Alright, everyone!
It’s confession time again. 😉 How did we all do this week? I’ve already confessed my purchases which took place right after last week’s check-in so I almost wrote that I didn’t buy anything. It’s just been a (gasp!) whole 6 days and that feels like forever.
I even went to our Modern Quilt Guild Meeting last night which was at a fabric store with plenty of fabric on sale, but I resisted purchasing anything. And you know what? It felt really good to do that. I know that I would have bought a few things otherwise and I’m not sure that I really need them. In fact, there is only one that I can think of that I want to go back and get at the end of this. And if it is still on sale (or maybe more on sale!) then I will be getting enough to back a quilt…because it just speaks to me. (But not in a creepy I’m insane kind of way).
I also did a couple of swaps that make me very happy. And I’m working on organizing my fabric so that is a healthy reminder of the amount of fabric that I already have.
So tell us all how your week went. Two down, 6 to go…I know we can do this! But let’s have a little extra motivation…regardless of whether your diet was “successful” this week or not, also let us know what is your best tip for avoiding buying fabric. I have a few methods, but I don’t want to steal anyone’s ideas.
And…the best tip might just get a little prize! Just for helping us out so much! 😉
So confess and support!
I have done really really well – I haven't bought any patterned fabrics at all. None whatsoever. Do I go to the top of the class miss? I did buy some chocolate and some champagne but I don't think those count do, they? Kona chocolate and Kona champagne – I mean they are more like foodstuffs really than fabric. OK OK OK I failed 🙁 I bought some Kona black too which is not any kind of foodstuff so I have done rubbish.
No fabric purchases for me so far this year. I'm working on smaller projects like the Noodlehead Gathered Clutch since I know I have all the fabric I need for it. Actually for about 437 of them but hey, there's a reason I'm trying not to buy fabric.
Lynne cracks me up! I've still managed to avoid buying any fabric for another whole week. Feels like months now since I bought any… this is getting harder!!! I went out and bought a new top instead of staying home near those online quilt shops… instant gratification 🙂
Didn't buy anything again this week. It feels really good to use fabric only from my stash. I am hoping after these 8 weeks, I will actually see a dent in the amount of fabric I own. Fingers crossed.
I made it another week, yay!!!
I almost bought a FQ bundle of Weekends, but resisted. I think the $7 credit card bill I got this morning is motivation enough to stay on the fabric diet. Hooray for money staying in my pocket!!!
Does it count that I had used a gift card a while back, then returned a rotating cutting board because my sister bought me one, and then with the credit I got some fabric? I myself did not pay any $$, it was from the gift card. And the fabric I bought was all 50% off!!
I have been really good. Mind the order I placed on 31 December for some Kona solids hasn't arrived yet – it's been despatched and I even asked (a bit too eagerly maybe?) in the post office today – in case they had it hidden behind the counter.
My tip for not buying fabric is 'shopping from my stash' if I see a line or colour collection I really want I go to my stash and see what I've got that is similar and work around using that. I don't think it'll keep me going all year – but hopefully for 8 weeks…
I made it!!! My biggest tip is to delete those email sale adds without looking at them. I finished up two quilt tops, but have avoided the quilt shop to buy batting. Now I have a back log of three quilt tops. I am going in today girls. Pray for me to be strong. I am hoping that the bill for two battings at one time will be enough to keep me sober!
Blessings,
KT
I have been home all week with a sick kiddo. I have only "window shopped" at connecting threads and then I got my magazine from Keepsake Quilting. I haven't bought a thing though it is very tempting with awesome clearancee at ct.
I made it this week – no fabric purchased! What works for me is to only buy fabric for a particular in progress/planned to sew right away project. But, then, again, it's awful to pass up something you totally love. There may not be another chance..
