Do You Buy Fabric With/Without a Plan?
 

Something I read in another post got me wondering. How many of you actually have a project in mind when you buy fabric? I have to admit that I NEVER have a plan for new fabric. I buy it if I love it or if I think it would be a good blender with what I already have, and if it is on sale of course. I scan all my fabrics (at least that's my goal -- not quite there yet) into EQ6 and use it to match up fabrics for a particular project.

I have tons of stash so I use it for any quilts I make and then add new fabrics if I don't have enough. However, if I am working on a new pattern that requires some specific type fabric or I am doing for someone who wants certain colors then I shop just for that.

I buy what I like and what I think i may use in any one of my bucket list of quilt patterns.. So nope, I just buy, buy, buy..

I only buy for a project, these days its just too expensive to buy just because I like it. I also dont want to have to store it.

I used to just buy because I could or always buy more than I needed, but these days, I buy only with a project in mind. Now I have to admit, do have a healthy stash, but it is shrinking and when I buy, I only am buying what I don't already have or need to fill in for a project or buy a focus fabric and fill in with my stash. I just can't afford to buy like I used to and it kills me sometimes when I see good sales.. guess it is just a sign of the times. :(

I used to just buy when I first started quilting without regard to any project in mind but in the last 6 months I have been being more aware and usually just buy for a certain project or something to add to a project.....so far so good.:thumbup:

my fabrics are part of the palette i use to create with...so i buy any color/texture/print that i like that is on sale. you never have to buy full price when you have a stash.. when i pull fabrics to work with for any project, it is because that's the mood i'm in... pet peeve? 'Lines' of fabric....i don't want people deciding for me what to put with what... FAbric stores: just put your fabrics in color order and let me choose what i like, i hate to have to go all over the store to see ALL the yellows... just put the yellows together...let me choose one or 10...

Both! I will buy it just about every chance I get, but I'm trying to do better this year and try to use more out of my stash before buying more. Please, pray to give me strength, because I am truly addicted.

I do both. I buy with no plan from the 5.00 a yard clearance room. Mostly batiks, kids fabric or good neutrals. I very rarely pay full price for something unless I have a plan. Although this weekend, I did buy 2 yards each of two light batiks since they are good basics and I have very little light fabric. Yes, I gagged when the register displayed its total, but they will serve me well.

I always have a plan ! I PLAN to use it! lol

I rarely buy fabric any more unless I need it for a project. I have too much.

YES!
i buy fabric with and without a plan- if i want it and can afford it i buy it- sometimes i have a plan- sometimes not-

I don't buy unless i have a project or pattern to use it. I enjoy going to the LQS's several times a week. Gets me out in the winter weather and I get to see friends.

I like tjradj's answer; me too.

Good answer tjradj.Me too!!!!!!

I hear that one! I like most of what a designer puts in a line and the only reason I would stay in that line is because I am horrible at matching, but they always seam to put in polka dots or stripes or that god awful large hideous print! I agree with putting all the colors in one spot, but I look at stores this way, everyone puts the same things in their kitchens, they just put them in different spots! LOL

I'm with tjradj, LOL I also can't pass up a sale so thats where I usually buy.

75% of the time I buy b/c I like the fabric. The rest of the time I have a person and project in mind. Even then I make changes in fabrics selections as I make my project. Then it's back to the LQS I go to buy more fabric I like.

I do both.

I've done both but now with the economy and my husband retiring now it'll change how I would just buy because I liked it altho we're going to visit our son in Ga in a couple of wks and I plan on doing a little shopping for fabric or some fancy thread or whatever I can find that I like. He's living in Warner Robins, Ga I know they have a big Joanne's but I don't know what else. I'll have to look online or if anyone knows of places please let me know. Sue

I'm trying really hard to only buy fabric for a project I will work on and not put it in my stash. I'm going to get my UFOs completed and the quilt kits I have put together done this year -- OK - maybe not all but -------

I'm a sucker for fat quarters. Then I start something and dont have enough. Recognizing my addiction, I buy all the fat quarters available. Only I bought waaaaay too many today but I'll have enough for what I have in mind. lol

In answer to your question . . .

Do You Buy Fabric With/Without a Plan?

Yes :)

I can always "make a plan" for it if I want the fabric. Lol...I buy it if I like it. Maybe that's why I have so much fabric. :)

Yup, that's me to

I rarely have a specific project in mind when I buy fabric. But often the fabric inspires the project.

You should pat yourself on the back. I work at a quilting store and on so many levels it would be nice if we could just keep the fabrics in colors. But....8 out of 10 customers don't have your eye. Soooo....we keep them in their groups as much as possible. They tell us it is way to hard to find fabrics that go together and they get overwhelmed. As a rule, we keep all the Modas together as some people just want Moda fabric and they get angry if they have to look for it. After a period of time and as the group dwindles, it is then put into colors.

So, again I repeat...pat yourself on the back. I have been at my job for many many years, You are the exception not the rule.

I wish I did but sadly the majority of the time I do not have a plan/project in mind. I will buy fabric if I see a piece I like even if it's not on sale. Since I don't have a plan/project in mind, I usually buy far more fabric than I need and it sits around for months before I use it. I would like to break this habit and start buying fabric only after I have selected a specific pattern that I want to make. My goal for 2012 is to stop buying fabric without a plan/project in mind and to use more of the fabric in my stash.

Once in a while I'll buy something that strikes my fancy just because I want it.

UNLESS I'm at a thrift store or yard sale or rummage sale, then I lose my mind.

Unfortunately, I buy what strikes my fancy, but then it sits in my huge stash and goes out of style. If they wouldn't keep making new fabrics with wonderful patterns on them, I wouldn't be in the trouble I'm in!

LOL, that's not hard to do either "make a plan". I can stand in front of a fabric I like and come up with some excuse------------oops, I mean plan--------------to buy it.

Almost never and when i do have a plan it often changes. Lol

I buy with a plan and without. Sometimes you just love a fabric and have to have it.

I do both.

Sometimes I buy with a project in mind, but mostly my fabric addiciton kicks in and I buy fabrics I fall in love with.

I just buy what I like and worry about putting it together later. However, I have been using my stash for the last twelve months and refuse to buy extras to go with it. Some unusual combinations have resulted with surprising pleasure.

I recently heard a saying that I think is true. A sewer goes to the store and buys a pattern and the fabric and notions for it and goes home to make it. A quilter goes to the store and sees the fabric she likes and buys it even without knowing what she's going to do with it. We love fabric and we know when we see fabric that we like eventually we'll use it somewhere or not. But we buy it because we like it and sometimes we buy it for a certain project.

I only buy for projects. That said, I will overbuy by about a yard or 1/2 of each for booboos. That's where my (preferred) meager stash comes from. I'm not a 'scrappy' person and usually only do bed-sized quilts. I don't have room to store lots of fabric or the $$ to spend on it 'just because' at this point.

I fall in love with the fabric and HAVE to buy it. (I've made myself stop looking for a while.) Unfortunately, when I decide to make a quilt, what I have usually doesn't go together. Then when I really do have a project in mind, I end up buying too many fabrics for it and I can't decide!