Too funny ;-) He'll get over it, everyone needs a hobby :thumbup:

I am not married, I do own a largish stash...I buy without guilt nor do I have to justify my spending to anyone.....however I know that is not everyone. So if I owned a fabric store I would call it the the Grocery Store with fabric lines called. Quarta Milk+ whites and creams, Pounda Meat=browns and reds, Heada Lettuce= mixed greens, Baga Fruit=bright colors and well you get the picture. So the scenario goes like this
Wife comes in with several large bags of fabric and stows them away.
Husband "Where ya been?"
Wife "Oh the Grocery Store."
Husband "What cha get?"
Wife "Well a pounda meat, a Quarta Milk, a Heada Lettuce and a Baga Fruit.
Husband "Sounds great, what's for dinner?"
Wife "Oh honey we have both had such a busy day, let's go out to eat."
Can you see it???

REPLY TO ALL:

my husband can't see my stash as he is in the cemetary. just be glad your husband is alive no matter what he says.

I collect fabric just because I love fabric! I love colors, textures, and the possiblities! I can't possibly live long enough to use all my fabric but I tell my relatives that quilt, that it is their inheritance!

Amen to that! Fabric and books make me happy!

Let's see.....I bet you bought your stash...at least most of it when it was $4.50 or less per yard. Fabric is now $9.50-$10.50 per yard. That is 100% profit on investment. Tell him you can sell it anytime for double what you paid....and if you make quilts and sell them for thousands....you are defintely ahead of the game.....
my story and I'm sticking to it. Besides I won't be paying $10.50 a yard after I retire..
D in TX

I just say that this keeps me off the streets and outa the bars.

Where can I see the video about hiding your stash?

Ladies, I just compare all my fabric, threads, templates,etc.to all the his "man" tools - wood tools, outside tools, all his various sizes of nails, grades of sandpaper, scrap pieces of wood and metal--- do you get the the idea? What it boils down to is, he has his toys, and I have mine. He is in the garage, and I am in my sewing room, and we live happily ever after. Amen PS -- his grandmother taught me how to quilt. She passed at the young age of 90 -- she was always quilting and sewing -- and that was 32 years ago. (Love this forum -- we must have all come from the same mold.)

He sounds like mine...Retiring end of next month and well, a girl gota do what ever works....I just say I have had that for a long time...I stopped using my credit card...I balance the ck book so I just get cash here and there and that is what I use....

I think a frank talk and a "hobby account" is a great idea. I dont think you are probably spending too too much and I dont think he is really really overconcerned. But retirement (consulting) is a different animal emotionally probably more than financially and you each will respond to the change differently.

I know when my parents first retired, my Dad fretted and my Mom didnt. Now that my Dad is 83 and in poor health, my Mom is fretting and my Dad is not. Really financially their picture hasnt changed only the way that each perceives it.

I'm with Patrice on this one.

When I read your message it sounded to me like you feel guilty about it. You are the one who knows whether it is ok or not in your situation, and it sounds like you have your own reservations. If you feel you should cut back, you probably should. Its not the end of the world to stop buying for a while. "Shop from your stash" works well too sometimes!

Just say "but dear, when you are no longer working, I have all this beautiful fabric, to make quilts to keep us warm when we are poor."

I told my husband to never say a word about my hobbies as his are a whole lot more expensive than my could ever be, no matter how he looks at it (RC planes, helicopter skiing, just to mention a few!LOL)

i always found pleading the fifth worked better if i was taking my clothes off than if i offered to cook dinner... lol

My motto is - Happy wife, happy life. Tell him that.

I am fortunate that my DH is at home when some of my friends who do not sew bring me fabric!

OH! That sounds EXACTLY like my dh. I just keep on. He will ask me, "do you really need that right now'?" etc. He retired last july. We are ok! I can afford to buy my fabric!! Now there. huh!

Oh boy howdy.....this is certainly the way it works at my house.

That quote is on a poster in a local jewelry shop here!

I feel very lucky that hubs has never once commented about my fabric stash...........of course he wouldn't dare.....you see about 3 or 4 times a year I hear...."Hey Hon, you got any spare quilts hanging around, the kids are doing a fund raiser at school for _____(fill in the blank) and your quilts always raise a bunch of money." Peace reigns in our house.

