What a frustrating day! I decided that I really should try to finish half-completed (or less) projects before starting a lot more, though I can't really stand the thought of just doing one project at a time. So I'll start one new project (a "strips and curves" quilt) and complete one old project (a long past due unfinished quilt) for now. Of course, I'm still sneaking a little time in the studio to work on the Monday project.
Today's mission was to select a new focus fabric for the new quilt I'm starting. The one I had chosen before just wouldn't work. I drove forever to what USED to be a fantastic shop loaded with a zillion fabric choices. I was stunned to walk in and find row after row of scrapbooking materials, but a gigantic empty wall where the fabric used to be! I stopped in my tracks and asked what happened. They looked at me like I was from Mars and asked what I meant. It's a little hard to miss an entire wall of empty cubbies that used to hold fabric, so I pointed it out to the goobers. They said that because of the economy, they were cutting back on inventory. I pointed out that there was a total of a mile of aisle of scrapbooking stuff, but not many people can make much with fat quarters of fabric (just about all they had). I tried really hard to find something, anything, I could use, but left with my lower lip extended a little. I ended up at (choke, gag) Jo-Ann Fabrics. Yuck. Their inventory consists of the same fabric (and I swear even the same bolts) they had last year and the year before. After 3.5 hours out and about, I came home with a measly three bits of fabric and a pinch of thread. Ugh.
On a positive note, I'll be at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach next week and know I'll be able to buy fabric. Even though it can be a little crampbed and disoragnized, it's so much fun to be surrounded with thousands of people that enjoy creating as much as I do. Woohoo! I can't wait.
