I'm a fabric junkie!!!

[Christine in Kettering]

Hello from chirstine in kettering Does anyone out there look around and think to themself where can I hide one more yard of fabric so my husband does not find it? :D I must come clean and tell you I am a fabric junkie and would love to hear from others who know what I'm talking about.I also do hand embroidery and quilting. But mostly I collect fabric If I live to be 200 years old I might be able to use it all.:)

[Angela]

I can relay to you. I have eight huge plastic pails of fabric and continue to buy more. I try to stay out of the fabric stores but it is hard :) . Do you know where I can get a pattern for a posing suit?:)

[Christine in Kettering]

Hello Angela,
you might try ebay for what your looking for. Between fabric.com, ebay, and Jo Ann Fabric I will never be able to stop working.
Christine.

[DarcyFowkes]

I always thought the holy grail of collecting fabrics was having something to do with it, which aliviates the guilt for me :D. Sew my solution is to make gifts with mine; and find projects that would take less time than combatting the crowds. But then I would rather sew than shop................:o

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi Darcy,
I do try to use alot of the fabric I buy making quilts, pillows and throws as gifts to all my children,and grandchildren but I must admit I don't buy fabric with a craft in mind I buy it because I just have to have that print or that color fabric
Christine.

[merlynn]

Christine,
I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who just buys fabric because they love it. I have so many totes full of fabric, that it's not funny. And yes I too hide it from my husband. Is there a group therapy for this? My husband says that when I die that he's going to burn eveything:eek: He better be teasing.:confused: But my sister-in-law says that all the money that I've spent on my fabric probably is worth more than the coffin, so she promised me that she's going to roll me up in all of it and bury me with it:D I tell my husband that's real love:p
Merlynn
p.s.
Christine when you do see fabric that you just must have, how many yards do you get? I too like to make lap quilts, aprons for friends and dress for my little girl

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi Merlynn,
Are you sure were not long lost sisters? :rolleyes: When I buy fabric it's anywhere from 5 inch squares to 10 yards I get on ebay and just go crazy bidding on fabric. Then I come to fabric.com everyday to see whats new. My husband just looks at me like I've lost my mind. I too make lap quilts,pillows potholders ect... And then I give them all away to family and friends.:o
Christine.

[Law101]

Hi,
I'm Lois and I have lived out in the sticks of Missouri for the last 5 years since I moved here from So. Calif. This house has a full basement and I have managed to fill it up, mostly with my fabric and sewing area.

My son and his family have moved in with me and I have got my daughter in-law hooked on quilting too. I think I have doubled the amount of material in the basement since she got here in May. I have promised to teach her how to us my LongArm as soon as they get their house built so I have room to use it again.

Love the idea of the forum. It is great to be able to chat with others who have interests in common.

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi Lois,
It's great to hear from a sister fabric junkie.But it does sound like you have me beat I have a small sewing room full. But a whole basement is just a tad bigger.I went to a estate sale this past weekend and picked up 5 big boxes of vintage fabric for $5.00 You would have thought I won food for life or something I was in heaven.

[merlynn]

Hi Louise and Christine,

Louise, I just have to say how jealouse I am that you have a basement full of fabric:cool: and for you Christine I wish I was there before you at that yard sale:p . I do have a ? for you girls, how do you get motived? I have so many ideas, with what I what to make. But sometimes I'm just so busy with everyday life. I have 3 children : boys-11 & 9 and a girl 5. I work partime to support my addiction (fabric:D ) and too have extra cash in the household. With homework (helping the kids) & house cleaning, sometimes I'm just too tired.
Nice talking to you girls aka my long lost sisters:)
Merlynn

[Law101]

Hi Merrilyn

I no longer work so I have more time on my hands than you have at the moment. I raised 4 kids and worked as a nurse, so I know how little time you have. I try to keep to a routine. I do most of my cutting first thing in the morning after my Grandson leaves for school. I watch Simply Quilts and have my coffee and then check my email. After that it is down to the basement I go.

