Just curious but about how much do you spend on fabric per month? I'm just starting to build my stash and realize I haven't been aggressive enough as I only spend an average of $30-40 per month. Judging from some of the pictures, I'm waaay behind.

Depends on what Ive got going on each month and what sales I find.. If there is a great clearance or sale I stock up.. I'm known to spent 100-300. but if its a slow month like this month -I tend to spend not so much..

However to date, Ive spent to date aprox $45..But it was on bolts of Christmas fabric that was 70% off So I bought the yardage that was left on each of them..

i don't dare calculate the monthly average of my stash spending. i'm sure it would put me into a shock-induced coma. :shock:

when i look at my stash - which literally lines 3 walls, floor to nearly-ceiling, i'm not proud of it. i wish i had the cash invested in just those fabrics i like but will never live long enough to use. if i'd spent more wisely, i could have retired a few years ago. :lol:

it would be a huge mistake to pace your purchasing based on the habits of others. there's no such thing as a standard "right size" for a stash.

let your own needs and financial health be your guides. ;-)

Probably too much but hopefully my stash should see me through my retirement years.

A few dollars. Literally. They donate all of the left-overs from classes to our local thrift shop. They bundle them up and sell them for a dollar a bag. Often I find orphan blocks, fat quarters, pre-cuts. You name it. I never know what I'm going to find in those fun bags. I have a hard time spending too much money doing this because then it's like I bought the quilt. I'd much rather make them from someone else's "cast offs".

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DITTO....word for word, exactly how i feel when I look at my ''collection'' but on the other hand, we could be ''collecting'' other things that are not going to be used/made into wonderful works of art , beautiful gifts or just plain everyday useable quilts!!

jodi in leavenworth

I no longer try to build up a stash, in fact I am making scrappy quilts to use up my left over material from other projects. I am useing some of Bonnie Hunters patterns from her on line site. www.quiltville.com. and enjoying every minute of it. There is always new fabric arriving and if I have a project in mind I want to have the latest fabric out there. I started the year already having made two of her Bricks and Stepping Stones pattern.

My daughter is visiting me and just last night finished re-folding and organizing most of my fabric (the 1/2-yard & fat quarter case). It's amazing how much I have. Not three walls worth (lol...) but more than I am comfortable with. I get nervous with too much fabric and it becomes worrisome for me.

Geez, don't worry about being aggressive enough. Even 30 - 40 per month gets you the fabric you want, right?
It's fool-hardy to keep up with the Jones'.

There's no race. Sometimes big fabric collections are built over MANY years.

Me, I'd rather put the extra money in the bank.

when I get out usually about $60 and I also buy from this quilting board nice stuff sold here too!

I spent quite a bit collecting last year. Now I am cooling it unless I see a great deal! I need to take time and organize now that I collected. A person can get overwhelmed if your not careful and spend alot quickly!

Buying fabric every month just because you can is probably not the wisest way to spend your fabric dollars and build your stash. I have collected fabric since I was nine and my fabric tastes have changed over the years. When I first started quilting seriously, I bought too many focus fabrics (bright cute prints) and not nearly enough blenders, tone on tones and background fabrics. The only upside of those earlier purchases is that they were bought mostly at a tent sale clearance annual sale and were less than $2 a yard. I am slowly clearing them out stitching Community Quilts for my guild and making many crib/toddler quilts for local babies and family members. I now only buy what I need or those quieter blender fabrics if there is a wonderful sale.

Sometimes wayyyy to much lol

I spend about $10.00 a month right now. You will find if you buy a little here and there it will add up quickly.

Ha ha ha ho ho ho he he he!! ROFL! I spend way too much. But I don't spend more than I can. We are a credit card free family so that definitely helps:). I go to LQS average of 2 times a month and spend from 50 to 100Ish each time. This time of year I slow down to save money for Paducah. You'll find that ur stash will build on its own with each project you do.

I don't spend much on fabric nowadays, 1-I have plenty of fabric, of course I would love to have more but really can't justify more, so I just buy if I actually NEED for a project or if it's too good a deal to pass up.

I don't want to know. And, I especially don't want my man to know..............

2 yes, believe it or not that's all I spend---too much that is. I'm going to Paducah also but I'm hopefully not going to purchase fabric. For the past two years I've hit all the shops and not been able to go through the convention center so this year I'm going to hit all the "gadget booths". However, I'm going to Marshall Dry Goods in June so. . . . .

WAY TOO MUCH!!!!! My stash is crowding me out of my sewing room :!: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm working on UFO's this year - or at least that's the plan. Right now I have enough fabric for all my projects. We're trying to cut back in all our spending areas and have been for the last few months (although that was hard with Christmas)

Wow, I thought I was the only one who worried about having too much fabric! Worse yet, I'm not entirely sure why I'm worried. What's up with that?!

I spent 7 dollars on fabric last month (a receiving blanket for my sister and interfacing for a diaper bag). That was the first time I had bought fabric in four months. I haven't been sewing much and when I have been I've been working on the same quilt. I guess I just don't have a problem! I don't really want the problem. I would rather go to the store buy what I need use it and move on. I don't want a bunch of crap laying around that I will lose taste in. Its wasted money. Even though we have the money to waste. Whats the point?

