Not buying

 I know I've said many times lately that I am on a quilt fabric freeze.  No more buying. No. No.

But one afternoon while in Gettysburg we decided to take a drive into the countryside to get a feel for it.  We stopped at a farmer's stand and bought peaches!  The first of the season for us, straight from the tree.  

And then we saw this place.  Ugh.  I had to ask to stop. Just for a minute. I saw a fabric I had been thinking of for a project and bought a tiny piece of it.  It's patriotic.  I told the owner I'm not feeling very patriotic right now.  She jumped on that, we both agree politically and had quite a rousing conversation complete with expletives.  It was great!

She said she just came back from market and EVERY vendor was pushing patriotic fabric because of our 250th anniversary next year (signing of the Declaration of Independence.)  She said we won't be able to find anything BUT patriotic in the stores.  I told her that's not a problem because I'm not buying anymore.  

She said but we have to buy fabric or she will go out of business.  This is a common problem in quilt world right now.  Shops are closing because we are all getting old and dying.  Her husband called down from the loft where he was working, "don't worry, God will give us more old quilters."  I said if I don't use my stash my kids will bag it up and sell it for $1 a bag in my estate sale.  

It was the funnest non-buying trip to a quilt shop I've ever had!

She had this wall 'o antique machines.  She was told about this guy in Vermont who was going to THROW THEM ALL AWAY. So she and her husband drove out there and bought them all.  What a treasure!  It reminds me of the shop in the Upper Peninsula where I bought my cranky machine.