A Little Lemon Juice
It is a wonderful place. Large, uncluttered, room to walk around. Bright and beautiful. Two spacious cutting stations. A huge, well-lit classroom. Friendly, helpful staff. Charming furnishings and gorgeous samples. Pre-cut FQs here and there. Rulers and cutters and
But I must say that the visit got me to thinking: I don't remember when it was that shops stopped organizing fabrics by color and genre and started organizing them by line. And I so wish that they hadn't! I used to like finding a fabric and auditioning go-withs. It was fun to pull out three or four greens to coordinate with the green in the focus print, and agonize over which one was the right green.
I really prefer it that way. In recent years, I've been lured by the lines and made some quilts entirely from one line of fabric. Going Rouge is an example; I love this quilt. I really do. But I think I'd love it even more if it were not completely made from the Rouenneries line. The same is true with some of the -- gasp -- William Morris quilts I've made. Fabrics made from one line of fabric are, to me, just too matchy-matchy. They need a squeeze of lemon juice or something to make them sing. Or zing. I've written on this theme before more than once.
I'm sure that shop owners have found that quilters will buy more fabric if it is displayed in lines, and they've got to make a living. But they've taken away a piece of the fun.
Challenge to self: Before 2012 is over, start a new project, and pick the fabrics the old way. Anyone else?
Comments
I gravitate to Sandy Gervais and Jo Morton, but not by design. I just often find, after having picked out a fabric I like, that they are frequently the designers of said fabric.
My LQS displays things by collection when they are brand new, but soon, new collections come to take their place and those bolts are placed in the "color wall". Other than the remnant baskets, that is my favorite place to shop!
Hmmm....I think I'll do that tomorrow...
Maybe I'll see you there sometime!
Pam
Quilts from entire fabrics lines are way too matchy matchy and way too boring!
I understant displaying the batiks in one area, blenders in another, reproductions and wovens and wide backs each in their own area . . . but then I prefer a wonderful mish mash of combinations like blacks/whites, blues/yellows or greens/reds, seasonal mixes that change through the year, pink/lime or creams/WOW/neutrals.
I like to wander and browse ... and make my own choices - not be controlled by the manufacturer's dictates about "this goes with that"
Like quick and ready-to-eat items at the grocery store, quilt shop owners seem to be following the "make it easy" approach for harried and insecure fabric shoppers . . .
When my quilty friends talk about lines of fabric or pattern designers, I am totally out of it because I don't follow those things at all.
When I shop for fabrics now it is usually to just pick up a fat quarter or two that catch my fancy. The stash has become a burden, but can freshen up with just a small purchase.