Like you I have lots of ideal for quilts. I put everything for that ideal, including the pattern, in a plastic sweater size box. I put a 3x5 card inside the front end, so I can read it through the plastic box, with the info as to who it is for and the date I need it finished. I then put it in my shelving unit in date needed order. When I finish one project, I will start on another. I try not to have more than two projects going at a time.

I store all my stash in large plastic containers. I sort it by color or theme. I have numbers on the plastic containers. I always cut a 2 1/2 strip of fabric and attach it to a 3x5 card with all info about fabric on it. Manufacturer, name of fabric, amt, and yardage. I also put the box number the fabric is stored in on the card. It is much easier to find exactly the right fabric for my project without having to go through all the boxes of material. I know just what box to find it in. I store the strips in shoe box size plastic containers. I fold the material so it is thick enough to see it's color, without undoing it, when I open the box. It is also sorted by color family but I write on a label on the box.

My large bins are stored on shelving units. 36 inches wide shelf holds 2 bins per shelf. 8 bins per shelving unit. I used safty pins to attach flannel backed plastic tableclothes to clothesline hung on cup hooks across the ceiling infront of my shelving units. This keeps the light from fading my fabrics and gives me a design wall to work with (hang flannel side facing out)

Hope this gives people some ideas for controlling their stash.

Lois

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi Merrilyn,
I try to do my crafts on the weekends. I also work and keeping my 11 year old grandson. I do find myself starting different quilts and throws and not finishing them before I start another.I tell myself I'll get back to them and I do, but it is sometimes months down the road. I find a fabric and think that would look good in this or that pattern and away I go. I also cut and sell quilting squares on ebay, to make extra money to (you guessed it) buy more fabric.

[Rose13]

Hi
Hope I am posting this Ok.
I too am a fabric junkie. This home we are now in we had built for us one room is for sewing and computer stuff. One room my kids call the fabric bunker. all books and fabrics and patterns and stuff....I AM A JUNKY!!!
Rose

[westbrook]

hello, my name is brook and I do not have a problem! my husband thinks I do but I don't so therefore I don't!

just because I wait until my husband is in bed before bringing it in, cut a swatch, catalog it and store it away doesn't mean I am a junky! no not me!

I don't have that much... I use the rubber maid totes.. the medium sized ones because the large ones get heavy and having them stacked floor to ceiling makes heavy ones difficult to get down on a ladder. the bottom ones to tend to buckle too.

fabric bunker? yes one could describe my fabric room as a bunker. then there is the pattern room... but this is a fabric thread not a pattern collection thread because again, I am not a pattern junky! [gotta get that shopping bag of patterns put away before DH gets home]

I don't have a problem with sewing machines either.. I think I have 27 and all but 1 runs. I have 8 sergers too but honest I use them all!

so no I don't have a problem... now where are those coupons for 50% off at Joann's and Hancock's?

ok, yes I have a problem.. I have rooms filled but no more of a problem then my husband has... why he has umteen screw drivers, and sockets and hammers!!! he has 2 huge tool boxes.. just because his stuff takes up less space then mine! <smile>

each time my dh complains, I take him by the hand to the garage, open a drawer in his tool box and say 'I rest my case' then leave him standing there. I figure if I do this enough he will get it figured out.

Life is grand!

brook

[Christine in Kettering]

Hello Rose, and Brook.
I am so glad to know I have lots of fabric junkie sisters out there :) For awhile I thought I was by myself. I got to the point of filling my dresser, chest and closets full of fabric just to hide it.My poor clothes are a mess:eek: but hey! my fabric is in great condition.Someday when I am not keeping my grandkids or working 6 day a week at my job. I will make myself the most colorful quilt you will ever see. With the fabric I have it should cover half the state of Ohio.

[Rose13]

Hi quilters,:)

Confession is hard but I feel I must unburden myself, so here goes....
There is a quilt shop by the grocery store - I stopped in to check and talk to them about next years "block - the - month program". :confused: I got the info and I guess I'll sign up for that project next year. Rigth now I must have 20 UFO's lurking about here in various places. If I finished every UFO i have around here I would never have to buy another gift for any occasion. But here I am looking for more projects....

