Being goofy and fun...

This is me being goofy and fun. Dh Bill got me these tights for Xmas. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with purple and black argile leotards... but I wore them with my black silk taffeta skirt and patent leather shoes. Tanya called them my witchy-poo socks and said I belonged on Hocus-Pocus. But I had fun wearing them and I had a good day- for the most part. See what I brought home with me? Beautiful, rich browns and blues. See? It was a good day! (Just to let ya know, I am doing much better. A bit of a fever from inhaling too much...you know... and a knot still lodged in my chest, when I swallow... but I'm feeling really grand, today!) I knew I needed them for a quilt I am hoping to put together. I misguessed the amount I needed- I need 22 blues, and 28 browns. So the hunt continues. And that's the fun part. I kicked out some of these blues- decided they were too dark, and I need them as a light value.

Which brings me to a question... I've noticed lots of resolutions popping up around here, as they do each January, about no fabrics being purchased- ever again. That people have enough fabric to make quilts for the rest of their lives. How can this be possible? So, I did some deeper reading and found that most people consider the B's as acceptable purchases: Borders, Bindings, Backings. And of course, Batting. But this still leaves me in a puzzled state. I was looking through pattern books and most quilts, that I would consider making, require 10-12 yards of fabric- for the top alone! Now do you guys really have that kind of yardage in your stashes? Really? I can understand a few compulsiver shoppers out there- I have that kinda day, myself, sometimes. I was looking at my stash and I am pretty sure I am operating at an all-time high capacity, and I have maybe 5 pieces of fabric that are more than 2 yards. And very few full-yard cuts. Maybe 12. And then, do these fabrics match and go together? Would I actually put them in the same quilt? Not hardly! They are just things that I liked and had to have, but one yard of fabric seems a big investment to me. $9. So I want to spread it out and buy several different pieces instead of just one. The occasional clearance fabric thrown in - they are usually large cuts and I use them as backing. Apparently, the next time I love a particular fabric, I need to buy at least 4 yards. And I don't know if I am ready to go there! But I'll consider it. It seems to make more sense. Now, Sarah sometimes tells me that I put the most unusual colors together and that they still look nice. Well, sometimes I do just make do with what I have. I figure if it's good enough for grandma, it's good enough for me. Keeps things from going all "designer" on me. And I'll say the same thing I said last year, I enjoy buying fabric. I don't go into a quilt shop and walk out with 5 yards of fabric. That just doesn't happen. Once or twice a year I buy enough fabric- all at once- to make a quilt, but then I make the quilt and it is no longer in my stash. And I figure that if I have fabric in my stash for years... well, I expect it'll keep there as well as it does in a quilt, right? I've always considered myself to being luxuriously living, stash-wise, but apparently I have a lot to learn from some of you. But don't you think that life is already so full of guilt? Quilts I want to make for so-and-so, quilts that need quilting, quilts that need binding... I am firmly resolving to not feel guilty over quilts that haven't even jumped out of the hopper just yet!!