Rabbit holes

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, in which I continue to go on and on and on about yet another thing that is neither knitting nor spinning. 

It IS crafty though.  That has to count for something, right?

We went for this, but then we stumbled into this:

Valley Fabrics in Northhampton, MA

Imagine for a moment  (all you fabric-heads) that you took all the stock from all the other fabric superstores all over the country, and you stripped out all the 90% of filler that you would probably never use anyway, and then picked just ONE store to carry the 10% that was left.  The stuff that you really want to use.  Got that image?  Good.  You're in Valley Fabrics.  Seriously, there's not a single fabric in here that you wouldn't use to make SOMETHING.  It might not be for YOU, and it might not be YOUR colors, but you or someone you know loves every bolt of fabric in this store.  The piece de resistance?  Helpful, friendly, experienced, understanding, patient staff.

I said this to someone recently (so forgive me for repeating myself) that the best way to explain my reaction to this store is this:  If, upon dying, I were to find that heaven was a fabric store (Which it's not.  We all know it's a yarn store.) it would be this store.   

Go there.  Go there soon.  As a matter of fact, go there now, virtually: http://www.valleyfabrics.com/catalog/

Now, as you might have heard, some of us were hooked (ahem, at least it wasn't entirely me) and some of us weren't, and truthfully, I think that's for the best because if we had ALL fallen down this rabbit hole, my own trip would have been far more damaging.  As it was, having the constant knowledge that we were leaving our friends abandoned on the street waiting for us moderated both the time and dollars spent. This is a Good Thing, because the house isn't renovating itself. However, lest you fear that I wandered away empty-handed:

Voila.  Bag-fixin's.....I think.

Fun

Funner

Funnest

and a close up up the background fabrics in this shot:

Hee hee hee hee hee....it's linoleum!  It's just like my Grandma's old kitchen table.  If I were the *squeee*ing type, I'd totally be doing that right this second.  How can anyone be sad or grumpy or have a bad day in the face of bright orange linoleum FABRIC fer crissakes?

Oh yeah?  YOU can?  Well then, I double dog dare you to stay grumpy now, Snippy McFussypants:

Dude.  Japanese bunnies.  Where's your sour face now?

Comments

[maryse]

i get overwhelmed at fabric stores and am totally incapable of deciding on what to buy unless i've got a very specific thing in mind (ie. curtains) and then i can't find something that i like ...that i can afford.

[Carole]

You got some wonderful fabrics. I'd be happy to visit that store with you.

[Laurie]

We were NOT suffering out there on the bench. We were hatching ice cream dreams. And laughing. And knitting. And saying, "thank god we aren't into fabric ALSO". Heh. Yet.

[The Feminist Mafia]

Yep, I fell down the Valley Fabrics rabbit hole during the Lowell Quilt Festival. We really need one in Boston, huh?

[mamacate]

My dear, I know you went to Wellesley and all, but one H in Northampton.

Sorry, school pride thing there, I suppose I'm being assimilated.

Anyway, ahem. I wish I could make a sewing machine do my bidding, but for now I can only stand around that store and wish I could do something worthy of that stuff. And the others like me had NO REASON TO COMPLAIN because next door is the best coffee in Noho. And NYT for the reading. No complaints.

[elisa]

Have I ever mentioned that I kind of want to learn to quilt? I can't sew a straight seem to save my ass, but the idea of quilting appeals nonetheless.

And I've got a sewing machine, too...

[Beth S.]

Did you see the goldfish prints? Cream fabric with tiny little goldfish in bowls or plastic bags, labeled with names like "Helen" and "Boris". I kind of wanted that one.

[kelly]

Thanks for the great link! We don't really have any fabric super-stores here... I have a feeling I'm going to be a refular visitor to their online store!

Great fabric choices. Be sure to show us the finished products!

[Cheryl]

Laurie's right, we were having a grand old time out there on that bench!

[Kristen]

I didn't need to click on that link - but I did. My car, the one that has everything important that I might even think of needing this year - has my fabric stash in it. Some of it is fabric I bought 10-15 years ago, just because I "liked" it.

My mom made almost all of my clothes when I was younger because, at the time, fabric and patterns were cheaper. And the clothes she made always fit. I joke that she will make my (eventual) wedding dress. She jokes back that she did not even make her own wedding dress and she will not be a slave to the machine. We'll see, when the time comes.

I grew up with homemade scrap quilts (years "newborn," 16 and 22 are all marked with special quilts) and have been around fabric and a sewing machine forever. It used to be a secret stash - because I knit and that is portable and easy to do in class and in meetings and only requires needles and wool.

I shouldn't have clicked on that link...but I did.
(see you this weekend?)

[caro]

Couldn't heaven be a yarn store with fabric in the back?