Little splurge

Tonight I went out with my sewing mentor, Sandy. There was a big 5th anniversary sale at the yarn store next door, so I wanted to check that out, as well as the quilting store next door. Of course, Sandy's forte' is quilting (she is a professional, you know), so she spent more time over at the quilting store, which was fine. Of course, she probably thought it was nuts to a certain degree that I was at a "fancy" yarn store to buy white or off white yarn. I think the thing that we agreed to was that the difference between the stores like these specialty stores and the chain stores was that it's the quality of the material being sold. There isn't cashmere or silk blends at Michael's, and the choices of prints and quality of fabric is not always at JoAnn's. This is not to completely knock those stores, because they do have their merits, which both Sandy and I agreed. But going into both these stores was like going into a candy store. You know how I've been saying that I haven't been that thrilled with what I've seen at JoAnn's as far as selection? Well, if you are looking for pretty cotton prints, this quilt store was DA BOMB. I didn't see anything I outright hated or thought was tacky. It was much more my style and taste, so I think as I make certain items, I will definitely be back for more material from there, as needed. Now, they don't have knits, or denim, or bottom weights, or stretch fabrics, etc. It's 99.9% cotton fabric prints. But that's fine-- I wouldn't be surprised if I made a lot of stuff out of that. And that's why you do your best to find a variety of stores, so you can find what you need. I will say that I've been in the quilting store before, but it was before I had started to learn to sew. This time, it felt like being a kid in a candy store. The selection was dizzying! I was looking at it with a completely different perspective this time. I remember liking what I'd see before, but I liked it even more so this time.

So did I purchase anything? Umm...at the yarn store? Yes, I found what I was looking for, thank you. ;-) Oh, you meant the quilting store? Yes, I bought from there too. I got a Sew Simple magazine, but I also bought a very pretty light orange print with tropical leaves kind of pattern on it. And what do I plan to make with it? Okay, so the first one isn't even finished, but I think I'm going to make another tunic, but with this fabric this time. I think it'll work well with it. Now that I've had a little practice with plain fabric, I think I can step it up this time. Bold of me, I know, but I have confidence. I know where I've made some mistakes, and what I need to do next time.

It was a fun night, and we basically closed down the store. But I DO plan to be back. Everything was just so pretty! I fear that I will be starting a fabric stash before you know it. And if it's anything like my yarn stash, I'm going to have to start to find some more space in my house somewhere.