Does anyone else have this or am I just crazy??? I know so many of you have huge stashes, but I actually HATE buying fabrics unless they are for a very specific project. Not because I don’t want to, but because I am scared. The only thing I can think when buying is, what the heck will this go with? Why am I buying this? This will never match any of my other fabrics, so it’ll never get used. I actually freeze up and end up buying nothing, even when it's a GREAT sale. Whenever I look at fabric pictures people post, I love them so much, but then when I go to buy them, I start hyperventilating. I do have a stash of sorts that is big chunks of leftovers from previous projects and big chunks that I got from the leftovers bin at my LQS, but other than that I find it very difficult to buy fabric that has no current purpose!

Am I crazy?!?!?

Rachel

no. You are not crazy. I think you are thoughtful.

You could be. LOL I really am teasing, because I am the total opposite.LOL. Wish I were more like you. Luckily I don't have much money or our house would be a "House of Fabric....Good Job, I admire you.

I admire you for your will power also...I do not have the will power at all. My stash has extended to a second bedroom. My dear husband takes me fabric shopping about once a month and tells me.."buy what ever you want"
Rachel you aren't crazy!!!!
I have started to go thru some of my fabric and am going to purge some of it.

But it's funny cause I WANT a stash, I just can't get past those thoughts in my head .... LOL I guess it is a good thing!! :)

Rachel

I think we have the same house,lol!!

What you might want to start doing is collecting particular fabrics -- batiks, florals, black & whites, etc., because you know that when you decide to do a project, they will all go together.

Oh girlfriend!!! We need to talk! :lol: :lol:

I've got stuff that is 15 yrs old and just recently found the perfect quilt for it to go into. You just never no when something is going to hit you. If I really love something and I don't know what I'm going to do with it, I get atleast 3 yards. That way I can incorporate into borders.

Oh by the way, took the pictures of the fabric for you and son tried getting it on the computer and lost everything on the disk!! :evil: :evil: Will try again. So sorry!!

That’s a good idea. I was thinking yesterday that I should focus on getting pieces fabrics that read as one color (ROYGBIV ya know? :)). Then I can buy the fun prints when I have a project in mind and I will have a good variety of colors to match with it already….. Maybe I’ll try this, I’ll just pick a color a month. So June will be red, if I am buying fabric that has no project in mind, I will buy fabrics that read as red. And so on for each month …. That’s probably a pretty good basic stash to have right? And it gives me something to focus on instead of getting overwhelmed by all the choices. Hmmmmmm ….. You guys are bad, bad enablers :)

Rachel

Haha, well that’s good!! At least I know I’ll find a home for it someday I guess. :) No worries on the pics, my computer loves to give me hissy fits whenever it feels like. Whenever is fine!!! :)

Cheers!
Rachel

I wish I could do that... but fabric seems to talk to me :oops: And when it talks I listen :roll: LOL

I buy the prints now, when I see something I like and figure that later I can match up solids and extra colors after I find a project :wink:

I can't relate. Fabric calls my name. I must buy regularly..... I must...... I must.......

I know what colors I like and so most of my stash will play very nicely together.

I wish I was more like you. I honestly do. I am not a hoarder when it comes to most things, but fabric is my passion. I usually have an intended purpose for what I buy, but buy way more then I need.

I think my problem is that I am a much better planner then I am a doer. (is that a real word?) I am good at buying and organizing the stuff, but sitting down and getting things actually made is harder for me. I am getting better and working at it. But it is a process.

I am afraid of not being able to find a print that I have fallen in love with, at a later date, so I buy these as I find them :wink:
I enjoy pulling out one of my prints and then shopping for the rest of the fabrics to go with it.

I do like to buy blenders/tonals to keep in my stash, I will pick up as much as I can when I find good sales on them :D:D:D

It's always good to have 'blenders', so a stash of them is always good to have! I get prints when I just LOVE them. And I generally buy more than the blenders I get. For example, I'll get a yard each of blenders, and enough of the prints I love to either do borders or a back - or both.

Rachel, I'm glad you posted this. I feel very much the same. I get so overwhelmed and afraid...I never know how much to buy, or if it will 'go'. Last week I found a fantastic quilt shop that was having a big sale. I was afraid I would freeze as usual. I pushed myself, and I decided to buy a kit (30% off)and found the backing on the sale table. ($4/yd instead of $9). I then found some fabrics that I think I can use together and the owner helped me decide how much to buy. Whew! Exciting! I really like your idea of getting color of the month blenders! Great plan! We can do this!

