Ever wonder why did I buy that?
 

I am organizing my fabric room and going thru some old storage boxes with fabric. Some of this stuff is 10+ old. As I go thru I am struck that alot of this fabric I don't like any more. Ever do that?

But not to worry, it will be cut into strips and put into a scrappy quilt.

I have material that I bought and don't know what in the world was I thinking when I bought it. I have donated a lot lately to a womans shelter. I have enough fabric to last my lifetime. I recently made 7 lap size quilts and I used only fabric my my stash. I figured that I used approx 25 yds of fabric.

You are not alone. I,ve just packed up a lot to donate.
I,m sure we all have done it. Our taste changes, is probably
one reason.

Not yet, but then I tend to buy 'classic' type material anyway. And I haven't been quilting very long....

I find fabrics I don't like too. I guess that's why almost all my quilts are scrappy. I have too much in my stash but share it with 2 friends.

I gave myself permission to let a lot of (hmmm) past fabric choices slide, because we can only buy what's on display. I really don't like the 1970'[s fabric patterns/designs that are making another appearance, but if someone doesn't like batiks, reproduction fabrics or airy florals there's not much left. Also, often a store sample on display has great sumbliminal purchasing power on fabric and patterns that walk out the shop door.


As for buying those "What Was I Thinking?!?!?" notions and gadgets, the best reason listed in "Cut The Scraps" is:
THE DEMO MADE ME DO IT.

Which is true, by the way.

Hey Wunder-Mar - love your avatar quilt! I've got to update mine - thanks for the reminder!

I have way too many "what was I thinking" fabrics, which is why I've been posting stuff for sale in the Thrift Shop here and doing some PIFs.

I was in my LQS last week and almost bought a kit because of the sample. I then realized that I really didn't like the fabrics and was just interested because I loved the pattern - duh - I bought the pattern instead. As I go through my quilt studio I'm trying to be really stern with myself. So far it's working.

What I find interesting and aggravating, is I see a fabric, I just HAVE to have. So I get it home, include it in my stash and there it sits usually. For me, it's like going to my sizeable closet and never having the right thing to wear. I was bound and determined to make my Christmas gifts from the stash only this time. My intentions were good but I still ended up having to go to the quilt shop for one yard of something or other, as what I had still wasn't quite right. Maybe it's a character flaw on my part.

I don't think it's a character flaw. It happens in all facets of our lives really. Have you ever been really excited about a new job and found it wasn't exactly what you thought? Ever made a meal you were hungry for in the store and have it turn out less than satisfying? I think it's our spirit of adventure, our imaginations and our intellectual curiosity that drive choices that sometimes turn out to be less pleasing than we thought they would be.

How's that for a really good rationalization?

I may have bought some odd fabric, but I bet most of my strangers were given to me by a quilter/sewer who has lost interest. I do donate fabrics that won't work in a quilt (left overs from wedding dresses, over coats, truck seat covers, etc) and the rest I hold on to and hold on to and hold on to.

You are not alone.Our tastes change as time goes by.I have a lot of the-what was I thinking -fabric

Yup. More than once. I figure that fabric goes into gift quilts or donation quilts. It isn't that the fabric is horribly ugly, just not my taste once I find it again.

Cheers, K

Yep, and it's just not fabric. I've bought notions that are still in the package that I've never used.

" For me, it's like going to my sizeable closet and never having the right thing to wear."

Me too. I really, really like each fabric when I buy it, but rarely do I find all the coordinates I need for a project in my stash. I wish I could just buy everything for one project at a time, complete the project, and then repeat that sequence. However, the magazines come out with new designs, or I see a new tutorial here I need to buy fabric for and my stash grows! And interests change. And fabric style changes.

When I look at them now my first and only thought is "Pot Holder" - not that they ever get to go there, because I could not bear looking at them that long. A couple of years ago we had a swap 'your ugliest fat quarter'. I got rid of a few and could not believe that the pretty ones I got in exchange were deemed ugly by anyone! Thank goodness tast differs. Still have a few uglies in stock, though.