Can't Stop Shopping
 

I've become obsessed with searching for quilting fabric on Craigslist and at garage sales. I'm sure my family will be staging an intervention soon. It all started when I came across fabric at Joann's priced at $12.99 yard. I make a lot of charity quilts for Quilts for Kids but I just can't see spending that kind of money for them (I know not all fabrics cost that much). Anyway, I've thoroughly enjoyed the summer garage sale season and I've had some good finds. One lady was a fabric designer, another sewed Vera Bradley knock-off purses - so they've had really some really great fabrics at great prices.

My name is Julie - and I'm a fabri-holic.

We're in the same club.
My name is Sophie and I'm a fabri-holic.

My name is Sue and I'm a fabri-holic.

I don't do the garage sale thing though. I stick to LQS but usually wait for sales. The last sale I attended was 75% because the shop was closing. They also gave an extra 5% off if you finished the bolt, and I found a lot of skinny bolts. I walked home with 77 yards of fabric for less than $300.00.

My name is Kathy and I'm a fabri-holic and proud of it.

I also look at garage sales etc. I got to a point I was going to stop quilting or I had to start using fabric I could find. I am happy with my choice. I do avoid looking at all the new fabrics as I can't afford it. I also do donation quilts and also do quilting for some one else that does donation quilts, Vietnam vets and hospice, and I quilt them. I did find some one that was looking to donate very nice Moda fabric but she wanted a recipe for tax deductible and of course we can't afford to have tax exempt status.

I am in the same boat ! I do still love to look at the new fabrics though, and if there is something that I really love, I try and get just a fat quarter of it to mix in with my other fabric finds with whatever I am going to make. Honestly, unless the person you are giving the item that you made to is a quilter or fabric person, they have no clue !

Everyone on this board loves fabric or they wouldn't be a member. Fabric just seems to call our name even though we may have yards of the stuff at home. I think it's a good idea to set yourself a budget and not overspend your amount. Periodically you also need to take a look at what you have and perhaps do some sharing. I think there are a lot of worse problems than loving fabric.

I am proud to be a fabric addict! No 12 step for me!

Garage sales and estate sales are great places to shop for fabric ..... I love it. I finally got selective in the fabric I bought since my stash became notorious. Enjoy the experience, there are worse things you could be doing.

Hi I'm Mary and I"m not a fabric holic ( yet ). But if I don't stop looking at sales on line I will be. Down South we just don't have the amount of people that make quilts as you do in the Northern States, so garage sales are not much help. But I did hit a good garage sale for some 100% white cotton top sheets ( yes I know), but for kids quilts they are great.

I think I am bordering between being a fabricholic and a fabric hoarder. Thrift stores, yard sales, auctions, misc. finds, just about anywhere there is fabric I WILL FIND. After being dry (not sewing for years), I am finally getting back into it. I have been designing and of course collecting --- for my retirement in a few years of course.

Hi! My name is Traci and I'm an addict. I'm addicted to fabric. Doesn't matter where it was born, if I like it, I buy it. If I love it, I may buy the whole bolt! I don't really want help. I'm ok with having this affliction. So far my dh is ok with it too. He's never told me I shouldn't or can't buy fabric. Thank goodness!

Oh yeah, I shop till I run out of money (and still I look). I've also become an enabler, my DIL is learning to sew and she needs supplies, right? :)

New fabric has gotten too expensive. I had been selling some fabric, but decided that with the cost of new, I was better off to keep what I have, even if I use it for the backs of quilts. You never know what you might find at a garage sale...or good will...as long as it is good fabric, doesn't matter where it came from.

I need to stop buying so much fabric and not using it. I can't go into a fabric store without buying something. If I was rich it won't matter so much. When I start a new project, I buy new fabric instead of using what I have. I bought fabric for a quilt for my son and his fiance and didn't start it. Saw another pattern and class and bought the fabric for a quilt for them. Maybe I'll make them a 2 sided quilt.

Well, guess I'm right there with the rest of you...I have cut back on buying so much new as I have a huge stash and hubby retires in 9 weeks so we gotta cut back on everything, I do buy if I find nice at my thrift stores or yard sales and maybe a piece or 2 to go with what I already have but I also give all my quilts away so just got to be a little more thrifty now with things so expensive.

my name is Nancy and I'm a fabri-holic. How do I know... I just moved and had to pack it all LOL

Although I really don't "need" any more fabric, I still will buy at thrift stores, yard sales and at fabric stores.

Hi! My name is Fabriholic and I keep looking for more. My latest finds include 7 bolts [ some partial ] of flannels and other plaids. I payed a whopping $40.00 for it and got an estimated 60 yards. Then a few days later I acquired for $20.00, 2 whopping big tote tubs of misc. quilting cottons. I have been sorting and filing and have filled 3 of the shallow tubs with the most beautiful FQs and up to 2 yard pieces. there was also enough 4-10 yard pieces to fill a supersize tub ! There was also a garbage bag full of " scraps" and this is where I found cut quilt pieces and most of the FQs. Not too bad for a little hard work!! And yes my sewing room is overflowing.

