rush88888

money is money...now or then... your tastes may change, so i would wait to buy anything. when i need it, i will buy it. there is a bonus to this...your kids won't inherit your collection!

DOTTYMO

If you have to stay in then stock up. I would organise my timeer week and plan a visit to some quilt shop fabric shop etc to visit and join a group. On retiring the thing you will miss is meeting others on a daily basis go out and meet somebody some days. If I had to stock up it would be fabRic but the Internet is always there .

QM

I bought a Bernina. BAD mistake. In 3 years I had to replace it with a Janome. After HUGE repair bills, the Bernina motor froze. That would have been $500 plus labor. DH could have done the replacement but Bernina would not sell it.

IMHO, a stock of several pleasant colors of solids and "reads as" solids is a good plan. My tastes in colors are fairly well established by now, so I know I will always use black, white, greens, blues, strong deep red, purple and gold. I rarely use pink, orange or yellow. Think about what looks good to you and what your purposes are. I don't make anything I dislike and about half of my quilts are for foster kids, so I keep a stock of novelty fabrics. I have a huge stash, but I live 70 miles from my "local" quilt store. If yours is a few miles away, a smaller stash is fine.

Most of my guild members have stopped using embroidery machines within a year or so. Be really sure you want anything that is a major expense. While I have and use a fancy stitch machine, 95% of my sewing is on a workhorse of a straight stitch machine.

carolaug

I say sewing machine, one that you can do your own FMQ'ng...you will save money in the long run not having to have someone else quilt your quilts. Second I would invest in a cutting machine...I love the studio! I am doing quilts that I would not do otherwise. The dies are expensive but...cheaper then many quilt kits that I have seen.

Stitchnripper

I would say stock up on cash so you can get what you want/need when you want/need it, current and fresh.

memepat

Thanks for all of the good suggestions.

Silver Needle

Get a Tru Cut rotary blade sharpener. The more expensive electric one. I rarely need to buy new blades. If they get the least bit dull I give them a 30 second treatment. Easier on rulers and cutting mats. A large large cutting mat and a 17" rotating mat. Specialty rulers for any quilts you've been longing to make. Set aside $$$. for classes and quilt shows.

Cindy60545

Soon we'll be welcoming you to the world of retirement. Fantastic! I was forced into retirement, so didn't have the opportunity to stock pile anything. Had I had the opportunity, I'd have stocked up on rolls of batting, more thread for sewing & bolts of blenders (black, cream, white especially). I already had kits made up, so didn't really need to add to that bunch. But like others have said, our tastes change over time, so I would start thinking of what I'd like to do with my quilting. Are there techniques you want to learn? Do you FMQ? If not, do you want to? Have you longed for a longarm? There's lots of choices to choose from or do them all!

lovelyl

Neutrals and batting! I would also put some money into a separate account each week until retirement so I would have a $$ stash to purchase fabric and not feel guilty about it. I wish I had built up a $$ stash before I retired. Instead, I stocked up on fabric when there was a sale and I now have lots of fabric that I no longer like and can't believe I bought just because it was on sale. As a result, I feel guilty when I purchase some of the beautiful new fabric that has come out since I retired.
I did purchase the best machine I could afford before I retired and that has worked out well. You will love being retired! Good luck!

peppermint31

I rarely buy kits because I like to choose my own colors and fabrics. I always stock up on back ground fabric when I find it on sale. I buy the wide backing material for the back of my quilts so that is another thing to get .