Before we moved house, I purged my stash of many metres of fabrics I will never use. I have no idea why I bought some of these pieces in the first place. I donated them to a charity shop where I am sure they will find new owners who will appreciate them.
To prevent this happening again (all that money wasted!) I’d like to hire a personal shopper who specialises in advising quilters.
Does such a specialised person exist? A personal shopper helps other people buy goods by making suggestions for purchases. Usually this relates to fashion items such as clothes and accessories, but also in other fields such as home furnishings. I can’t see why we couldn’t extend this to the quilting world.
Job description for my fantasy personal shopper
- She needs to have these attributes: empathy, tact, a sense of humour and patience.
- She needs to accept, without becoming frustrated, that often I will say I want green fabric when what I really need is pink. The ability to read my mind would be convenient for this purpose.
- She needs to understand that there is no such thing as too many blue fabrics, but one brown fabric is one too many.
- She has to accept that Sunbonnet Sue and yo-yos have no place in my world. A look of horror will cross my face if they are accidentally encountered.
- I expect my shopper to have extensive knowledge of the current ranges of fabric and also the new ones just about to hit the shops.
- She should have contacts in the quilting world that can help her track down an extra fat quarter of a specific fabric I bought in 1992. Knowing my habits so well, she will purchase a metre instead. This way, when I finally get around to sewing with it in a few more years, there will be sufficient to double the width of the borders without panic.
- My shopper will have wide-ranging storage experience. She will be able to stack fabric on shelves so that I can remove a piece from the bottom of the pile without the whole lot cascading onto the floor.
- An understanding of creative chaos is important. I do not want her touching my carefully arranged piles of fabric on my sewing table unless I call for her help. This would only be because she has neglected to read my mind on this matter.
- Since my personal shopper will constantly entice me with purchase suggestions, she must have a firm grasp of budgeting principles. At the same time, she should know that exceptional temptations call for extreme action. Spending a week’s income on fabric that is 50% off retail price is sensible and is to be applauded.
Wouldn’t we all love a personal shopper to help with our quilting needs? At the very least it will give us someone to blame for all those strange fabrics in our stashes!
What guidelines would you give to your fantasy personal shopper?