A Confession.

So, since last post, a lovely friend of mine commissioned me to make a quilt for her. Yay! And would you believe it, we agreed on a price just a few hours before that sale ended. When I realised I didn't have enough fabric for backing, I logged on and chose the perfect design. Then, while I was already paying for postage...

I felt so right about my purchase last week. And while I still don't have a huge amount of regret, (I'm just a little bit more excited than I should be, considering the circumstances) I do wonder if I could have come up with an amazing idea for a cheaper but still beautiful way to do the back.

The beautiful warm colours I'll be using for my friend's new quilt!

Last year, for the whole year, I made a deal with myself. I wouldn't buy anything new that I thought I needed, until I waited to see if something turned up, or if I came up with a good idea to either make do or change it. As a result, I was often surprised at the cheaper, better, more creative alternatives that would spring to mind or hand. When I needed paving, I found flat rocks dug into my garden that I could turn into a landing at the bottom of my stairs outside. When I needed curtains, I found end of roll curtain fabric for $5 (reduced from $27 a metre) and there was enough to make curtains for our lounge and study. Then, Mum offered me some curtains she had in the garage and I washed them and sewed some sweet fabric with old style pictures of kids at the beach along the bottom and put them in Tully's room. When I wanted air-conditioning, a friend found out and offered me their portable unit almost new for a 1/3 of what she paid for it, then Mum offered to buy it for us for Christmas! We got Tully's bed second hand, his bike for free from the cool bike library in town and, instead of getting $700 drawers fitted in his room, I realised a $150 Ikea bookshelf would do the same job. (And I probably could have found one on eBay, but I was too excited with my discovery to wait!) I had so many cool stories by the end of the year, and no debt on my credit card.

Then, my friend, (thanks Lucy!) introduced me to Etsy. Fabric had always been on the extravagant list for me. It's about 3 times the price here than what they pay in the States. Suddenly, I could buy fabric cheap. I could make all those things I thought would be fun and beautiful. I could slowly see my savings disappear.

So, I'm setting myself the same challenge again: to wait. I'll keep you posted if I have any cool finds or ideas. In the meantime, if anyone wants to buy a quilt...