Store with older fabrics?

I think it was Sandy's reply to the post: Fabric Buying - Window Too Short!

Kate in MI

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Howdy! There are some shops we learn about which are good for searching the archives, shelves that still hold some of our favorite fabrics. For instance, Old Times Quilters' Heaven and The Lacery

954-56 N Main St Princeton, IL 61356-1376 (815) 872-9841 a rambling shop on the north end of town (across from the train station) which holds more fabric than any other shop I've seen (and I've seen many, many quilt shops). They carry fabric going back several years, and receive many requests from quilters who need "more!" of a particular fabric to finish a project. Send a swatch, they'll try to find it in the back rooms. I love this! Meanwhile, when you see a fabric you REALLY like, get it. Get plenty of it. And if you're in love w/ that fabric, get a bunch NOW!!! Because most shops are operating on such a tight budget they can't afford to invest the dollars and the shelf space to store excess bolts, and w/ new fabric available so often, there isn't time to re-order before the next batch of goodies comes to the market.

Btw, I don't have any affiliation w/ any of the quilt shops I mention or recommend; no kick-backs or freebies. Just a happy customer who likes to share the joy. ;-D

I subscribed to the "if you see something you like buy lots" theory for many years. Now I have thousands of yards of fabric. Please do not be taken in by the "buy it now" mentality. Trust the industry to continue to print pretty fabric. If you aren't going to use it for ten years your tastes will have changed anyway. Currently I limit my purchases to things I hope to get to within the year (OK maybe two years).

Last week I started the red and black scrap quilt on the cover of the current issue of "American Patchwork and Quilting". The Designer, Carrie Nelson, said she used 60 reds. Going through my stash I only found 45 reds but I didn't let that bother me. My quilt is made with only 45 reds and I think there is plenty of variety.

Be reasonable gals. If the average quilt takes 10 yards of fabric we should not purchase more than 100 yards a year. Completing 10 quilts a year would be good for the average quilter. Backing would take another

5 yards so you can purchase 150 yards a year. After that much any fabric purchase just becomes decoration for the shelves in your studio.

Susan

Oh dear, I am so below average.

TEN a year!?!

marcella

Remember I don't quilt anything larger than 45 by 60. Any quilt larger goes to the long arm quilters. At this stage in my life I spend the majority of my time quilting. Some projects are samples for classes I teach and many are for charity. Occassionally I make something for myself and usually a few wedding gifts a year.

Any quilt I make for the store, including class samples, the fabric is free. Fabric for wedding gifts is often purchased to suit the bride's colors. Everything else I am trying to make from my stash.

For my charity project this year I need many quilts >>

Maybe that's dog years? I could do ten in seven years, easy. ;-)

Howdy! That works for you, Susan. (And good luck w/ the Bowties.)

I'm sticking w/ my buying habits; so far they've served me well, and I've made many quilts just from stash-on-hand. ;-D

Cheers! Ragmop/Sandy--still pondering the term "reasonable" ... I don't drink, smoke or gamble; stashing fabric seems pretty reasonable to me

Not much wrong with that, IM(NS)HO. ;-)

I'm with Ragmop -- I work almost exclusively from stash, and I hate having to stop in the middle of a creative streak to run around to stores looking for just the right piece of orange. I keep my fabric purchases within my budget, my studio isn't a fire hazard, and the amount of fabric I have pleases me. I'm not worrying about whether I've bought more or less than I'll use this year. *grin*

Be comforted, Marcella, I don't always make it into whole numbers >g< . In message , Marcella Peek writes

Actually.... I go in stages..... kind of like clothes... now bear with me.. I think fabrics & designers in general go thru "stages" of what's "in"... and one year I may really just not like much of what I see in stores.... so say in clothes... I'm short.... and not young.... so wide bell bottom hip huggers just aren't what I'm going for. I find the same in fabrics..... one year they may all lean or my LQS may buy only stuff that I'm just not that in to. Bonus of the lovely online market, I'm not as limited now... but... still... some days... just not that much. So.... when I find something I REALLY like, I'll buy it. Now that doesn't mean in a few years I won't look at it and say... what was I thinking? But usually if I really like it, that's not the case... not only do I still like it, it's not usually still in my stash And I have to say... I saw some stuff yesterday online that I'm trying to figure out just how would I use it... because it was cool looking and I haven't seen it locally.... but that's a whole nother posting thread altogether ;-)

And I have to say... I saw some stuff

So when has THAT ever stopped us? And where's the link??? :)

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in news:n%Zfg.122728$F snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net:

ROTFL... well..... be forewarned... they are Christmas/Santa fabrics But not usually what you think of.... and I think I'd have a hard time cutting it into smaller peices...

but it's such a cool looking fabric that I am thinking on it What would you all do with it???

