Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Polka Dots Anyone?

I went to the local quilt shop at my sister's.  On purpose.  To buy fabric.  Cotton prices are going up - I've heard anywhere from 30-40% in the new year.  The owner of this shop says she's boycotting any going over $9.99 a yard but I suspect she won't be able to for long.  If she does she might not be able to buy any new inventory!  I've got a lot of fabric in my stash, but like many of you there's a good bit that's so old I don't even like it any more.  I won't get rid of it but it will be mixed in with newer pieces as "blenders" or some of it made into just plain scrap quilts.  I find that my tastes haven't change a whole lot in the last five years...I still love Kansas Troubles fabrics...but I also am attracted now (I didn't used to ever be!) to brighter colors.  I love teal and raspberry, for instance, when five years ago I wouldn't have looked twice at those colors.  And polka dots seem to call my name.  :)
A couple, well maybe three, layer cakes, a jelly roll, 3 fat quarters, a quilt kit, some yardage, a couple of patterns and a big spool of thread.  I'm looking and looking at it thinking, "is this really enough to keep me from buying any more fabric for the next six months?...or more...or less?"  Do you get panicky thinking about not buying fabric?  It kind of makes my stomach hurt.  :(
at

20 comments:

  1. MichelleNovember 30, 2010 at 3:21 AM

    This just makes me for thankful for my thrifty habits. I love your fabrics, AND POLKA DOTS! I love Moda and all the other lines of fabric, but unless it is for something special, those fabrics just are not in my budget. =-(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julie FukudaNovember 30, 2010 at 5:25 AM

    Right now much of the fabric I like is just too too expensive in Japan. I have some fabric that was given to me and if I don't care for it, I often find a place on the back of something, maybe not a quilt but a hanging or table cloth and the like. Your dots are nice and I may have some that are simiiar in my assorted stash.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arkansas PattiNovember 30, 2010 at 6:32 AM

    Think thirst for color might be age related. I used to love the earth tones, beige, brown, rust, etc. Now I really like the bright cheerful colors. Change is good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JoyceNovember 30, 2010 at 7:05 AM

    Prices going up?! Up here in Canada they are already almost out of reach. Love the multi-colored dots. I have a large collection of dot fabrics bun still need more. I better hurry before the prices go up...

    ReplyDelete
  5. EloraNovember 30, 2010 at 7:07 AM

    I know you know the old saw, Marlene: Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or do without!!! :-)))) The scary part here is that cotton isn't the only thing that's going to go up. This country is in the midst (and will continue) of an economic cyclone. Woe betide! Gather your toys (as I am doing--and thank goodness my "toy" is wool yarn from my own sheep!

    Love,
    Elora

    ReplyDelete
  6. RuthNovember 30, 2010 at 7:28 AM

    I just signed up for a Jo Morton class and the FQs that I need to get have gone up to $2.80 each (instead of $2.50, which is bad enough). I have quite a bit of stash, but don't know if I can complete the quilts I have planned with just stash. You almost always need to buy something (like shirtings) or something to finish a quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Melissa CorryNovember 30, 2010 at 7:49 AM

    I love polka dots!! They are one ofmy all time favorites!! It is so hard not to buy fabric when there is so much great fabric out there :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cindy FNovember 30, 2010 at 7:56 AM

    Love your polka dots! I've been a sucker for polka dots for quite awhile. Whenever I turn around I seem to buy some. I keep hearing about fabric prices going up and I've noticed a price creep at the LQSs I've been going to. Fortunately I have a stack of projects to keep me busy for a long time so I don't HAVE to buy fabric. But I have to say, those fat quarters can really call my name. I compare it to buying a cup of gourmet coffee...you drink it and it's gone, but the fat quarter can give you pleasure a lot longer!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Karen - Quilts...etc.November 30, 2010 at 8:02 AM

    love the polka dots - I can't stand the thought of fabric prices going up. I have enough fabric with all I bought over the last couple days (looking forward to it arriving so I can see it) plus my stash to last me for awhile.
    Karen
    http://karensquilting.com/blog/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Needled MomNovember 30, 2010 at 8:15 AM

    I've heard the same thing and it makes my whole body go into a panic when I try to think about it. We just may start liking some of those older fabrics again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cornfield QuilterNovember 30, 2010 at 9:02 AM

    Love the purchases! One can never have enough fabric but with the price increases coming so quickly I only buy fabric that is on sale anymore, especially when I need alot of yardage for backgrounds and backing. I have enough stash probably to last me the rest of my life but somehow the designers come up with such gorgeous stuff that now I should just admire it not buy it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Osage Bluff QuilterNovember 30, 2010 at 9:05 AM

    Two things you can't live without . . .food and fabric and I hear both are going up. It will only make me sew up more of my stash. LOL Maybe then I won't win the one that dies with the most fabric wins award.

    ReplyDelete
  13. em's scrapbagNovember 30, 2010 at 9:10 AM

    It would be very hard for me not to buy fabric. Even though heaven knows I have enought to last a life time. My tastes have changed also. Right now I can't buy fabrics bright enough. I'm using the darker country colors to make charity quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. LoriNovember 30, 2010 at 4:23 PM

    I had not heard about fabric going up. Is there a cotton shortage or what? I started out this year saying I wasn't going to buy anything and use what I have. I did use some of what I had but then would need a little something to go with it and then see something else I couldn't live without.[sigh] Maybe next year I won't buy any fabric. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. DiNovember 30, 2010 at 4:43 PM

    My taste in fabric colours and designs has also moved on from mellow reproductions to brighter, cleaner shades and prints, and I'm loving the idea of white or white-on-white as a background. Marlene, we have to pay from $20-$28 a metre for good quality quilting fabric here in Australia (ouch!). Even with postage factored in it's cheaper for me to order from US online stores if I know what I want (but then I have to wait, and who likes having to wait for fabric LOL).

    ReplyDelete
  16. MillieNovember 30, 2010 at 6:48 PM

    I will work/quilt for fabric, Marlene! I love the polka dot fabric, I am a huge sucker for any pola dot fabric.
    Blessings,
    Millie

    ReplyDelete
  17. FlourishingPalmsNovember 30, 2010 at 9:43 PM

    Seriously? An increase in the price of cotton? And a 30-40 percent increase in the price of quilting fabrics? Who's saying this? And more importantly... why?! I'm not blaming or complaining, just wondering... I haven't heard this at all!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Peggy LeeDecember 1, 2010 at 5:36 AM

    Love the dots!

    ReplyDelete
  19. SandyDecember 1, 2010 at 9:58 AM

    I feel the same way about fabrics now. I too still like Kansas Troubles fabric, but I also heart the brights and modern prints. When they first came out I said, no way for me! I felt like they were from the 70's! I love aqua and red together and all the funky prints...I guess we change all of the time!

    ReplyDelete
  20. ShariDecember 7, 2010 at 2:15 AM

    I totally get where you're coming from. To buy more fabric when we have fabric in the stash... what a dilemma. But our tastes do change. And we can use the old fabrics in the backings of charity quilts... but still, lovely new fabrics out there! It's hard to be responsible sometimes...

    ReplyDelete