My Dream House (scratch that.. who needs a house? I meant My Dream Quilt!)

Generally, I am not a person who cares about name brands of anything. I like good quality, but I am not hooked on names. However, I have recently gotten hooked on all things Vera Bradley. I have absolutely fallen in love with the prints used to make her products. Maybe it has something to do with this year being the real Vera Bradley's 100th birthday year and my turning 50; maybe I'm relating more to the older crowd now. Anyway, if you know me at all, you have probably already guessed that I am thinking about a Vera Bradley quilt. Oh yeah, wouldn't that be something! It would especially be something since you cannot buy the real Vera Bradley fabric anywhere... and believe me, I have searched high and low... it is just not available. However, I have always believed that where there is a will, there is a way. And yes, I have found the way ... well, sort of. There are Vera Bradley cloth napkins... yes, they are made of the perfect quilting fabric and they are large enough to yield quite a few squares each. The ones who are current (meaning the print has not been retired yet) can be bought for $6 each. Retired ones can be bought for a fortune on ebay. If I were smart I would just start with the current ones and collect forward until I am ready to make the quilt. But noooo... I have to be difficult (is that an over the hill thing, I wonder?). I want them ALL! Yes, I do realize that may be impossible, not only due to availability but also due to the major chunk of change this project would cost. Even if I got an extra job to pay for this quilt, it would probably not be enough, considering the prices I just viewed on ebay for the retired ones. Maybe I will start buying lottery tickets. I can see it now... "Alabama quilter becomes a lottery millianaire, and spends it all on fabric!" Hey, what's wrong with that, if it makes me happy?! Well, back to reality... I guess a Vera Bradley quilt wouldn't quite be worth getting an extra job and giving up my quilting time, or buying lottery tickets with money that could have been spent on fabric. So I'll go with the more mature solution. I'll just start buying a napkin here and there when I have a little extra cash and see how it goes. Maybe by the time I have time to actually start the quilt, I'll have enough. Step #1: Acquire a list of all Vera Bradley fabric patterns since the beginning of the company... check that one off, I bought the limited edition patchwork journal that has a picture strip of each and every one of them on the cover and a list on the inside, for myself as a birthday present yesterday. Step #2: Start acquiring napkins, one at a time... I'll start a new list on my blog when this step begins. Maybe one of these days you'll be reading a blog post entitled "Starting My Dream Quilt."