My husband always says, “When in Rome do like the Romans”. Â Well I wasn’t in Rome but I was in the fabric shops with other quilters. Â I thought maybe I should alter the saying a bit so it went something like this…”When in fabric shops with quilters, do like the quilters”. Â So I did…I bought fabric like the quilters who were on the retreat with us.
I’ve been good about buying fabric this whole year. Â Yes, I’ve had lots of fabric come in but very little has been purchased by me…so I quickly made up for lost time.
With stops at three different fabric shops, I actually didn’t do that bad. Â As you can see the majority of it all is neutrals. Â Lots of neutrals. Â Kelli and I have a scrappy neutral quilt in the works and it took a big dent in my stash so I am refilling that.
Surprised by the batiks, right??…well don’t be. Â I am determined that I am going to make a scrappy batik quilt. Â This is going to help make that happen.
The solid at the bottom of the stack on the left is a Pepper Cotton. Â I love them. Â There is a quilt in the works using that too.
All in all I had a plan and stuck with it so even if I did splurge, I did get things to either restock or got things that will work into plans that I have. Â Bonnie Hunter says that neutrals are always a “legal purchase” and I agree. Â It’s funny that quilters likely use neutrals more than any other color yet we buy them the least often. Â I’m changing that plan….I am always looking for neutrals now.
Yes, I agree, quilters need neutrals. I have completely used up all of mine after cutting neutral triangles for a Bonnie Hunter Wonky Stars quilt. So when I was at our huge Show in Birmingham recently I went on a “Neutrals Hunt” and found precisely nothing! There were a few but I didn’t like any of them. So my Neutrals stash is still at zero!
I too always look for neutrals and have a difficult time finding those that I like. Frustrating to me is the number of neutrals that I do like have the design “painted” on. I DO NOT LIKE THESE!! Someone with some clout please tell the fabric companies.
I have a hard time using neutrals that have colored patterns on them. I always think it makes my background look too busy. But I like them on other people’s quilts. I opt for neutrals with tan, beige, light colored patterns. I guess I need to be brave and try something more bold!!
You’re so right about the constant need for neutrals! It’s always interesting to see what kinds of prints people collect for neutrals, whether they have any color or contrast in them or not. I think your acquisitions will look great in scrappy projects.
Your fabrics are very pretty. I am actually doing fine with neutrals, but I do try and pick those up the most often because of their main use in quilts. Sounds like you had a very nice time on your retreat. Glad that you did. I hope you have a wonderful creative day!