Yay! I’m not the only one. :) I am so bad at this!! I went to a big quilt shop recently and they even had some great sales, and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy even though I had the money. It’s so weird, I go in saying “That’s it! I am going to buy 2 yards of a fabric I like today.” Then when I get in there, all the fears come back and I leave with nadda. *sigh* Alright, I have decided. I am going to focus on one color a month purchasing blenders, I will buy ½ yard each because I make mostly scrappy quilts anyway. Maybe if I get comfortable with this and I see a stash building, I’ll get comfortable with buying other stuff too. Lynn – We should both do this and post at the end of the month our new “stash” fabrics!! :)

Cheers!
Rachel

Rachel,

It's not a bad thing. If you are happy buying it when you need for specific quilts, then do it and don't try to force yourself to be different. I really only have one vice - fabric and I thoroughly enjoy the collecting part of the hobby. But if you don't, that's great too.

We're all different and that's great!

When I first started quilting..I was so afraid of fabric. I realize now that I was afraid of making a mistake. Now I don't give a hoot...If I like..guess what..it is mine.

LOL, I wish I was more like you too! Its dangerousfor me to go to a fabric shop, then I see way too much I want!

I have developed a very bad fabric hoarding problem lately, after getting back to quilting after a few year's absence. (No stash!) I decided that I had to give myself some boundaries in buying fabrics that I don't have a particular project planned for using it: 1) It has to be selling at a really, really good price. 2)It has to be exactly a color or pattern I could visualize using. 3)I have to be reasonably sure I won't find this particular print or something close to it again.
Then I rationalize and try to believe that the fabric meets all this criteria. But it works well in theory! If you can afford to buy it, you will use it someday - either sharing it with someone or planning a quilt around that fabric you just had to buy.

I have been a fabriholic since I started sewing at age 12. Everyone in my family always knew that the way to my heart was through fabric! If you really want to buy fabric to have on hand, maybe you should try getting 2 or 3 yards of 3 pieces that belong to the same family. That way you can put them together in a plastic bag and have them handy for when you want thm. But, Irish is rite, you should do what fits you best.

I think that is a good idea, about buying a different "basic" color of fabric each month. I kind of have a similar plan, myself - only instead of purchasing no fabric, I've purchased a great many novelty prints that have very limited uses.

So my new goal is to buy more basics, and round out the colors in my stash (I have A LOT of dark blue, but no purple, very little light blue, and so on)

i need to take lessons...
i found ebay and lost all sense of reality lol.. ordered way too much and now as it shows up in the mail i wonder what im supposed to do with half of it lol

I am somewhat like you. I too don't really buy fabric that I just "like." All fabric I buy is with a specific project in mind at time of purchase. The difference is that I have so many projects in mind, on the go and planned, that all the fabric I buy eventually becomes part of my "stash". Eventually it will go into a particular quilt, but for the time being, it sits on my shelf and I get to pet and stare at the pretty stash!

Rachel, I try to only buy fabric for a project. When I see all of these "stashes" I think OMG they are never going to use all of that up and look at all the money that is just sitting there being wasted.

A sale is only good if you are going to use it. Even if you get fabric for $1 a yard, in the end, if you havent made it into something, then it gets given to Goodwill or sold at a garage sale.

I have one motto when it comes to fabric..BUY!!!!!!
I love to have fabric in my stash because I like to be able to go to my stash on a rainy or snowy day and be able to work on a new project - sometimes if I find a good buy I buy extra - because I know that somewhere down the line that will work as a great backing or will coordinate with others....
I LOVE FABRIC!!!!!
I've worked in fabric sine 1986.....it's the only life I know :-)

Rachel,
I am the SAME way. A lot of times I will go because they are having a great deal and then I get there and I think what am I doing here I have enough fabric at home for this quilt, and that quilt and I walk out with nothing. I wouldn't go into a store and buy paint if I didn't have a wall to cover, I wouldn't buy diapers if I didn't have a butt (just turned a year old) to cover. Why go in and buy fabric if I don't have a quilt to make with it!

When I do get ready to make a quilt I buy everything I need for it right then and there.

I'm the same way!!

I can't relate either. I try so hard not to buy, not even 1 piece, but I can't help myself especially if it's on sale!

Okay you guys are making me feel better :) Thanks everyone for all your thoughts!!

Rachel

you are the person i want to be when i grow up. (which i'm beginning to think is never going to happen. :roll: )

i wish i had your common sense and self control. i might have a guest room instead of a storage room. :?

be yourself. you're doing great. :thumbup:

Crazy?? Maybe not, Rachel. Maybe just a serious phobia??? Whatever it is, better you than me! If I see a yummy fabric at a price I'm willing to pay ... the more yards I can get, the happier I am; occasionally I go down to my basement sewing room to admire and touch the fabric ... I think it must call to me. Because there are really very few fabrics that have all the qualities that I want, I don't have a large stash, but enough to make me feel warm & fuzzy. (Gosh, maybe we're both crazy!)