I work full time and have for many mnay years. When DH asked why I have so much fabric and bolts of batting I tell him it is my 401-Stash. :0) By buying now I will not have to use all my retirement money for stash building. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

I may use that line from time to time if it's ok with you LOL

Just buy a big plastic garbage bin, put some of your stash in that and put a circular table top or piece of wood on top and cover it with a cloth. You then tell everyone that it is a new table...they don't have to know what's underneath. Keep track of how many Fossils and golf clubs are bought as well..lol

I agree. Be honest and discuss it.

LOL! A good stash needs time to season. DH and I laugh about this all the time. Whenever we have moved we have a pact. He does not complain about moving my fabric boxes and I don't complain about moving his fans. I swear that man will melt away without his fans!

Gotta agree - LOL (I never bring receipts home for anything - never have, never will)

If Mama aint happy, aint nobody happy.....lol

That exact same scenario plays out in our house on a regular basis. My DH does not understand the word stash. Golf balls that go an extra hundred yards are justified, but Kona on sale is "over buying." I just purchased some fabric boards so I can organize my stash which when it is all visible should start the whole conversation all over again. I only buy fabric on sale and got some fantastic buys at the end of the year, DH is not impressed with this fact. I found some golfing fabric at the quilt expo today that will become a throw for him, maybe this will help to explain my stash. Nah.

My husband never complains about my stash. In fact, when we built our home, my sewing room was a requirement and it's got built-in cabinets that are full. He seems to enjoy taking people in there and opening up the cabinet doors to show off my stash. He joked that we needed to talk to our cabinet maker to get some cabinets made for the basement to store the overflow. He has his toys and we don't bug each other about the amount we spend on our hobbies. Over the last few years, I've been "shopping" out of my stash for any projects, so I'm happy.

Cheaper than therapy you know.I added fifty yards today.Not stash, quilt projects.Projects do make me fell better.

Well, he may be retired from one thing but sounds like he's got enough energy to find something else to do...especially if he's that worried about money...

What video would that be??

I go shopping at Salvation Army & St V'S & yard sales a lot. Get lots of goodies that way. So when I do go to the fabric store my DH doesn't care cause he knows I don't over spend (much). Now & then I do get carried away. He took me to a fabric store awhile back & told me to get what I wanted & he would sit in the car, & to take my time. I was in seventh heaven. He came in to check on me about an hour later & with a basket full of bolts, I told him I was almost done. He said not to hurry & went back to the car. Another hour later, he came back in & I had put every thing back & had an empty cart. When I saw him I said I was ready to go. He had the most dumb founded look on his face & when we go to the car, without me buying one thing, he said to me "I just don't understand you sometimes". I worry about myself at times too. LOL

What a sweet, patient, husband you must have.
I believe as sewers we just like to look and touch and see what is out there. We can dream of what we would like to make and then somewhere along the way our common sense kicks in and we tell ourselves I really don't "need" this fabric. It is just a "want" at this time, so we go empty handed but happy we had the experience.

I have been doing the same thing with my fabrics. I was inspired by Sunshines organization so yesterday my husband came in while I was organizing and putting fabrics on the boards. He said wow, you sure have a lot of fabric ( I really don't). Then he says I think I am going to have to put you on a fabric budget. He was joking but I was thinking yes yes, give me a budget and I will spend every penny of it on fabric. LOL Truth is I have spent very little for what I have. A lot of it was given to me by a friend who passed along some fabric she was given, since she does not sew. I have laughed at many of the comments so far. I can see we have to be more discreet about our stash. :)

Men like this sort of reasoning. Organize your stash and it won't seem like so much to him.

with prices going up and up and up, tell him it's an investment in your future.

My husband bought an old HD9B Alyce Chalmers tractor and has restored it. He has spent oodles of money on it so he doesn't say a word about my fabrics. besides that I was smart and made him a quilt which he loves. You might try that as well. Jan :D :D :D Jan

Oh, you need therapy. Stash therapy as soon as possible. A husband who goes to the store with you and you leave without buying anything? Four fat quarters can send my DH into depression about where we are going to store more fabric.