Well, I am getting ready to have DH help me put up another shelf if that is any indication! I go through spurts....kind of like living to your means. My DH only works PT for a low amount (but the payoffs are the discounts and he likes to BS about guns and hunting). He also takes on contract work from time to time. When he does this, I tend to spend more. His paycheck usually goes back into the store, so he doesn't mind me spending at all. We have VA disability income and I am a caregiver for MIL-so we use that to pay the bills! Works out great!

I buy way too much, but I do pay cash each time. Being retired gives me way too much time to shop!! I go to my LQS once a week for "free" get togethers and I usually end up buying something!!!

I totally agree-also some collect and some purchase to use. I have a friend that won't use some of her fabric because it's too pretty! I personally don't like a lot of things around and besides how often do we find ourselves going back to the store because we need a color to add or we don't have enough of something. Whatever you have it still won't be enough or right for the project! Craaaazzzzyyyyy!

You will find your comfort zone but remember to leave room so you can add to it when you find something you just have to have!

Some months I don't buy any fabric and others I shop a lot. It depends on if I find something that calls to me.

I don't buy just to build stash necessarily. I do buy blenders, batiks when I come across a good sale, but as to the rest it has to be for a specific project or because I fell in love with it

If you don't find fabrics you love? Put the money aside for the next month, when you find some that you do :D:D:D

Some months I may spend a few hundred on fabric and other quilting supplies. Some months I may spend nothing. DH pays my credit card off every month in full and so far he hasn't had a !!!! moment over any charges to quilt shops.

I bought one bolt of black, Kona cotton, and one bolt of white on white, 109 wide, in the past year. The last time I got any other fabric was at the Paducah quilt show. ( around $100 worth)I have and keep a rather small stash, (I gave away 4 big huge bags of fabric I had but no longer liked.) This told me keep it small and only fabrics you really like. I feel no need to try to keep up with others and have a huge stash. If I am working on a project and need a certain color I do not have on hand, I either dye what I need or paint it. This works for me.
Last month I did spend over $1400 on more sewing machines LOL But so worth every penny to me!

i've been buying for 4 yrs one of my coworkers & i go on shops hops we call them to s mo east to miss. river west to mo river this spring we're going n. mo. to mo. quilt co. always had to work when there were real ones have met some very nice quilters

I'm not actually into stash building, but when I buy for a project I always buy way more than I need... in case I goof up. So I do have a stash. Once in a while I will buy a yard or two of something just because I like it. I don't have a monthly allowance for fabric but if I did, I know I'd blow it LOL

It all depends on the kind of fabric I'm buying. If it's seasonal(holiday) then I wait til after the holiday and buy it at 50% off.Backing usually isn't on sale so I buy that any time.Fall is the best time to buy summer fabric cause it's 25%-50% off. Unless I need a piece of fabric for a customer immediately I buy fabric this way:holidays-after the holiday,spring-during the first part of fall .that way you will be buying fabric that is good quality but at a lower price cause it's last season's stock. My monthly supply budget is $125.00 a month and that includes batting,backing,threads,fabric,blades,everything that I will need to sew with that month. That's why I shop a season behind on my fabric. That's not that much when you think about all the stuff you work with in a quilt shop.

When I fabric shop I have to pack a lunch, it is a day trip of sorts. So I usually go when I have a little more money. In December, I spent about $150 (also bought some quilting hoops). My quilting group is planning a minor road trip this Friday, weather permittting, and a more extended one next week, weather permitting. I have been buying fabric for this year's planned projects, so I will only have to add a piece here and there to complete/enhance projects.

Normally, when I go I usually purchase mostly fabric I like and less for a specific project. I find that if I always buy what I like, it all tends to work together. Where I usually run into trouble is when I try to follow pattern recommendations. So after a year of trying to follow the pattern reccommendations,I have reverted to only buying what I like and making project selections from my stash. Works much better for me.

I do not want to know. To much!

I don't Know, qBeth!!! It's like I get anxious looking at all those beautiful fabrics. 'my God... how will I ever Use all of this?' and, yet, I'm blessed to have it because it's there when I need it. It's just that it whispers to me in the night: 'why aren't you Sewing?!'

I bought a whole lot of creams,off whites & some blenders this mo because I use them a lot & was very low. Otherwise, trying to use mostly stash.Need to start a box of no longer liked fabric to give away.Don't care a whit if fabric is this yrs or last,it's just what looks good to me.My sewing room is the worlds smallest & refuse to start storing in another room.

Not very much and sometimes nothing. I cut apart old cotton clothing, save buttons, and shop at thrift shops when I can get out of the house. Little by little your stash will build and before your realize it you will have MORE than needed; addiction on its way. Enjoy and spend what you can when you can.

i rarelly do...most of my stach was bought on sale or i worked for doing inventory at the local shop when it closed down...i use old jeans, ties, even made one using old fortrel clothes.....i make my daughter and SIL pay for the fabric when i make clothes for their daughters...lol being on a budget ...you just have to make do....

This month I've spent about $70...so far.

I'm just a beginning quilter and I don't have a monthly budget. I'm just picking projects and finding the fabrics I want then. I don't have the space or the desire to maintain a stash right now. I'm trying to reduce and simplify!!