Fabriholics Anonymous (FA) Recovery Group?
#101
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bushkill, Pa
Posts: 534
The next time you want to go buy fabric, make believe your stash is a quilt store and go through your stash looking for fabric. I can guarantee, because I've had it happen, you will find exactly what you need amid the fabric you already have.
#103
LOVE your avatar. Is there a pattern?
I stopped buying fabric last year, and except for the 'thank you' quilt I'm finishing, I haven't bought any fabric. I still have enough stash to outlive me. And DD keeps giving me old clothes for scrap quilts. I don't think that counts as 'buying - although it does build my stash. I use my Accuquilt to cut patchwork pieces.
I stopped buying fabric last year, and except for the 'thank you' quilt I'm finishing, I haven't bought any fabric. I still have enough stash to outlive me. And DD keeps giving me old clothes for scrap quilts. I don't think that counts as 'buying - although it does build my stash. I use my Accuquilt to cut patchwork pieces.
#104
I'm so glad you took that post the way you did. Sometimes people are offended if you insult the place where they live. I know the scenery is beautiful, almost breathtaking there. It always took my breath away when we came over that ridge and saw the bottom of the valley. I actually thought of living there for a moment. But now I am glad I live where I do. Surrounded by Amish and most of them are quilters. All we ever do is have fun.
Tater Patch Quilts.....been there!!!!! when I was back visiting the folks. Owned by two women. Very helpful. Bought a pattern I still haven't made. My main addictions it to patterns. Tom Palmer's widow had something to do with a quilt shop there. Is she one of the owners?? I'm getting so old I am forgetful.
For all you other wonderful quilters out there that may wonder about Foxflower's mentality, in Modoc County, CA there are more DEAD rattlesnakes on the goat trails than there are people in the county. (And I'm just counting the dead ones.) The music is provided by packs of coyotes running in the hills overhead as they chase the jack rabbits and pheasants. The smells are the algae on the alkali lakes and flats. There really is a wild, wild West still out there and Foxflower lives in the middle of it.
Save the 2nd ammendment. You are gonna need a carbine if you go there.
Marcia
Tater Patch Quilts.....been there!!!!! when I was back visiting the folks. Owned by two women. Very helpful. Bought a pattern I still haven't made. My main addictions it to patterns. Tom Palmer's widow had something to do with a quilt shop there. Is she one of the owners?? I'm getting so old I am forgetful.
For all you other wonderful quilters out there that may wonder about Foxflower's mentality, in Modoc County, CA there are more DEAD rattlesnakes on the goat trails than there are people in the county. (And I'm just counting the dead ones.) The music is provided by packs of coyotes running in the hills overhead as they chase the jack rabbits and pheasants. The smells are the algae on the alkali lakes and flats. There really is a wild, wild West still out there and Foxflower lives in the middle of it.
Save the 2nd ammendment. You are gonna need a carbine if you go there.
Marcia
The two ladies who own Tater Patch are Robin and Diane. I don't know their last names.
Going to "town" yesterday with my husband meant, and necessarily so, spending all our time between farm supply stores, home depot, and the grocery store. The amount of money spent in those places on necessities reminds me how much I need keep fabric spending in control. It is also nice to know that we are spending money on getting more home space, which may eventually mean an actual dedicated sewing space, or at least more storage. In a way, I am "building" my stash. Its just a stash for the stash.
#106
Foxflower,
I'm not a fabricaholic but real close. I just can''t throw away any scrap of fabric. I have sewn for over 30 years and have been just sticking it in boxes and paper bags upstairs. There were patterns that I liked so I bought them and some fabric too, but I never did make them. I decided to clean the second floor so I brought everything down and unpacked it. After bringing down 8 boxes and don't know how many bags I had a floor covered with a rainbow fabrics. I took a few pictures and have them on my phone to look at when I get tempted to add more fabric to it. Then I ironed everything and put it in zip lock bags to keep clean and organized. After you get off all the email lists. Hide your credit cards. If you need to get a fix limited it to a certain dollar amount. Like equal to the age of one child, or the day of the month. By the way have you ever tried to make a quilt with Velveteen? (I have 6 yards each of purple and emerald green!)
I'm not a fabricaholic but real close. I just can''t throw away any scrap of fabric. I have sewn for over 30 years and have been just sticking it in boxes and paper bags upstairs. There were patterns that I liked so I bought them and some fabric too, but I never did make them. I decided to clean the second floor so I brought everything down and unpacked it. After bringing down 8 boxes and don't know how many bags I had a floor covered with a rainbow fabrics. I took a few pictures and have them on my phone to look at when I get tempted to add more fabric to it. Then I ironed everything and put it in zip lock bags to keep clean and organized. After you get off all the email lists. Hide your credit cards. If you need to get a fix limited it to a certain dollar amount. Like equal to the age of one child, or the day of the month. By the way have you ever tried to make a quilt with Velveteen? (I have 6 yards each of purple and emerald green!)
#107
Retirement put a huge crimp in my fabriholic behavior, Then I moved to a small town with only a couple fabric stores that are so over-priced I'd have to resort to bank jobs to support my habit. But I gave that idea up for 3 very good reasons=1-I'm a bit claustrophobic 2-I look horrible in orange 3- getting out of a jumpsuit to go potty would take way to long LOL
#108
Hello, my name is Donna and I am a fabricaholic. I have been on a forced diet due to unemployment. I have been working from my stash. My problem is, I have found a job, got my first paycheck and right now there is no money in the budget for fabric, but I still want to get some! Oh, woe is me!!!!! So I have a plan, maybe it will help others. My fabric stash is in bins. I am going to sort the fabric into project piles and look for patterns for them if I don't have something in mind already. I have finished most of my UFOs to the point that the top is done. I am saving money for long arm quilting them. If I feel the need to buy fabric, I am going to go "shopping" in my project piles, pick one out and do something with it. I think this will keep me going until I can get fabric again. But it's sooooo hard! My other idea was to get fat quarters when they go on sale. That way I can buy fabric, but not spend too much. I have kits I have purchased in the past that have not been opened yet, another way to play with "new fabric". Any other ideas? I get those emails from fabric sites too. Right now I just delete them without looking. I don't think I want to unsubscribe...yet.
#110
Okey-doke. Here's the updated list of ideas, tips.....
How to Stop or Reduce Buying Fabric
Add on to your house.
Sew faster.
How to Stop or Reduce Buying Fabric
- Decide to stop buying or set a goal of how long you’ll wait to buy and stick to it.
- Unsubscribe from all mailings/websites that are problematic for you. Examples: emails, coupon lists, blogs, catalogs.
- Play with your stash. This includes, organizing it, setting it up to be easy to use, “shopping” it for a new project, and petting it. Take photos of it to remind you how big it is and that you don’t need/want and can’t add to it.
- USE your stash. Make as much as you can only using what you already have. Make scrap quilts.
- Work on completing projects and giving them away.
- Stay away from fabric stores. Change your route or the time you travel as necessary. If you are in a fabric store…a) only touch poor quality fabric; b) place fabric in your cart, drive it around pretending it’s yours, then put it back or abandon it; c)get only what you need quickly and get out; d) leave you purse hidden in the car; e) pay cash only f) stick to your budget or less.
- Join a support group. There are a number of threads here on the QB that may be helpful including the 2013 fabric Moratorium, stash busters challenge, ufo challenge, scrappy quilt club.
- Keep a tally for yourself….How much stash did you use each week or month, how much you spent on fabric, etc. Add up your receipts and credit card bills to discourage you from making more purchases. Participate in the stash report if you have a blog.
- Think of where else you’d rather have your money go.
- Make a budget. An envelope system can help….divide the month’s fabric budget into 4 envelopes and wait as long you can to spend. When you must buy, open 1 envelope, use only part of it and put the rest into a necessities budget.
- Save money for occasions you know you are going to buy fabric and stick to your budget.
- Only use cash. Make credit cards much less accessible in a way that works for you.
- Never buy fabric “on spec.” Only buy to complete a project that is currently in progress. Don’t bid on something you don’t want to pay for. Don’t buy just because it’s a “bargain.”
- Only replace the fabric you use up with ½ as much. “Use what you have and replace by half.”
- Split an order with a friend.
- Keep someone who does not understand fabric collecting with you when going somewhere you might be tempted to shop. Husbands often work well for this, but not always. Leave the enablers at home.
- Reward yourself with something else, preferable not another addiction, for not buying/meeting a goal.
- Watch this video….http://vimeo.com/13684735
- Consider your family….either having to go through it and then throwing it all way, or their needs the money could pay for instead.
- If you must shop online, put fabrics in your cart or in a “wish list.” Save the page or cart, but do not enter the credit card info. If you really need them buy them later. Ignore abandoned cart discounts unless you really need the fabric. You can make a folder for saved carts or fabric wishes.
- Make a pinterest or virtual stash instead of buying them.
Add on to your house.
Sew faster.
Last edited by Foxflower; 04-29-2013 at 12:21 PM. Reason: format errors
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