Yep, I am a fabric addict also.

When I donate anything, I don't ask for a tax receipt. Especially, when it's going to a good cause. One year my husband was given 2 large whole hams. He called his main ofc and asked if he could give one to the local soup kitchen, and the other to a family of 8 who just lost their father. The company didn't even think about asking for a receipt. It wasn't big enough for them to deduct. Being a fabri-holic is better than an alcoholic. no one benefits from an alcoholic.

One definition of a fabric- dependency problem...a quilter who accepts free fabric,even though there is no place to put it! I must be a fabric- holic....just moved my 93 year old MIL into assisted living apartment....coveting all her unused storage space!

That's a great idea. Maybe I'll track yardage and the number of quilts I'm able to get out of it. Thanks!

By my way of thinking if you and/or your husband were given two whole hams and wanted to , you could eat them, give them away, or let them sit out and rot, or even feed them to your dogs or cats....they are yours. Why would you need to ask? Were they given with the provision that they were for your table only?

I understand and sympathize with your problem.

It was a good thing I was only in the states briefly just now. I hit up all the thrift stores in the area. I hit a jackpot in a store about 45 min. from mom and dad's house--lots of nice stuff --I think it was $1/yard. Really good quality quilting cottons--beautiful stuff. But mostly...not too much there in FL.

If you have that tendency, it might be a problem to spend more time "on the hunt" for fabric than actually sewing. I'm still putting stuff away that I brought over on the plane and I arrived on Sat. afternoon! (Of course, I've been sewing....!)

I used to be a fabriholic but yesterday scored a victory. I went into a fabric store with my DH (he had to have a small piece of velvet) and I didn't come out with a single FQ or any material. YEAH

My name is Linda and I'm a fabric-holic, so is my sister Nancy, and even though we live 500 miles apart we are each other's enabler, as if we don't buy enough fabric for ourselves we buy fabric for each other when we see great deals!

The only garage sale that was in our area I didn't see until Sat. Figured by then there wouldn't be anything left so I didn't go. Don't have much luck at thrift stores around here. Oh by the way, my name is Nancy and I am a fabric-holic!

I LOVE fabric. Love to feel it, smell it, cut it, sew it! I will buy fabric anywhere if it appeals to me. Also have a friend who hates scraps and doesn't want to use them so she gives them to me. I will buy at garage sales, thrift shops, estate sales, quilt shops, Walmart, mill end stores, wherever, and I have quite a bit inherited from my mother. This year, however since my cupboards were crammed so tightly I decided I would only use from my stash. I have made 7 quilt tops this summer and bought nothing. I can now put back what I didn't use without skinning my knuckles trying to stuff it in. Since I have reached the age of 80 I need to continue to use what I have and only buy what I absolutely have to have. I did buy some thread and a couple of charm packs this year. I am enjoying using my stash and "making do" if I don't have exactly what I think I would like and I really like the quilt tops I have done this year.

My name is Jude & I'm a fabriholic. I don't suffer from it though, I embrace it.

A word to the wise ....or....what i learned buying fabric.
Don't go out and buy a ton of prints, you'll end up like me and not have any two fabrics that look good together. For now if i don't have a plan I don't buy, If i have a weak moment it has to be a blender. Fabric is moving me out of my sewing room and into an empty bedroom.
RE: Joanns 12.99 fabric. I get offering different levels of quality but their 12.99 is not any better than the 10.00 stuff at the QS and with their network and distribution they should be offering that fabric for far less....shame on you Joanns!

Oh I totally agree about Joann's. I do like it when they put their country classic solids on sale for 50% off though. Again, great for charity quilts. If I'm making something special for family or good friends (or myself - that happens once in a while), I'll visit the local quilt shop and pick out something pretty :)

Yep, I search on CL every morning after I finish on the Quilting Board. It's an illness.

The popularity of threads talking about our addiction says it all. Love fabric, love sales. Yard sales are especially good since you get great prices and usually get to talk to another quilter.

I love a good find!

Hi my name is Pat and I am a fabric-holic. I am trying to recover this year. I do buy some things as I need it to fill in for projects. I am trying to sew mostly from my stash this year. I am doing ok. I have made several quilts almost exclusively from my stash. I also quit buying fabric for my backs I piece them from what I have. I am not sure how long I will be able to stay on the wagon with my fabric buying moratorium. I have fallen off a couple of times. I even and making 2 customer quilts mostly from my stash.
I make several charity quilts a year too. I just make whatever I decide sounds interesting at the time. I finish it and eventually something comes up to donate it to. I do all kinds of different charities.

I am in denial but, I have way too much fabric. But hopefully by the end of winter it will be tamed down to the normal stash.

My name is Judy and I am a fabri-holic and intend to stay one!!!!:):thumbup: