JSNOMORE

Iused to have a pretty good size stash but like you I found i wasn't using a lot of it. Also I have found my tastes have changed and so know I only keep solids and tone on tone and 1930/s

madamekelly

Lately I have acquired way too much fabric. I am officially DONE buying fabric, at least until it all fits into the space I have, neatly. I think it may be time to de-stash some of it since I now have more then I will ever use.

mpeters1200

I have a tiny apartment and with a hubby, 3 kids and all their crap, there isn't much left for me. I rarely buy fabric that the person and pattern aren't already picked out. I only work on 2 or 3 at a time to prevent UFO's. I figure if I don't have enough room for fabric, I certainly don't have room for stuff becoming a UFO!

I save my coffee can throughout the year for change. I hit about 3 big sales at Joann's each time. I bought all the batting I'll need for the year at their Presidents day sale in February. I went and bought some solids of the bolt and beautiful FQ's yesterday for some smaller projects I'll be finishing before Christmas.

I am finding that the great things I've received from people on the board, I actually have a super tiny stash now. My scraps are what take up a ton of room in the closet!

DonnaFreak

My stash is tiny compared to some here, but I'm just getting started! LOL! I have 2 plastic tubs full, a tote bag full of fabrics I've selected for particular projects, and a small plastic 3-drawer chest with children's fabrics in it. I DO plan to add to it, but the reason I have as much as I do is because I found a sale I couldn't pass up. My local Wal-Mart had LOADS of fabric marked down to $1.00/yd. last month, and I bought 100 yards! I'm very happy with the small stash I have, and have already dipped into it to supplement the quilt I'm working on now. I don't know what I'll do with all of it yet, but I love every single piece I bought and have no doubt that it WILL be used. I even found a small shelf for $2.00 at a yard sale, and a very small chest of drawers (14" X 26" ) for $10.00 at the Salvation Army store and bought them both in anticipation of needing them for more fabric! :c)

Donna

dollycaswell

I'm with you, Jim's Gem. Also, when my husband was sick several years ago and then when he went home to the Lord, fabric and quilting and sewing and planning quilts was my drug of choice!! Honestly, it was. I didn't drink or carouse, or smoke or any of those other expensive habits, but I did and do buy fabric. I have some that I remember EXACTLY where I was and what was going on with him at that time, and it's almost soothing to me now to pull it off the shelf and hold it and remember. I finished a quilt that was for our bed, and he had watched me plan it, cut it out, and start it before he passed away. It's on my bed and EVERY time I look at it I remember him sitting in the chair in my sewing room while I sewed and encouraging me and just being with me.

I try not to be stupid with my purchases, and do feel like I'm accomplishing something beautiful in my life. I LIKE the color, the feel, the calculations, planning, cutting, sewing, etc etc of it all. I do missionary work about 1/2 of each year and can't sew then, so I REALLY enjoy it when I get home and back to my quilting.

Not everyone has the inclination to accumulate fabric. I don't collect salt and pepper shakers either, but I know some people who do. I don't eat out very often, but some people do, I don't do Starbucks every day, but some people do. We all do what's important to us, with what we've been given. Life is short, do what's right, love God and love others and then enjoy what's been given to you.

aliaslaceygreen

:thumbup: :thumbup:
Yep, and because I have NO self control, and like pretty things, lol!!!

The biggest thing to me is this, however.
I am not a fan of matchy-match fabric. I love discovering that fabric I've kept for years suddenly becomes even more precious with a new piece I just bought. Since they didn't both exist at the same time, if I didn't have it already, they'd never get to be happy together!
(thats my story and I'm sticking to it!)

MissBarbQuilts

I stash because I learned long ago that if I see something I really like, someone else will really like it, too, and if I wait it will be gone.

annesthreads

This is much how I feel (though I'd never describe myself as practical!). When I started quilting, the friend who taught me encouraged me to start stash building and for a while I did. Then I gradually realised that I felt very uncomfortable with buying fabric without a purpose in mind and just stashing it, so I stopped, and now buy as I go along. Cost was also an issue - I just couldn't afford to have money tied up in fabric that wasn't being used. However- I have to admit that the small stash I'd already accumulated does come in very useful sometimes and saves me having to put a project aside until I can get to a shop or have fabric posted to me..

JeanneZ

I'm just a stash a holic. For everything. I find that when I am ready to make a quilt none of the fabric I have are what I want to work with for this quilt. So I buy more. I have come to the thought that I might not be able to use it all SO what I have kinda decided is to make a bunch of strip quilts out of what I have. Log cabin. rail fence, 9 patch,. maybe cut it all or most into 3 inch or 2 1/2 inch strips putting it into bags of light and dark and possible adding a very narrow black or white edge to the some for a strip quilt, pulling out blind and sewing it all togather into the different types of patterns for quilts. Sounds like a good plan now if I can just follow through,
JeanneZ