … Continue reading