Yes, they are quite cool!

What would I do with it? Seeing as how I don't do Christmas quilts/fabrics, I'd send them all to you. :)

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in news:9N_fg.89672$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com:

Hence the warning... didn't want to offend anyone or push my personal beliefs.... but it's a cool looking antique in not the usual bright colors.... so from an artistic and only artistic point of view is the question coming from. I haven't come up with anything besides placemats or table runner..... it's too dark without cutting it up... but I can't figure out how I'd cut it up... so.... there ya go....... what has stopped me

Attic windows with Cream/White sills? Center of big log cabinish blocks with cream/tan/gold logs Center of an irish chain with the chain being yellows/golds

I'll keep thinkin on it

I'm limiting myself to what I need now, plus some lime. I don't have thousands of yards yet. I don't think I even have hundreds of yards yet. Small stashes make it easy to see what you have at a glance so I'm going to try to keep it that way.

I bet it looks good too. I'm not willing to be limited by what a pattern says I should use either. I don't know the quilt pattern you used, but I'm willing to bet it could be made using less than ten different fabrics. Using fewer different fabrics in a quilt usually makes a quilt less busy so you feel calmness when looking at it. I like a calm looking quilt.

Ten! I could only dream of getting ten done. I'm doing good if I get one made per year. Debra in VA See my quilts at

OMG, those are gorgeous! Debra in VA See my quilts at

Bbbbut they are too pretty to cut!

Still, I have some ideas. You could use very pale blue, silver, navy, gold, and white fabrics with them. Black might work nicely too.

Fussy cut squares out of the top 3 fabrics and add coordinating strips around the four sides; or use as the center squares of snowball or star blocks.

Fussy cut circles out of the top three fabrics and applique them onto a light colored background.

Use the other fabrics as border strips. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Debra wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Hmmmmmm great ideas!! Thanks!! I really like it.. but I'm not a placemat kind of gal... I have a granite outdoor table sitting in the dining area So I need quilting ideas......

Howdy!

What fabric did you see yesterday, Jan? We can help you w/ "how to use it", seriously &/or with fun. ;-D

Someone pointed out the Denyse Schmidt collection,

thought about it for a while, which colors? how much?isn't some of it just too bizarre even for me?And then I contacted the D.S. folks, got the price ofshipping, and ordered the fat quarter collection. It arrived this morningand it's just so tasty! So many pieces, so many colors, funky prints,and --oh, my, this is FUN! Included is a small matchbook-typesewing kit, just a needle, bits of thread, etc.--too cute!and a nice "Thank you" card in a velum envelope which would be perfectfor mailing a delicate quilted postcard...hmmm..more ideas coming thru'. It's these surprises, delightful fabric and packaging, that keep meacquiring more stash. Jennifer Chiaverini's latest fabric group,Elm Creek Quilts: The Christmas Quilt Collectionis also available in fat quarter packs (3 of the shops I contactedimmediately offered the fq which had not yet been featured online),and one shop owner has become a new friend. ;-)I'll be looking for that collection next week. Looking at these collections side-by-side, they have almost nothing in common. But they will go with other fabric in the stash, some going back almost 20 yrs.. When I do my semi-annual inventory where I re-organize the fabric that I've rootled thru, I find treasures I still love, still have plans for, and am not at all surprised by the way the newer fabric blends in so well with the older. Like my friends. ;-)

Btw, the latest Quilt Sampler magazine is another delightful issue. On the cover is a quilt designed by Susan Allen (former RCTQer) of The Quilt Asylum in McKinney, Texas.

shops sell out early but Barnes & Noble stocks it. Ragmop/Sandy--always surprised by the Baseball Swap squares that have so few repeats & fabric I hadn't yet seen ;->

On 6/2/06 11:08 AM, in article Xns97D6715CF83B2maketimetoquiltnospa@207.217.125.201, "Jan" wrote: