I have to go to both LQSs to drop off flyers for the church bazaar. Can I do it without cruising the clearance rooms? Yeah, sure, why not? So far I've done well this month, but it's only the 14th.

Since you are doing religious work can you get special dispensation and anything you buy doesn't count because it's part of a religious experience. Heavens! I would pray so!

I am just wondering.. if you all are not shopping til November are you getting itchy fingers to hit the stores on Nov 1st? and a vote on how many seriously did not buy one piece of fabric this year? Did you use all your stuff up? some of it???

Elizabrat--i can honestly say that this moratorium has made me less willing to buy with abandon and more willing to walk away with a small amount or no fabric at all. I am probably not ending up with less fabric than i started with because i am still in a stash building mode. But i feel i am ending with less fabric than i would have without the moratorium. Whenever i bought fabric i had to justify the purchase, so i tried to be very thoughtful about it.

Elisabrat: Very interesting questions. Is there anybody that didn't buy fabric this year? Like Nancia I did much better this year then in years past. I am going to extend the Moratorium into the new year to continue trying to quit buying.
Sales & deals are my downfall. I can honestly say I haven't paid over $5 a yard all year and most were $4 or less.

I can't say I haven't bought ANYTHING - but I've been very selective when buying. If not needed immediately, then it had better be a really good price. I'm starting to feel better about the amount in my stash, but another year and I'll really have a handle on it. No, really, I will.........

Brat, I have purchased very little this year and every piece has had a destination which is far cry from my usual buying habits, so for me the moratorium has helped - and, no, I don't plan a buying spree on Nov 1. I won't live long enough to use up all my 'stuff', but I did make a dent in it and now that I am able to reclaim my time, I will make even more of one. Next is to start giving away hundreds of yards of apparel fabric. Quilting fabric??? not yet!!

I am going to be at a quilt retreat Nov. 1 and I believe there are LQS in the neighborhood. Now I am a true believer that it is important to support the economy when visiting other areas. So I am pretty sure that a visit to one of the LQS is part of the plan AND that something or other will find its way into my possession. That said, I have really curtailed my spending compared to previous years.

And then my GF is cleaning out her stash. Fortunately for me our tastes are very different. Last night I took a huge bag of fabric to the guild meeting for the free table and only kept one piece (a pretty blue and white) back for myself. So that is progress imo.

I bought fabric last night, but it was for a particular project, and the fabric was hand-picked by the person who asked me to make it. She said she would pay for all the materials, but since I bought a jelly roll, and I figure I'll have enough to do the runner for Brat's runner swap too.

I also bought backing for another project. My cost-saving measure there was not to buy the coordinating yardage that's still $12 or 13 a yard, and got a marble in one of the colors instead. I'm likely not going to get paid for this piece, even though it's for someone else, so I didn't want to go too crazy on cost for backing nobody will see most of the time.

Dear madq, it can seem like a very difficult choice-- civic duty ( buying from visited stores) or thrift ( not buying ). Whenever faced with this thorny problem, i , myself resort to consulting my favorite author, tommy Jefferson, who said not only can we bare arms ( thus getting a smooth tan,no farmer's line), we must also pursue happiness, and share our homes in time of war with soldiers and their uniforms, which is foreign fabric. No where does it ask us to make the ultimate sacrifice and not buy anything, or worse, stay out of stores ( which i believe is under the Geneva conference considered illegal to even threaten)!! History has always been a passion of mine! So valley forge ahead, my dear! And bunker the hill! We shall overcome! ( i feel so much exhilaration, marching in the footsteps of our four fathers, Larry, moe and Curley and dad!