That is not my confession: While in the quilt shop I purchched a pattern and some fabric..... Pain now this really hurts..... When I got home I realized and already had the pattern :eek: amd also the fabric :D .

Do I have a problem?

Rose is out there shopping in the LQS or online.

But it is so much fun--

Rose

[Christine in Kettering]

Rose,
I'm so glad that you came clean, because I have been there and done that. I tell myself that it's ok because it must really be a great pattern or fabric for me to want to buy it over and over and over..................:D
Christine.

[techitoes]

My husband asked me if I wrote your posts ladies!!! We have the same <ahem> issue at our house. I'm worst with the beautiful dupioni silk they sell on this site. I can't get enough! I don't have the body type to wear anything that shiny though, so I make purses from it.

I used to do the rubbermaid thing with my fabric, but about 6 months ago I picked up 2 sets of Elfa(?) storage units from an estate sale. I love them- I can see all my fabric through the wire baskets so it doesn't get "lost."

Which reminds me- any of you ever buy a great peice of fabric and come home and find that you already had some that you forgot you bought? :o

Cheers, Techitoes

[Christine in Kettering]

Hello Techitoes,
Yes! Yes! Yes! If I buy one more yard of fabric , and then find I already have about 10 yards of it I think I will......... OK I will buy it again and just hide it away. Someday it will end up in a quilt or throw or it might just become vintage and everyone will want it and only I will have it:D :D :D
Christine.

[techitoes]

I keep telling myself the next time I want fabric I will "go shopping" in my sewing room first...we all know how well that works...

P.S. I'm the same way with beads and beading supplies:o

[westbrook]

so wednesday is my thrift store shopping day... my daughter's school is half day and we do a girls day out. I pick her up and then it is Lunch first and then to her favorite thrift store.

I start out at 9am, town is 40 miles away and go to 5 thrift stores before I have to pick my Pampered Princess up for lunch.

In my truck I have ... hiding of course... 4 bags of patterns and 3 bags of fabric.. maybe 4 bags of fabric... lost track!

I can't bring them into the house until tomorrow... after my husband goes to work!

I don't have a problem.. my husband does!

<evil grin>

brook

[Christine in Kettering]

Hey Brook,I sure wish I could have went shopping with you. I could have used a few bags of that fabric!! I myself just won a big box of assorted fabric on ebay. I can't wait to see it, I just hope my husband is not home when the mail comes. Oh and I bought a great quilt kit on Fabric.com it was so pretty I ordered another. Boy I'm glad my husband is not the only husband with the same problem. Do you think we should get them help??

[westbrook]

inventory of thrift store fabric

flannel

2 yards of white with pretty lavander flowers with deep purple accents $1.95
1 yard of deep purple to match above $0.95

plan is wash to shrink and then make my Mother a nightgown for christmas

Knit

2 yards t-shirt knit with large floral pattern $1.95
2 yards t-shirt knit black, more sweater like $1.95
2 yards t-shirt knit with pastel flowers $1.95

swimsuit

1 yard of swimsuit fabric, black background with bright flowers (ok, not great... will make a better skirt cover up over bathing suit) $0.95

Polyester knit

3 yards of a polyester knit.. shiny in white with pink flowers.. suitable for a nightgown in the winter. $1.95

2 yards shear fabric.. looks like a batiste with ribbon running vertically. Hard to explain.. will make an awesome slinky nighty if I was 21 and newly married! but at my age.... I don't think so. but it was pretty and it was $2.50 so I bought it. might make a pretty blouse with a camisole under.

upholestry fabric
1 yard of what looks like velour fabric but not. It is rust/orange with a variation in texture in a black. Actually quite pretty. I will make a jacket out of it for daughter. (turtle neck in black, black tight pants with knee high boots and jacket) $0.95

1 lap/crib size pieced quilt top. Needs batting and backing and of course quilting. I will give this to a friend to practice on. $2.95

have I mentioned yet that all of the prices were sticker but wednesday is 50% off!!!

so for under $10 I got all of the above.. the patterns are 12 cents each.

my husband just doesn't get it! it is such a deal <smile>

I have many totes filled with fabric.. what is 20 or 30 more? ROFL!!! I have 60 something totes cataloged. I ran out of rubermaid totes. I can't use any others because of the manufacturing process. they have holes that let spiders and bugs in! this wouldn't do so I prefer the rubbermaid.