Rachel, I look at it this way ( and it does work for me)- if I have an assortment I tend to be more creative. Does that make sense?? It's really fun to go through my stash and come up with a great idea. But again, that's just me. I was hopeless when I bought the fabrics for my first quilt- I wanted most of the shop :D:D:D
One question for you- are you like this about other things or is it just fabric?? I hear a little "phobia" too. I am very sensitive to fears b/c I have some, not fabric though lolol
HUGS, Sue

I wish I hated to buy fabric--I'm just the opposite! I just love fabric and fabric shopping. It doesn't matter if I have a particular use for what I buy either. It doesn't even have to be beautiful. I can spot something with great texture, or something that is just interesting that I know will find a place in one of my quilts (or dreams of a quilt!). I'm afraid I love designing and drawing and planning my quilts out on graph paper, almost more than I do making and completing the quilts! But it does help to have a great stash. I find that I really don't need to go out and buy when I'm ready to start a project, because I have enough at home to go through and try to make my own fabrics work in my designs. So, I may be a bit fabric-crazy, but, as I tell my DH (when he sometimes just can't help commenting on the amount of fabric vs. finished quilts), he's lucky I'm not hooked on expensive clothes, jewelry, or travel! WLee

I used to think this way. Then I lost it. Figured life is short & ya never know with the way the economy is or can be, so might as well just buy fabric now. Kind of like an investment. LOL I even get a kick out of going to Quilt In A Day site and ordering from their site. Every week they put a certain color or pattern of fabric on Sale. So I hit it. I Shop other online places as well when they have Sales. Blenders are wonderful to have on hand. Whites & Creams, and your primary colors as well. I also started collecting reproductions from the 30's & CW. If I needed to, I could make many quilts without ever leaving the house for fabric. That is a good feeling. But I keep adding. LOL My Mom & a couple of my friends Shop my Stash also, so I try to keep a good amt. so they can keep on sewing. When DH retires I may not be able to buy fabric often so I am getting prepared now! LOL That is my story & I am sticking to it. Oh! And I am also trying to help stimulate the economy. LOL But other than my grandkids, this is the only thing I splurge on. DH knows I am cheap on him so he doesn't mind. :thumbup:

Oh it probably is some sort of phobia. I have a hard time buying anything actually even when i have the money for it. But most things I bite the bullet an buy anyway, but for some reason I have a really hard time with fabric. :) I think it's becuase we are trying very very hard to pay off all our bills, so my mind set is to not spend automatically. So when i do have money for a specific thing I feel like it has to be the ultimate perfect thing I buy because I may not have money for it again for a while. And that's where the fear comes from for buying fabric. I go in with say $50 and intend on buying fabric, but it's not enough to buy for a whole quilt, so maybe I'll just buy 2 yards of only 2 fabrics, but then what if I never find a use for those and I have wasted this precious $50? SO I decide on just getting a bunch of fat quarters, but then what if a fat in not enough once I find a quilt I want to make and this fabric is gone when I am ready to buy more? And then after pacing around the store for 30 minutes picking up and putting down, I leave with nothing. LOL Yes it's a problem. Because I do want to buy. But I guess it's good that my house is not overwhelmed with fabric.

Maybe if I sit down and decide on 5 or 6 projects and what fabrics I want for them, I could start buying for those. I have often bought a coordinating set of fabrics for a project, but then ended up using it for something else. I bet it would help me because I would know that it has an intended project, and I would have a stash because I could end using the fabric for a different quilt ..... hmmm not a bad idea.

Thanks everyone for your comments, I know it's a little odd, but it's good to 'talk' it out. :)

Cheers!
Rachel

i'm here if you want to purge this way !!!!!

i'm here if you want to purge this way !!!lol

Rachel-
It sounds to me as if it is a situational thing - that when your financial goals are met, you might be in a different place with fabric buying (or not). Since I organized what stash I have, I have really cut down on buying until I use up what I have. The only problem is, now, I have to buy more to go with what I have in some cases because some of this fabric is all over the board. DH is talking about retirement and downsizing so that is affecting my shopping attitude too. When I was at the Keepsake sale this weekend, I kept thinking "Wouldn't it be nice to buy all the pieces I needed for a project right now?" Then, again, I always did enjoy a good treasure hunt...
Give yourself some space - this doesn't sound like a bad problem and it may change when your lifestyle does.
lots2do