Thread: Not buying any new fabric !!

I have a friend who is a hoarder. I have not understood why she buys and buys and her house is full as well as about 20 storage units. Now I do ! A shelf in my sewing room broke so DH needs to fix it. I have fabric stored in bins on the shelves and they are too heavy. I knew that I had FQ's, yardage and scrapes all mixed together so I figured I would clean the bins out. So far, I have gone through the red, green, brown, yellow and orange and the purple and turquoise fabric bins. I must have 500 FQ, about 50 Fat 8ths and three grocery sacks of scrapes to be cut up. Now that still leaves me the black and white, the patriotic, 2 bins of Christmas, 2 bins of children, 1 bin of mixed, one bin of floral and 2 very large bins of blue. None of these have solids in them, that is another area of the room. I think there is another bin, but I am afraid now to go into that room and check it out. I also have FQ's in the chest in the guest bedroom with all my charm squares. There has to be about 50-75 FQ of my Kaffe Fassett fabric as well as my Liberty of London Fat Sixteenth's. And believe it or not, all this except the chest are in my sewing room which is a small ex-bedroom. So now I am more than a little ashamed of all I have, I will never ever use up all my fabric. I have made a rule now that I will not buy any more fabric -other than the background or borders for my quilts. It comes at a good time as I have made all my family members quilts in their desired designs/fabrics and now I am free to use what I have. I am wondering if there is a 12 step group I can go to ?

I know the feeling! I haven't even gone through my scraps or the boxes of scraps that I bought a year or so ago from someone on this site. The guilt and shame is driving me a little nuts. But I do still have family quilts to make. I don't have as much as you. But I have way too much for having only started in mid 2011! I am trying to not even buy for backing. However, I do lack in solids except for a couple of colors. Hang in there and quilt away!

I stopped buying fabric about a year ago when I realized my growing stash was making me anxious. I don't work as fast or as hard as I used to when I made all my own clothes -- retirement has made me lazy! -- and so having all that unused fabric has created an urgency and a demand on me that I don't enjoy. Now I buy what I need at the time I need it -- if it's not in my stash -- and resist -- or try to resist -- buying fabric just because I love it.

Originally Posted by Judith1005

Just take it one day at a time. And keep telling yourself, I will use my stash. You are very lucky to have such a stash. Especially with the price of fabric now. So just give yourself a pat on the back for planning ahead. I hope you find lots of fun things to do with your stash.

I agree with Judith. Never worry about too much, but just organize a little each day and plan your next quilt without having to shop for fabric.

Well if you find a program - let me know. I am in the same boat and am trying very hard (so far successful) to not buy any fabric.

It was very difficult for me, but I reduced my stash by about half last week! I had so much I just knew I'd never get around to using, so it had to go. I put it out there on Facebook and two women jumped at their chance for FREE, yes, FREE fabric! They were both young moms with little extra cash and both had hand-me-down sewing machines. I felt so good sharing my stories with them. I think we shall remain in touch to see what they do with their newly acquired treasure trove of fabrics!

Originally Posted by Debbie C

It was very difficult for me, but I reduced my stash by about half last week! I had so much I just knew I'd never get around to using, so it had to go. I put it out there on Facebook and two women jumped at their chance for FREE, yes, FREE fabric! They were both young moms with little extra cash and both had hand-me-down sewing machines. I felt so good sharing my stories with them. I think we shall remain in touch to see what they do with their newly acquired treasure trove of fabrics!

This is awesome! I have been the young mom with no money. Do stay in touch as they might need you for more guidance in the years to come.. Blessings.