I have to empty my fabric room, I have a mobile home behind the goat barn that is empty, so I will fill the mobile home with my sewing stuff. I need the room for the holidays, with all the kids coming home. .. and.. I have a dog due to welp next week and with it being in the teens each morning, I can't let her welp out in the cold. She gets the room first.

Husbands just don't understand that sewing is becoming a lost art. they don't understand that when we find clothing fabric we have to grab it now! not wait. That fabric is seasonal and the sweater knit I find today will not be there in a week let alone next year, after all, fabric isn't like a craftsman tool!

husbands just don't understand, I don't think they ever will which is why they need us! .... to 'splain it to them, you know lead by example! <wink>

[techitoes]

My husband just rolls his eyes whenever he gets home and sees a Fabric.com box on the counter;)

[Christine in Kettering]

Hey guys why don't we come up with some patterns to make little stockings for our husbands tools:D . Then maybe it will help them to understand.... :rolleyes: Nah It would never work unless we used fabric with only team logos.;)
Christine.

[balsamsue]

Hi Christine,
Yes, I hear you and relate.... I buy fabric on ebay... I'm always looking for moose fabric! I sew up a lot of items with the dried balsam and customers everywhere love moose.
Sue
SLOW DOWN AND SMELL THE BALSAM!

[techitoes]

Where do you find moose fabric?

I am looking for chihuahua fabric (for my neice)- we found one with the doggies dressed in little outfits- it was called diva something- but she didn't like that too much:(

[weesie]

Guilty, guilty, guilty to all the previously mentioned devious tactics for getting the stash into the house without my husband noticing! Unfortunately we are both retired and he sees the UPS truck when it pulls up to deliver yet another box from fabric.com.
However, he did not utter one word of complaint when I asked him to build a whole wall of shelves for my fabric bins (I use the clear plastic bins and sort fabric by type and by color and sometimes by potential project). Then a wall of bookshelves. Then a third wall of shelves. Then a cutting table. Then a table for my sergers. Now I need more shelves on the fourth wall but haven't mentioned it yet - it means clearing stuff out of the sewing room, and where do I put the stuff in the meantime?

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi ladies,I'm just back from..... You guessed it buying more fabric. I came up with this great idea of making great big pillows that my grandchildren can lay on to watch t.v. I'm using fabric prints of candy, jelly beans, m&m's, gumballs ect.... On one side and the other side I have printed photos of them with different family members from birth to now. So they will all have sweet dreams and memories. And to Techitoes have you tried ebay? go there and type in what your looking for and if someone has it it will pop up. To weesie's husband I say God Bless you, for trying to understand weeise's habit and building her a place to keep it.And Weesie tell your husband all you want for Christmas is a 4th wall of shelvesChristine.

[westbrook]

what habit? I don't see no habit! I see lots of fabric but no habit!

I am heading to Mississippi in the morning.. flying.. but husband and I are riding a motorcycle back to califonria... the big question is.. how do I get fabric on the bike? without him noticing? this will be a challange!

brook

[HSG]

LOL Westbrook! Get a side car for the bike. He will never notice! ~: )

I remember as a child all the loads of fabric my Mom had. She made all our clothes, and most of her own. Not tomention having the most up to date decorated house in our neighborhood! She could make and sew her own patterns, and would make things she saw in magazines. I wish I had half the sewing abilities she did.

I guess that is where I get my fabric obsession from, and I'm not afraid to admit it. ~: P

[techitoes]

HSG, my mom was a terrific sewer too. She did beatiful tailored things for herself, my sister and me. I wish I still had 1 or 2 of the dresses she made me when I was little. I hated being fitted though, I was always afraid of the pin sticks!

She had a wool coat she made for herself out of a tweedy blend of greens with some red bits here and there. One day I asked her if she was going to wear her "pickle relish coat." After she passed away I found some remnants of that fabric in her basement. I doubt I will ever use them for anything but they are a treasured posession!

