Confessions of a Quiltaholic

Truth is, I don’t just love making quilts, I love hanging out with `em. I am a sucker for a quilt at a garage sale (yard sale, estate sale, tag sale, etc.), too. Just bought one this past weekend for $10. There are some worn spots on it, but it is lovely.

Now, this love of quilting may actually be an outgrowth of my love of sewing and of fabric. Or, it may be that the reason I love fabric so much is because I love seeing how it goes together in a quilt. Well, which came first: the chicken or the egg? No matter; I love it all.

The problem in loving this stuff so much is a problem of acquisition. And, by that, I’m not saying that it is hard to buy it – I’m saying it is hard not to buy it! Any of you have the same problem? In all honesty, can you walk into a quilting shop and not walk out with at least one fat quarter, or a yard or 2 of that new rose-patterned, cream-colored fabric over there on the shelf on the left, or that gorgeous cobalt blue with the tiny constellations all over it, or that cute, cute piece with the flying pigs or. . . Sigh!. . . Okay.  All of it, please!

See my dilemma?

Or, my favorite cohort-in-crime for the last 30 years and I are walking through the gorgeous rows of resale shops looking for pretty, old, china cake plates, which I also collect, and I suddenly catch my cohort-in-crime by her arm and:

Me: “Oh. My. Gosh! Can you believe that quilt over there on that bed frame? Did you see those beautiful feedsack prints in the butterfly pattern on it? I’ll bet it’s way out of my range. I’ll just ask, though.”

Cohort-in-crime: “Another one? You can’t own every old quilt you come across. You need to leave some of them for me.”

Me: “I saw it first. So, I’ll just ask the price. It’s bound to be too much. Neither of us will get it.” To shop owner: “How much? What?! Seriously?! Forty-five dollars?! Sold.”

Cohort-in-crime: “Well, I get the next one, no matter what. And, I thought you said you were not going to spend over $30 on any one item.”

Me: (smugly, with the subject quilt draped over my arm) “I lied.”

(Hmmm. My cohort-in-crime has never been really good at helping me fight my addictions, actually. Which is why we have always been such good friends, of course!)

Still, this adds to my stash, and, after quilting for around 30 years, and teaching quilting for about 20 of those years, I have acquired an awful lot of fabric and quilted goodies. I’m afraid I may be getting to the point that I need to part with some of it.

Nah.

I just need to rearrange everything to make more room, right?