Sensory Overload

Have I ever shown you my favorite t-shirt?

I got it over at Craftster.org. I've started wearing it every time I go fabric shopping, especially if I'm looking for something in particular. It's sort of my "lucky fabric-shopping shirt".

I was wearing it yesterday when I finally made the hour drive to M & L Fabrics in Anaheim.
My Mom has been telling me about this place for quite some time now and Daughter & I have been trying to find time to go together for the last 6 months or so but the hour drive kept making it seem like a big ordeal.

Anyway, yesterday, Daughter had out-of-town company and couldn't get away but I really needed to find some San Diego Padres fabric for a custom apron order and had exhausted all other possibilities, so off I went, alone, in my lucky shirt.

I stepped inside the door and...WOW! Total sensory overload! I've never seen a store quite like this before:

Bolts and bolts and bolts of fabric, with about half of it priced at $2.98 a yard.

Shelves and shelves and shelves of flat fold fabric....not the easiest way to look at fabric, but at only $1.98 a yard you can work with it!

(I found this picture on flickr.)

There are 10 aisles like this one!

(I found this picture on Flickr)

"Secret" back rooms, each with its own category of fabrics......all so beautifully organized it took my breath away! If only the women who worked there could spend an afternoon at my local library fixing the children's section, which is always such an unorganized mess that I can hardly stand it. I'm sure they could whip it into shape in no time!

M & L Fabrics has a great selection of oilcloths, which I hadn't been able to find anywhere but online. There were hundreds of flannels, too. (I have a weakness for cute flannels for kids lap blankets)

At first I truly was having touble with sensory overload. With all those colors and categories and styles to look at, I couldn't think straight or focus on any one thing or really even look for what I wanted for at least 30 minutes. I just wandered up and down the rows, taking it all in, until my eyes and brain settled down and I could actually concentrate on what I was seeing.

My lucky shirt didn't work this time since I didn't find the Padres fabric I needed (I've since discovered it's out of print) but I didn't come away empty handed. I did only spend $23.00 dollars, but when Daughter and I return together it could be a different story!

I bought a few new (to me) fabrics with aprons in mind, including a piece with an unusual cigar-theme for a cigar afficionado I know......

and some pretty flannel to make a pair of new pillow cases for myself and some polka-dot oilcloth to make into some zipper pouches and maybe a new lunch tote.

I had planned to close up the "sewing studio" for the month of January and take a little hiatus but now I'm not so sure......

You know, its a good thing this store is an hour away or I think I would be in real trouble! It's a fabri-holics dream! (or maybe nightmare, depending on how you look at it....)