fabric is art. what we do with it is also art. when i look at fabrics, i can trace the history of the changing colors we've had through the years, the changing taste in styles, how the "new" is rooted in the old. my mom and her mom were fabric lovers, too, and while i didn't inherit their stashes (they'd thinned them out, considerably, over the years) i do have some "Skinner's satin", from the early 1900s, some amazing 50s and early 60s era prints from them--and then quilts from grandmothers, step grandmother's hands, great aunt's hands. it's art appreciation. my youngest laughs about her tattoos--"i'd rather wear my art investment every day than hang it on a wall, somewhere." (her ink is beautiful, and done by amazing inkers, one of whom has studied art at "the atelier", an exclusive art center, here. i like to store my art where i can pet it, admire the colors, share with family and friends who love it as much as do i, and give away things i've created. if i die, leaving too much, the kids will know that i obviously didn't sew fast enough, and they'd better start spreading the goods around, quickly! it's art appreciation at its best--and we are merely helping support our fellow artists when we see the beauty, too, and have to have "just a half yard..."