I had been to the Houston Quilt Festival a couple of times in the 1980s, and knew what to expect. In October 1991, a friend and I decided to go again; but money was scarce in our household (college-age kids!). I managed to get the money together from teaching gigs and a yard sale to pay expenses, but only had $50 spending money.
Back then, 100% cotton fabric was about $5 a yard; so I knew by buying 1/4 yard pieces, I could come home with a variety of new fabric.
I also wanted 3 yards of a stripe fabric to coordinate with 113 scrappy, saw-tooth stars that I had made. I knew I would find something in Houston.
Immediately, as I was walking down the first aisle of vendors; I spied in a stack of bolts --- the perfect stripe.
Oh my! Checking the price --- it was from Japan and was $15 a yard -- unheard of in 1991! I gasped, stood there a minute and decided to go for it.
Even though I spent my entire budget on one piece of fabric in my first moments of shopping, I've never regretted the purchase.
Even though I spent my entire budget on one piece of fabric in my first moments of shopping, I've never regretted the purchase.
It was a great fabric to pull all of the scrappy stars together.
And, has become one of my all-time favorite quilts!
I'm joining the following:
Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Val's Quilting Studio for Tuesday Archives
6 comments:
This quilt is really special! The blue in the stripe works so well!
This is a beautiful, amazing, impressive quilt! You were so brave to spend all your money on just one piece of fabric. What's really interesting to me about this quilt and the fabric is that at close range the fabric looks like it has lots of red but from a distance, the red doesn't stand out. Well done.
--Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)
Oh that was definitely the right choice; it works perfectly and the result is absolutely stunning!
Oo, lovely! Isn't it great to know, years later, that you found the perfect fabric?
There's a lot of work into this quilt. Beautiful!
Lovely quilt. Sometimes we just have to go all in. You did make a good choice.
Post a Comment