Fabric Ramblings

Why do you need so much fabric? What could possibly make you want to buy fabrics you might not live long enough to use?

Such silly questions pumpkin. If you want to ever receive a quilt from me you might want to keep such personal questions in check. I make quilts because every fiber of my being says I have to create or I will explode. I make so many that they need a home when I'm finished with them. Yes, that might be your home if you are nice to me and suck up to me a little bit. I also need that much fabric because I don't shop for a project outside of my home. I shop from my shelves. Always have and probably always will. It could be a throw back from my poor frugal years. I have a huge stash and I'm pretty proud of it. Because I'm a longarm quilter I also need big amounts of backing fabrics. Because I'm self employed and my income is limited I also sale shop looking for the best that I can buy at the best price for me. I'm proud of that also. So, I'm not a fabric snob needing the newest, best, or brightest. I don't purge myself of old fabric unless it is really inferior in quality and then it makes it's way into a bag for the local churches to make charity quilts that usually get sent to some foreign country. I'm okay with that. I also make as many charity quilts as I feel I have time for. I hate the thought of making something out of bad fabric so I make them out of the good stuff I got at a good price. It's an all over win-win for me and those that get them.

So, what am I getting at? I quilt because I have to, and I give because I can. My stash makes me feel good, and the riot of color brightens my day. I look at it all the time and I don't hide it in boxes. I don't hide it from my husband, even though he hasn't a clue as to how much I spent or it's value. That means I don't have to sneak anything into the house, or hide it in the car until the time is right. The fabric is a clean vice and one of the few that I have. I have something intrinsic when it's used to make something. And if I play my cards right the thing that I made with it can brighten the day of someone else or night if they sleep under it or hang it on a wall. I have "quilts" all over my home, in many different states, and in several countries. Some of that fabric has made it into award winning quilts that have a very big monetary value. But, most are just for the bed because that is what makes me the happiest.

There you have my answer. I plan to maintain this healthy stash and burden my survivors with having to deal with it when I'm gone. I should probably warn them.