A is for...

N.B.  This post is not to criticise anyone, we all do things our own way and if you're happy I'm happy.  This post is not making light of people with genuine problems.  This photo is not to brag!  If I offend anyone, I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to.  

I have read quite a few blog posts and articles recently regarding one thing.  Stash.  The one thing these posts all had in common was to tell you how to buy fabric, in order to not overbuy and to keep your stash basic and workable.  Lots of advice, lots of what not to do etc.  All seeming to concentrate on encouraging you NOT to buy fabric.  

I've also seen lots of "have you got a problem" and "key symptoms to look for" and "if you do half or more of these things then you have a problem".  And here is where my gripe lies...

To begin with, I read these posts and thought "oh.  That sounds familiar."  Then it was "yes, I do that too".  Then it became "Oh dear, that does sound like me."  Eventually it was "Oh wow.  You're right.  I do have a problem."  

Now this has been on my mind now for quite a while.  We've all done the "fabric diet".  We've all tried the "not buying for 6 months" etc.  And lots of us have come out and declared 

I am a Fabric Addict.

Now if this is you, and you're happy with all this, thats fine with me.  I have no problem with anyone else.  You do whats good for you.  I want to do whats good for me.  And thats what this post is about.  I have a declaration for you.  

I may or may not be a Fabric Addict.  But either way,

I DONT CARE!

You know what?  No bills go unpaid, nobody goes hungry, no overdraft gets touched.  So, thank you, but no thank you, I dont have a problem.  

Its FUN to buy fabric.  

There's nothing wrong with the fact that IT MAKES ME HAPPY.  I do believe from reading the blogs I follow that I'm not alone here.  Life can be lonely, life can be stressful, or even just repetitive!

There is nothing wrong with looking forward to the post arriving and anticipating your purchase.  There's nothing wrong with a little cheer me up shopping.  People do it all the time.  Cake.  Wine.  Shoes!  

The popular online retailers who offer enticing discounts all the time are AWESOME because the regularity of their discounts dont force me to spend more all the time, they allow me to relax in the knowledge that I dont need to shop every time as there will be another one. 

There's nothing wrong with being able to recognise a print and know what its called and who designed it.  I like to think of it as a compliment to the designer that I know their name and even more so if I can spot their style.  Admittedly now I have Molly Moo my skills in this area have dissipated, but I still see nothing wrong with designer appreciation.  Regularly checking out what's new is fun.  How many read fashion mags to see what the latest trends will be?  Do these same people feel they have to have a brand new wardrobe every season?!  (seriously, do they?  I wouldnt know, I sit in pjs as much as decently possible.)  

When people blog and Instagram what they've bought, its fun to see what others are getting, and the pictures are pretty....  And so what if every now and again you get a bit of stash envy.  We're grown ups, arent we?  We know that we dont HAVE to have the same things.  Who amongst us wasn't taught that as a child?  "Just because they've got it doesnt mean you have to."  

I remember crying my eyes out to mum and dad because everyone one in my class had something and I didnt.  For the first and only time they caved and got me one too.  If only I'd listened to them I could have proudly stood up today and said "you know when you all looked like twats in shell suits?  I never wore one!"  But I cant...... D'oh!

So.  I'm sick and tired of hiding fabric.  I'm sick and tired of feeling like I should be ashamed of what I've got.  Good god, its fabric  -  its stuff that will be admired as it is, then used and loved and admired even more as warmth, as gifts, as homewares.  Its not drugs!  Jeez.  Anyone would think I bought hardcore porn the way I've been sneaking about and hiding it and fibbing about what's in the mail.  ITS JUST FABRIC.  

This is my stash.  And in the interest of honesty and my whole "no more shame" ethos, there are another 2 boxes in storage, along with a shoebox of japanese kawaii, and a shoebox of "my precious" Melody Miller, and a small box of equally precious Denyse Schmidt.  There are also some 1930s reproduction prints, and a bundle of solids on the table with my sewing machine, and 4 prints from Far, Far Away in a drawer.  Oh and my scraps.  I put my scraps in ziplock bags and we used them as packing material around breakables!  

Jeez, even as I sit with the photo uploaded I'm itching to tell you that barely 10% of all that was bought at full retail price.  I shop sales and special offers.  I'm canny.  And that's 5 years of quilting worth.  But there I go again, apologising for having it, feeling guilty I've got it, wanting to try and justify it, worrying you'll think less of me.  Why?!  Because it is more than I could feasably use in a year?  So what!  No more!  Publish and be damned....

Do, please do come out and join me.  Blog your stash, all of it, and be chuffed you have it!  Blog the last thing you bought, and dont feel you need to justify why you deserve or need it!!!  If I manage to get a space to do so, its going out on shelves where it can be seen until its used.

Lets make the A stand for Aficionado not Addict!