PATCHWORK QUILTING

How MUCH patchwork quilting fabric to BUY?  Hmmm… that age old dilemna!  Buy as MUCH as you can afford!  LOL, that’s our usual answer!  But unfortunately one cannot always afford as much patchwork quilting fabric as we might like!

I am warning you right now, if you are into particulars and absolutes you are not going to like my answer, so move on and I’ll see you tomorrow… because buying patchwork quilting fabric is an emotional thing and never absolute!

I personally love what always turn out to be expensive fabrics… importeds, handmades, you name it.  But I just have to have them!  When I moved 8 years ago I couldn’t afford to ship all my fabrics in my studio so I sucked it up and donated the regular domestics [okay, for the most part] and shipped all the others.  It was a great ‘nudge’ to get me to really evaluate my own collection!  That nursing home still sends me stuff!  LOL!  But since I like those, and because I love challenges, and think that the more fabrics I can stuff into one of my art quilts the better, I usually only buy about 1/2 to a yard of any one of them.  Some I know will only be the “pop” in a quilt so I might settle on a 1/4 [never a fat as I like to rotary cut] quarter if my pile at the cutting counter is already piled high.

But that is me, what do YOU buy?  

Again, it depends on how you quilt.  If you lover scrap looking quilts don’t buy large yardage.  BUT if you like to make coordinated, all the blocks the same, quilts, then usually 3 yards minimum will do it.  If you think that you will ever use it as a border figure the longest dimension of any quilt you usually make so you are not piecing a border.  If you come across a great deal and you think you might someday like it as a back buy 6 yards and throw in another 1/4 to 1/2 yard for incorporating it into the piecing of the front.

Are you like me and LOVE stripes?  Oh, I miss the Jinny Beyer stripes of yesteryear!  I would use them for borders!  I also smuggled those south with me when I moved!  That along with the Horton reproductions, but those are another story best left for another time because, as you can see, I am easily sidetracked.  Be sure if considering a stripe to count how many usable ones there are across the fabric and calculate from there.

What about novelty prints?  Well I generally do not use them, well except for things like glow in the dark lips [run a search in the blog if you still don't know about these] but if you do, what will you use it for?  Will you use it in its uncut form or will you be isolating the motifs?  Yes, lots to consider, but you have to look at the final usage of the patchwork quilting fabric before you buy it to get the best usage out of it later.

So see, not so bad, or so painful… how could buying patchwork quilting fabric EVER be painful?  Okay, maybe on our wallets, but when evaluating them for your fabric stash consider not just this post but the one entitled “Patchwork Quilting Fabric Stash” before you head out to your next trip to your quilt shop or show!  Then you can buy with confidence, and stock YOUR quilting room with the ‘right’ patchwork quilting fabrics!  Yeah, like there are really bad patchwork quilting fabrics… hmm… are there???  Okay… sidetracked again… THAT subject will be left for NEXT TIME!

Have a GREAT day!
~MaggieB

In the meantime here are a couple sites where you may like to drool over their fabric collections:

• Weekly Virtual Quilt Contest: Easter / Quilting Gallery – We have a wide range of premium-quality quilting fabrics, from Moda, RJR, Westminster, Windham, FreeSpirit, Robert Kaufman, Lecien, Hoffman, Henry Glass, Clothworks, Alexander Henry and so much more. Shop for Fat Quarter Bundles, …
• Leading Ladies & Supporting Cast – Golden Thyme Designs is pleased to announce a marvelous collaboration with Fabric Designer Ro Gregg, Northcott Fabrics, published by Nancy Dill, www.QuiltWoman.com …Have you ever wished you could create beautiful interior designs with …

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