I made it all week! And it was a little tough – I was working on a very special ministry quilt, and thought I was going to have to go buy something for the back – then I turned up a piece buried in a box with just the right colors. I was worried that it wasn't contemporary enough to go with the front of the quilt, but when I asked someone who knew the little girl, she said it would be perfect – it was covered in butterflies and those are her favorites! So my tip would be – – – open up those boxes and bags and see what wonderful treasures have been hidden away! Don't think "oh, I've got to have some (Sunkissed) (Fandango) (Bliss) to make that quilt, so it looks just like the one on the blog" – think "how can I use what I have to make that quilt design mine?"
No purchase for me! Gosh it's hard though. I need to go to JoAnn's for some interfacing and I'm nervous, it's in the back with all of the quilting fabrics. I pulled out a couple of charm packs from my stash. I had a plan but I need a coordinating solid. Should I wait, should I 'settle' for what I have that is 'almost' right? Yeesh! Dieting is tough.
I made it! Tip: keep yourself busy on projects that you've had in mind, and maybe even pulled the fabric for. If you haven't pulled the fabric, walk over to where you store your stash and start pulling. You'll be amazed at how creative you get when you have to think outside the box/shop!
None for me! Whoot! Whoot! I even managed to go to my LQS with a friend and not buy a thing—it may have something to do with a phone call I received from my hubby while shopping telling me not to buy anything. I had to put back the five bolts I had in my hand. Poo! Well, at least I can say I didn't buy any fabric this week!
I made it this week but it was really, really hard. I am wanting to sew so bad but I am just beginning so I don't have a fabric stash so to say….So….I am just organizing ideas right now so that I can get busy sewing when I have some extra $$ saved up.
ok, I saw this button on Kelly's blog, and I am so in! I have so much yardage waiting to be used, and quilts to be finished, this seems like such an appopriate challenge!
I have been wanting to go to my lqs, but I am putting it off. I would rather use what i have now, and then make room for more new stuff! Let's see how the next 6 weeks go!
I think after reading your 'confession' the best thing to do whilst on this diet is – Avoid the Temptations, i.e avoid going to places that would 'make' you buy.
Then the second would be – being unable to afford it so that you can do nothing to 'sabotage' your diet even if you want to 😉
oops! forgot to mention;
No I "couldn't" purchase any fabric 🙂
I made it another week! I think my best tip is shopping online (as you have said) and making a list for a time when I can treat myself to something I REALLY want/need. For instance, the $75 in gift cards from Christmas will probably go to fabric (and that would not count since it's technically a gift from someone else). Or maybe it will be a reward for keeping to my fitness plan – THERE'S motivation! I also have a pad on my desk with a list of current 'gotta have it' fabric I see. I think this would be harder if I didn't have to drive an hour to get to my 'local' quilt shop.
My best tip is to get snowed in for 4 days!
In NC they dont get a lot of snow- but when they do it closes things down.
I dont have kids in school but they were out for 4.5 days this week.
We were able to get out after 2 days in. It very much helped out on not getting out to fabric store.
I was good this week 🙂
I made it a second week without purchasing any fabric.
My motivation has come from trying to organise my sewing area. Folding and piling, and folding and piling, and more folding and piling makes it very real to me just how much fabric I have.
This week I was nice and did not buy anything. I still like to drool over fabric online. It is easier to delete my cart than putting fabric back in their shelves.
@Lynne: Kona black equals licorice, I'm pretty sure 😉
I haven't bought a single stitch of fabric! And, I've been sewing again because I feel like I should use some fabric up so I'll have room for more in 6 weeks!
Can you see that shiny glinty thing? Yup … it's my halo … mind you, I was much helped by my pre-Christmas order arriving from Sew Mama Sew, so I felt like I'd bought some!
I'm with the 'pulling fabric from the stash and folding it up again' therapy too …
Here's the thing: I didn't buy any for ME. I bought a few FQs for a giveaway. SO think I did alright; I mean, it doesn't count as cheating on a diet when you make someone else a pie. Right? (I'm grasping at straws here, I know, I know…) And I even discovered a new fabric store, and I DIDN'T EVEN GO IN!!
