Retail Therapy

I bought FABRIC! And quite a bit of it actually. It's a little bit surprising how quickly it builds up. With the amount that I've restocked, it feels like I could do the fast again. But I won't. But I do think I'll need help living up to its values as a new lifestyle. Remind me, ok?

So, how did I go about my first shop in 12 months? I had a pretty significant amount saved up in my Paypal account from pattern and shop sales last year, which I had kept there just for this occassion (dipping into also for batting, etc). So I didn't have a strict budget. First, I went through my stash. I wrote what I needed (basics, binding fabric, backing/drawstring quilt bag fabric) and then had a bit of a look around online. I settled on Quilt Home and Hawthorne Threads because of their range, sales and lower postage. I also appreciate with both sites that it's easy to calculate how many yards you can ship for what price. In a year of no buying, USPS Shipping prices have doubled and the Australian dollar has dropped 15 cents! Basically that means instead of shipping being basically covered by the exchange rate, there was a massive (at least, I think so!) increase of $3/yd to my previous costs! Ouch!

Postman Pat (That's what we call our package lady) arrived a few days ago and Hurray! (I think she's the most loved lady in Newcastle!) I quickly set about washing, hanging, bringing in, folding. Tim did comment that I never show so much motivation when it comes our own laundry. I nearly said, well if he bought me clothes that were blog worthy...and then rethought it. I'd prefer to spend the money on quilting. ;) And really, we all know it's got way more to do with a finite chore with pretty colours and a wonderful reward once we're done (sewing!), compared with the cruel reality of a task that never ever gets crossed off the list and is repeated over and over. Tim, they are not even remotely the same thing!

I just can't wait to sew with these! It's a VERY different experience for me, buying for my stash rather than buying for pinafores and using the scraps for quilts. I still want to call on my scraps first but I'm going to enjoy the variety these bring. I would also habitually buy specifically for quilting projects and I avoided that too. I'm not sure either way is better, but for me, when I saw Nursery Versery on sale at Quilt Home, I was tempted to buy the whole line for a special quilt, even though I know that my favourite work (of my own) doesn't stick to one line and is much more vibrant in colour. And if there's anything I learned this past year, it's that my ideas and correlated spending outweighed my available time about three:one. So I held back, even though I think the prints are beautiful. We'll see how this works for me. 

I have now officially filled up my shelf space, so no more buying for me for a while. (Ok, Jodi?) In any case, my New Years, pre-baby goals include finishing off a whole pile of started projects. More on that next time...