Fabric Friday

Remember when my friend Kristel sent me some lovely limey greens for my pending patio quilt? Well in the same package she also sent me some Heather Ross "Mendocino". This is incredibly generous of her! I tried to buy some of this fabric after the fact and it has become very coveted and rather over priced (IMHO). So WOW! I feel very special that she chose me to share a bit of this little treasure with. I also now feel a great deal of pressure to make the coolest thing evar with it! lol I'll have to find some worthy project to put it toward. If anyone has any pattern ideas please let me know, I could use the help... though I do have a vague notion bubbling in the back of my brain. The Mendocino amounts are pretty small so I'll have to be extra creative.



The other thing she sneakily snuck into her package was a covered note book. It's adorable!


I may put this little cutie to work when I pay my bills. I have a little note pad I keep track of spending in, and the one I'm currently using expires in August so this may step up and take it's place. I always need a little bit of HAPPY when paying bills and what better to fix that then pretty fabric that came from a friend?

Last week you may remember me talking about giving up fabric shopping. Laurie over at Dodging the Butterfly asked a couple of great questions in regards to that,

I am curious to know how 2009 went? Is this something you do every other year?

I started to answer her in the comments but realized that I was *rambling* and I thought for anyone else that might be interested I'd answer here.

I quit my day job and became a SAHM in mid 2008. Naturally we went from two paychecks to one. As we adjusted to a new income bracket lots of things that we took for granted were cut. Fancy cable? Out! Eating at restaurants? Out! Excessive fabric shopping? Out! This was probably the first time in my life I'd ever made a conscious effort to not buy fabric. The truth is, if we could have continued to afford it, I never would've given it up. Heh. But as it turns out that was not the case.

At first it took some getting used to. I'd still try to sneak in a FQ or two every trip to the fabric store (when buying other supplies like thread) but after a few times doing that I realized I was "robbing" our grocery fund to realistically have fabric just sit in a bin in my sewing room because I thought it was pretty. It was easier to give up then.

I do have my exception rules: it's okay to buy a FQ or two if we take a day trip out to the beach (which doesn't happen but a couple of times of year at most) or if some other special occasion presents itself, like going out to the Sister's Quilt Show.

It was good to embrace the heart of quilting again, which is use what you have. Yeah, it'd be nice to buy all contemporary fabrics in the same line that are color coordinated and aesthetically appealing but where's the challenge in that? ;^) One of my most favorite quilts I've made to date came out of this thrifty decision. Forced to use only what I had - and a lot of it didn't (and still doesn't) really "go together" I had to get creative in how to use the fabrics to make a cohesive aesthetic. Enter, my Colorworks Quilt.


I only strayed once or twice in 2009 and then after New Year in 2010 with my "resolution" over, I kinda allowed myself a little freedom. Apparently given an inch I'll take a yard mile! By the end of 2010 I was spending more then I should have and was having a hard time reeling back. While a little better off financially due to raises and payed off bills, etc. I was still straining our budget. (Wow - that makes it sounds like I was spending a lot more then I actually was - lol) I'd also bought enough fabric to make more quilts then I'll get around to in the next year so it was easy to say in 2011 I needed to go back to not buying fabric.

In case you haven't checked out my Nu's tab I've got enough to keep me busy for the next five years at least... not to mention my WIP's and UFO's... okay ten years. I really don't need any more fabric. I think it's time to just enjoy the quilting process.

Honestly though, I wonder if that's possible without a little bit of fabric shopping thrown in? lol Maybe I'll keep up my abstinence till I go back to work though and just try to take more vacations. ;^)