Edit: Sorry about deleting this post, I just wanted to add that if you haven't been, you should pop over to mine, I'M HAVING A GIVEAWAY! 😀 (And I didn't want to post twice) 😀
I made it through another week without purchasing any fabric. It's hard at times. I stopped into a local fabric store today to drop off a flyer for the Greensburg Modern Quilt Guild. Instead of looking around I just walked back out, you can't buy if you don't look.
I have only purchased two charm packs for the birdie sew along. I plan to buy some more Dr. Seuss fabric to finish up a quilt top. The diet is not easy for me, I'm really wanting to buy more….
i didn't purchase any fabric this week either. i did exchange a gift card i received as a christmas gift from neice and nephew for some OOP/HTF lizzy dish prints i've been wanting to make placemats, but that's still a gift, not a purchase. i also completed some more swaps on flickr, which was nice to rid my stash of stuff i didn't want, and get back stuff i do want!
tomorrow temptation will be nipping at my heels, though, because it's the Houston Modern Quilt Guild meeting and we're having a pre-meeting field trip to a LQS, which i've been told is having a store-wide 25% off sale!
No fabric purchases since the first of the year! I try to avoid temptation by not visiting the fabric stores. I do have to buy some batting soon though, but I'll be ok.
No purchases here, I posted asking for a fabric swap on my blog but no response- sniff sniff.I can hardly shut the draw of fabric here- it's just waiting to be switched with someone for some to go in my big brothers quilt! As fas as resisting temptation goes I am finding being stony broke a great help! xx
Has it been another week already? I've been seeing lots of fabric online this week that I would like to buy, but have been very good and not given in! I've had a little sewing project on the go this week which I think has helped take my mind off buying more fabric. It feels good to be using up scraps from the stash!
I haven't bought any fabric since we started. I have however bought yarn. Does that count? Probably not strictly speaking as my yarn stash in no way comes close to my fabric stash but I'm not sure that's a good way to look at it either. Ha! 😉 So far, so good though!
I was good this week, but did want to ask and see if supplies count? I need some new rotary blades and needles and such and Jo Anns is having a big sale this week.
My best tip would be to delete all the fabric mail from your inbox. Don't even look at it! Just delete, delete, delete. I try to even avoid reading the title! It draws you in!
I done did good! Although, I admit I am starting to feel a bit of the itch. I did swap some fabric, but I swapped fabric that I had no idea what I was going to do with for fabric that I have definite plans for, so here is to having a stash with a "purpose"! ;0)
I'm still doing well. I received some fabric in the mail that I ordered at the beginning of December and I received some fabric along with a block for a swap. Those two things have helped me to live without purchasing fabric this week. I still have another parcel coming that I ordered at the beginning of December. Sheesh, slow mail. What helps me the most is to delete all the fabric store e-mails without even opening them. Cause once I open them then I see there are sales, then I check out the sales, then I put a bunch in a shopping basket……
I purchased fabric this week, but technically I don't consider it a fail since I didn't decide to go on this diet until yesterday. From this point on, I'm sure I'll be good. =)
i made it! another week of no fabric purchases! YAY! i even decided against participating in a quilt along because i didn't have enough of kona ash (and the white i had on hand really was too boring with my 'dream on' jelly roll) – so maybe next week could be very hard for me! but i'm fighting the urge!
how you might ask? well, i've just ordered another quilting book on amazon. yes, somehow weak, but one of my most favorite things to do is dreaming about quilts, so it will help me staying from all those buttons that say "buy me"…:)
it just occurred to me that i haven't bought any fabrics for about 4 weeks now…cool!
