lotti wrote:
I get it!

hello folks
they've been keeping me busy since i got back... still am a bit in the clouds - saturday we had our annual lake festival where they had an airshow from the swiss army's PC-7 "mini-"fleet - so i took about 200 pictures - in the hopes that we could use one or two for our brochure-backgrounds... so...
instead of finally getting the ireland pictures sorted and uploaded - i've been doing these in every spare moment - have also been buying thread and trying out some threadplay ...
have started a blog about ireland ages ago - but i think there are still only two lines in there - well the good thing about taking so long is that the various official and semi-official quilt festival pictures have already been posted - so i can keep my selection to a minimum - and instead bore you only with my scenery pictures - a huge warning though - i've spent quite some time hunting up flowers and beasties - bumble-bee beasties to be exact - have never seen so many bumble bees as i saw in glendalough...
it's been planned - and one day

You really don't want to know! My SIL and I would go to Houston Festival together, and it was almost a contest to see who came back to the hotel room with the most FQs. She could pick up around 500 at one show. We'd buy a few at almost every vendor. The problem I found with so many FQs is that whenever I went to take a class I never had a half a yard of this and a yard of that, but only FQs. I now buy fewer fabrics in larger amounts! I think FQs can be addicting, and I'm really not into making FQ friendly quilts.

Maybe I can't count that high? Houston sure sounds like a budget buster!!



Nice to see you back, Lotti!

I have a lot of fat quarters but I, too, generally by 1/2 yards now. I usually want a bit more than a fat quarter except for the stuff that I usually use very scrappy, which would be the blacks and whites. And I refuse to pay more per yard for a fat quarter than for the yardage so I generally won't buy fat quarters anywhere except at my LQS which prices them accordingly. I have no idea how many fat quarters I actually have, but wouldn't be surprised if it's in the thousands.

Nancy

Glad your back, Lotti...You've been missed !

I'm with Eileen. FQs are just too small for a lot of projects, yes I have a bunch, but most of my fabric bits are full yard or two yard pieces... If FQs I generally buy two, one for the stash and one that I'm 'allowed' to cut into So sad, I have all these great fabrics, but can't use them because then they'll be gone. Total nutcase!

crocus999 wrote:
You really don't want to know! My SIL and I would go to Houston Festival together, and it was almost a contest to see who came back to the hotel room with the most FQs. She could pick up around 500 at one show. :shock: We'd buy a few at almost every vendor. The problem I found with so many FQs is that whenever I went to take a class I never had a half a yard of this and a yard of that, but only FQs. I now buy fewer fabrics in larger amounts! I think FQs can be addicting, and I'm really not into making FQ friendly quilts.

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

I just spoke with a lady from our guild and she told me (confessed?) that she has.......2000 fat quarters. I happen to think that's a lot; and, that is NOT including the yardages she has, which I cannot imagine. I don't think my LQS has 2000 FQ's!

I'd say I have maybe 30-40 unused, estimating on the larger number of unused FQs. Many of mine have been used once or twice, especially for exchanges.

How 'bout you? How many unused fat quaters do you have???

eileenkny wrote:
Sounds like a great formula to me!

Fernando,
I'd buy 1/2 yard if you like the fabric, 1 yard if you love it, and 3 yards if you can't live without it.

I like to make scrap quilts because seeing how different colors and patterns look together is what excites me most about quiltmaking. So I buy small pieces; then I can have as many different colors and patterns as possible. I used to purchase quarter yards but several years ago began buying third yards. It does not cost that much more but yields quite a bit more usable fabric. A quarter yard is only 9 inches, and if it is cut unevenly there may not be a lot of it left by the time you prepare it for use. If, however, there are fat quarters available of the fabric I want at the same price per yard as fabric from the bolt, then that is what I get.

dfrank27 wrote:

Enough Stash Accumulation!!! I have been moving my fabrics and now I have to face the growth of the stash...WOW! I did not realize that I had so MUCH FABRIC. ENOUGH!!!

Fernando,
hi! I am the metric one and have always bought at least 1/2 meter pieces and when I see something very extra special, like some Alexander Henry fabric or a Kaffe Fassett bold print, then I buy one meter. I also take advantage of sales and stock up on neutral and backing fabrics buying 3 or 4 meters at a time.
hope this also helps
Jeanine in very snowy Nova Scotia

I think I recall Alex recommending 1/3 yard (thrifty gal!) however, also remember her recommending a new neutral fabric she found and returned a few times for more yardage - in the end at least 5 yards. Her excitement is contagious!

For my own stash I now buy 1/2 yard pieces of things I believe will be useful. For the pieces that show something special, a yard or 1.5 yards. When something makes me say, "oh, my!" then the length grows (and grows.) I settled on a 1/2 yard minimum as pieces that size hold up well in prewashing and also cover any errors in cutting (by me or the LQS.) I've also learned to take an extra hard look at sale fabric to avoid bringing home yards of 2nd rank pieces. Good 'lights' are particularly difficult to find so I try to take an extra cruise around a shop looking specifically for those. Enjoy!