I get that one all the time from people who then expect me to make them quilts to justify the cost of MY machine ;-)

i am a quilter and i am one who don't understand either. i made clothes for most of my sewing life so i had a stash of fabrics to rival some of the quilter's stashes i see here but i had my own boutique clothing line and i made custom clothing so i needed all of those fabrics. right!!:D now that i am a quilter, my stash includes different fabrics(than sewing days) but i would be totally lost in some of the quilt stashes i see on this board. i go to estate sales often of quilter's who have 'passed on' and see stashes they would have never been able to sew their way through.

i wonder is it just a desire to collect when one has more fabric than they could ever hope to sew up. it is a comfort to be surrounded by 1000's of yards of fabrics and double digit numbers of sewing machines. i know that i love fabrics (and buttons) and if i didn't monitor myself, i too would have 1000's of yards of fabric that i would never make it through. i try to buy what i need by projects or future projects yet to be designed and try to preserve some walking space in my home (which is very little right now:)).

perhaps our obsession (eek that word:)) is just to own and surround ourselves with things we find pretty and obtainable rather than things we plan to use. who knows for sure.:cool:

haha! good point ;-)

When my mom taught me how to cut out a pattern (many ages ago), she taught me to place the pieces as closely together, as possible (while still keeping grain straight, of course). There was almost always a good bit of left-over fabric. Need I say she liked quilting? :D

I love all my fabric and love looking at it and touching it! I do wonder what in the world I will ever DO with some of it, but it doesn't stop me from craving more!! After my mom had quilted for many years and Dad had obligingly complimented her on them, because they were always on the floor at his feet while mom figured out the next step, he actually ask for one for himself and she made him a lovely scrappy bow-tie! I can still see him glancing out from behind the newspaper to see what was going on down on the floor! Miss him and mom still sews at 91.

My Mom did that, too. I still cringe when someone cuts out a piece 'wastefully'

One of the first things I tried to teach the granddaughters - you can have some of my fabric - but PLEASE use it carefully!

Most of my non quilting friends I have let drift away. We have nothing in common anymore that interests me or them when we are together.

you have no other outside interests other than quilting? i have a whole group of women that i visit restaurants or do other fun things with monthly and none of them quilt. we have a supper club (for women 40 and older) and we go to the theater or visit the wineries or take cooking classes together. i also have different groups of friends that i do volunteering activities with or travel with (we luv cruises and the caribbean) and neither of these groups quilt.

there is so much more to do along with quilting.:)

I had such fun last month when I was with some on-line friends and we shopped and talked and bought. No explanations necessary, no asking 'what project are you going to do with that'. We were camping and DH's kept themselves busy with no comments on what we bought.

I don't save much under 2 inches because I try to keep it under control. I also want the fabric manufactures to stay in business or we won't have any new fabric.

My quilting friends do more then quilting. That's silly to think quilt friends only quilt together. We have season passes to the art center, go to all the broadway shows that come to town, take trips to museums, go to dinner theaters, go to clothes fittings/shopping. We do volunteer work and sponsor charity events for local groups. I choose to do non quilt activities with other quilters. We understand when a trip to a political benefit may take a detour when we see a quilt shop sign.