I didn't buy fabric this week, I'm happy to say! I think most of us are doing this to save money, am I correct? Or at least, to not spend as much money on sewing or quilting related things. Well, I'm saving money to go to Europe in May, so that's my motivation – every time I look at fabric on etsy I think of Germany and it works! Also, I try to stay offline more, and that helps 🙂 I buy 90% of my fabric online.
I didn't make it this week. I bought 15 yards of different Amy Butler Fabric that was on sale exactly yesterday online at stitch n Frame…But I have a good excuse too :)…I just started quilting two years ago, so I don't have that much fabric yet lol…and I got two Amy Butler Books on Amazon…we are on this Air Base in Europe…I already got fabric in Italy too,:)…and by the way I really love your blog …it's fun and inspiring…Greetings Karin
i was good! i didn't buy fabrics but i did buy some threads, i think that was allowed? and i've got a couple of swaps in the works, yay!
Pick someone who will be honest with you. For me, that is my mother. Here's how it goes. I see fabric online and want it – so I call to my mother to "come see this awesome fabric". I talk about buying it. THEN she says something about herself such as: "I have enough fabric to make quilts with until after I die." This stops me in my tracks. Sometimes I'm slow to catch her jokes. Then I laugh until tears stream out of my eyes. By then, the buying urge has passed. Sometimes you just need a FA buddy (fabriholics anonymous) to keep on the straight and narrow. That is my hint. (Somehow I put this comment on the subsequent post. Here goes.)
I made it this week. But it was close, very close. I am so tempted to buy some fabric for the Spicing up the Kitchen Swap. My tip for avoiding buying fabric is SWAPPING. I've been a swapping fool this week – I can't wait for my packages to arrive in the mail!
I was good this week but I seriously failed last week (but it was for a project I had been planning last month… so it doesnt count right? ;D however it came in the mail today so i felt a bit guilty). To avoid buying I have just stopped looking… mostly… and I deleted the more addicting sites from my browser for now. I only kept the site I use for my Kona solids. I also pulled out all of my old projects and I have been trying to focus on those for the moment as well as picking designs for some piles of fabric that were supposed to be 2010 quilts and never even made it to the design board.
I bought with a plan this week. I bought white, black and two pinks (one solid, one tone-on-tone) to finish current projects, for a total of 4.5m purchased. Not too bad…
I didn't buy any fabric this week. I guess you could say I had a little help though – my local shop got flooded so will be closed for a few weeks 🙁
I have been using my stash to make some sewing kits for the flood victims who have lost all their sewing stuff.
I've not bought any fabric this week. My motivation is I'm going to let myself break the diet for anything my little heart fancies on the 22nd when our LQS has a store-wide 30% off. If I break my diet before that, then I don't get to go visit the store!
I also forgot to check in here about the first week in Jan…clean on that account too, if you consider that the etsy convo that led to a certain paypal payment on the 2nd was sent out in Dec…I had bought the fabric in Dec…just paid for it in Jan..does that count?
Still clean on the no buying of fabric. Being broke and staying from shops has surly helped.
Congratulations to all those that made it.
Congratulations to all those that didn't make it and fessed up to it.
Whohoo still going strong! Although I was very tempted earlier by a facebook ad for fabric on sale at my LQS. The best tip for me is I don't go onto the websites, and while I delete the email since the facebook status almost got me I went onto facebook and did the edit where I asked to not have certain pages(fabric related) on my newsfeed. Of course I will change it back after the diet is over but for now I am safe. But I am pretty much out of all my kona, so I may have to give in one of these weeks :(.
I made it–no purchases this week! I thought about it REALLY hard this morning, but decided that the last thing I needed was MORE OOP fabrics to hoard–so I closed the tab and moved on.
My strategy so far is this: If I'm actively sewing from my stash, I have a better idea of what I have, and therefore, what I don't need. Plus, if I'm sewing (made my 3×6 Beehive blocks this week on my snow-day, cut into my hoard of Heather Ross scraps to start a new quilt, finished a baby quilt for a friend's shower), I don't have TIME to shop!!