Next Quilting Project

I have been out to purchase fabric so I can begin working on a quilt.  For me, shopping for quilt fabric is like going on a quest.  I generally prefer to go purchase my own fabrics rather than order a kit.  Using a kit means that somewhere out there is another quilt exactly like mine.  I would rather spend a few hours searching for the fabrics that I think work well together.  I spent time this week checking out fabrics.

I did not find any fabric that interested me until I hit the third store.  The first store was a craft store that used to have a fairly decent selection of fabric.  However, they have reduced their inventory and are now only selling flat folds of fabric.  The second store had more fabric, but the selection was not what I had in mind.  It tended to lean more towards decorator fabrics with only a relatively small selection of quilting fabrics. The third store finally paid off.  Although even that was a bit of a stretch.

I took the fabric instructions for four different quilts that I wanted to make with me.  I had hoped that I would be able to find enough fabrics that I could choose between which quilt I wanted to make.  I was only able to find fabric for one of them.  I guess that I am picky about the fabrics I want or something, but nothing seemed right.  There are a few more fabric stores in the area, but the price point definitely goes up after this store.  I try to keep my crafting expenses down by using less expensive fabrics, but when I can't find what I want, I end up going there.  I try not to though because it could mean as much as a two hundred dollar difference in materials costs.

Looks like I may be heading for one of the more expensive shops for the next quilt.  I wanted to make a flannel quilt, but I have not been able to find a good selection around here.  Most of the flannel is children's prints.  The rest is shirting material.  Neither choice is what I need for the flannel quilt.  So far, I have not yet found anything online that is exactly right.  I'll keep looking.  Since I now have quilt fabric in hand, I am going to be tied up for a while.  Perhaps something will turn up by the time I complete this quilt.

I suppose another option these days is to create my own fabric.  You can actually design your fabric and have it printed on the material of your choice.  I have not investigated that option as of yet, but if I really want what I want, the option is there.

Since I just purchased the fabric, I have no photos to show yet.  The colors are all autumn colors, gold, orange, red, and brown.  I will be blogging now and then on the progress of the project.

As I have mentioned before I have had one of those occasions where I ended up completing all of my ongoing projects at the same time.  For some reason, it is much harder to get started on a new projects when so many have ended at once.  The only thing to do is to get started somewhere and let the inspiration for the next project catch up with you.  I have started on a new painting project which contains an owl.  I expect I will have a new photo on that for the next blog post.  Check back on Thursday for the update on that project.