Quilt shop

Yesterday I had a day out with Mrs. Furui.

"Furui-san, I'm coming into Utsunomiya and I want to go to the quilt store. Do you want to go and get away from things for awhile?"

Yes, she did and so off we went.


At the quilt shop we looked at backing for our donation quilts and found what we wanted on sale...

Mrs. Furui needed some red for her Anne of Green Gables quilt (another quilt for her hospital work) and she found a lovely pink/red...

I wanted a light green or blue for a surprise quilt but instead found a medium green with a lovely print. I hope it's not too dark for what I'm planning...

We both bought white thread (again for me!) and grumbled about the price but realize the cheap stuff gives off too much fuzz...

I bought two spools of machine quilting thread.

Mrs. Furui found a complete kit of Anne of Green Gables for a good price (I never knew she liked Anne of Green Gables so much... Maybe she doesn't. Maybe it is going to be for hospital decoration) and she put that in her basket too.

I vacillated between whether or not I was going to buy some pretty flowered fabric for a someday Wonky Word quilt and went ahead and bought a meter.

And Mrs. Furui joined me on that purchase and bought a meter and a half too.

I did put back a few things just because my bill looked like it was running up. It was!!

"Furui-san, we've got to get out of here! The longer we stay, the more we are liable to buy!"

And the clerk piped up,

"Buy it. Fabric is good for you now."

"Yeah, right... It's not like I don't have enough in my sewing room. What am I doing buying more?"

"No, really. A lot of people have come in the past couple weeks after the earthquake and have said how comforting it has been to have handwork to do while having to stay home or while watching the news on TV. And they say they get a lot of comfort seeing the bright fabric on the shelves and just running their hands over the patterns. I think so too... At first I was really depressed with all the terrible stories but coming in to work everyday and talking to all the ladies who are sewing really cheered me up. And I think the customers feel camaraderie talking with other quilters here too. That's true of the ladies in the yarn section too. The knitters just feel close to each other at a time like this. Buy fabric ladies! Go home and make things! It will brighten your day and your family and your life!"

So Mrs. Furui and I did. We came out of the store gasping at how much we spent.

"I don't think I've ever plunked down so much money at a quilt shop like today."

"I know... It's like a dam burst and everything looked so beautiful and tempting. It's a good thing we didn't go into the knitting section!"

Despite the fact that our wallets are lighter, BAD; (by about $100 for me! For only this!) our hearts are lighter too and that is definitely GOOD!!!