[Christine in Kettering]

Hello Ladies,
I can remember at Christmas we did not have alot and my mother would make Barbie doll clothes for mine and my sisters dolls They looked just as good as the store bought ones. Sometimes even better! To Techitoes take some of your mothers fabic and have in framed I did that with part of an old quilt that My mother had done years ago before she died. It was falling apart and I just could not bare to part with it so I took the best part of it and had it put in a lovely frame.
Christine.

[Tracey'sByDesign]

I have been sewing since 1971 for profit. I think through the years I have tried everything. I prefer the projects that I can be the most creative with. I began doing weddings, then I would get tired of spoiled girls and do something else. I prefer to teach qulting by machine and hand when I can. I converted the garage to appease my husband and it had become my domain. I have my computer and the sewing machines. The fabric is so deep that I only have a little path from the door to the back of the shop to the computer. I sew on a variety of machines, Viking Embroidery/sewing, Brother and most reciently the heavy weight Singer. Each serves a different purpose and I like them all. Right now I am sewing mostly for needy children for Christmas.

[Christine in Kettering]

Hi Tracey Its nice meeting another sister fabric junkie. When I first started this thread I never dreamed so many others were out there. I thought that most people bought just enought fabric needed to do their quilt, pillows, clothes, ect....BUT!! I was WRONG!! I'm not alone out here!! I have FABRIC JUNKIE FRIENDS. And I would like to thank each and everyone of you for adding you own little stories to my thread. I have enjoyed reading them all. And I would like to say you are all in my thoughts as I hide another yard of fabric in yet another place I hope my husband dose not look. TO ALL OF YOU I HOPE YOU HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THE HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS!! NOW GET OUT THERE AND GET THAT CHRISTMAS FABRIC THAT'S ON SALE YOU KNOW YOU CAN ALWAYS HIDE IT AWAY FOR NEXT CHRISTMS! P.S (My husband thinks we are all nuts!!) Say's the man who has over 175,000 basecards! and over 200 pocket knives. BEST WISHES. CHRISTINE.

[westbrook]

with Wal-Mart closing down the fabric department in April of 2007 leaving only a few bolts of fabric being sold... to be replaced with party goods... we will be glad we have a fabric stash!

if mad.. sign the petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/savefab/petition.html

or call WM 1-800-Wal-Mart and tell them.

[sandy830]

Hi Christine,
Boy can I relate to you. I too am a fabric junkie. Only now My fabric jones is anything with a bee motif. I used to make my husband dress shirts, because he was a beekeeper. I had aprons made (50 of them) for our restaurant, which has a bee theme and I still have fabric coming out my ears. I have custody of my two granddaughters, now they will be the brunt of anything I can create with my "bee" material, since their grandfather recently passed away. And I still go to fabric stores, shop at fabric.com, shop e-bay and several other craft stores constantly looking for fabric with bees. I will probably never stop acquiring fabric as long as I am alive. By the way, I live in Springfield, OH and I have a cousin who lives in Kettering.
Sandy

[westbrook]

the continuing saga of a fabriholic...

I sold another puppy to a lady in Miami and traveled with the pup to deliver her. While there I was asked to show her how to design a dog bed (like a cot). Took about an hour to do after she poured out what was on her mind.

And now to ... fabic shopping! <wrings hands together> I took home 45 pounds of fabric with another 2 boxes to be shipped! oh the dog bed? made it out of shade cloth that was purchased in the garden department at a hardware store.

I just haven't mentioned it to my husband yet. Speaking of not mentioning things... I bought another serger.

It wasn't my fault! I wasn't even looking! my friend has an Elna with a cover stitch and I was eying hers. She found a Viking 936 (used but complete) at her favorite sew-n-vac store and dickered with the owner and got if for $499. She then calls me and says... this is what I found and how much it is. I put $100 on it and made arrangements to pay over the next 3 months... do you want it?

Oh my! how can I turn this down? how do I explain this to my husband? "but honey, I know I have 7 sergers.. what's one more? and.. this one... does a cover stitch? "

I am working on how I am gonna tell him.. and I will tell him.. someday... <giggle>

brook