I have been cleaning and organizing for weeks in my sewing room.
My dear sweet brother, who loves me very much, brings me all of my mother's quilty stuff, bc she can't see anymore.
I'm not saying no, btw!
But trying to rearrange and find creative ways to store more...he's been bringing stuff to me for a couple years...sometimes bags, boxes, and sometimes just a handful he has found...all over their house ;)
(seems the creative hiding gene runs in the family ;) )...
Got to thinking about my grandma who used to own her own craft store, is in her nineties and pays rent on storage units to keep her stuff in...more to that saga, lol...
So, I began to wonder...do we, or when do we, say, "thanks, but I've got enough."
I'm not being funny...I'm serious as a wee mouse can try to be...what would make you stop? How full does your house have to be? (it's ok to prove a point with pictures if you just have to.... :mrgreen: )

You are blessed! Take it, sort what you WANT and give away or sell the rest. No one says you have to keep everything. I'm hoping to go through some of my craft things and give them away at our guild meeting. I don't do much more than sew now, not like the old days when I tried to do everything.

Hugs, Mousie

I agree with mimisharon -- you don't have to try to keep it ALL (although that would be nice, wouldn't it?) The stuff that you really don't like either donate or sell on the board here -- we would love to see/buy it! :D :D

I'd probably take it all since I'd be afraid brother would just throw it away. I would hope I could pass it on if I didn't think I would use something. Good luck!

I would accept all of it. Go through everything, keep what you think you will use and donate the rest to charity.

Your local ASG would gladly take fabrics and often times Community Senior Centers have a need for all kinds of crafts. I'm sure you will be able to find many organizations that would be very appreciative of any donation.

Don't turn it down. You never know what might come your way.

After you sort, decide what you want to keep, ask your crafty friends, ask at the guild, ask at church, or give to anyone you know might really appreciate certain things.

After that, school teachers (Kindergarten, art, etc) are always grateful for things they can use with their class for lessons.

How lucky you are!

There is always someone in need, maybe there is a local group or organization who can use what you can't by making blankets etc for the homeless or women's shelters or something. If you put the word out I am sure that what you can't use and/or sell will come in handy somewhere

Ditto.

oh, but mimi...I can't say no...I are Mousie, and i are addicted...LOL...no is not in my quilty vocabulary.
I just wondered how much stuff ppl would be willing to accumulate before they were satisfied?
Grandma has rental units, a bus in her back yard, full...and a path through her house, and she lost tons, when water got in the cellar.
I day dream that my uncle will pass it all to me, but it would fill my backyard!
Actually, they live over a thous. from me, so not likely to happen...sniff, sniff, sniff...
Don't get me wrong!...I love gma dearly, but she is 93...just saying....it's got to go sooomewhere????:mrgreen:

thats what I'm doing...keeping the stuff I like! :wink:

wee mouse,

I agree with all the others about taking it, sorting it, organizing what you keep and donating the rest!

Pay it forward! :thumbup:

Looking forward to seeing a pic of what you decide to make with it!

DeeDee :D

trust me...he enjoys seeing me take it, bc he knows I will use it...but he would toss it, if I didn't!
He is the reason I have it. My mother didn't want to part with it, but she is legally blind.
She talks about maybe giving me stuff he has already brought down here...shhh! I was going to make something and surprise her...would have been a big surprise :shock::!:

I LOVE YOU ALL FOR REPLYING, BUT I THINK I MUST HAVE PUT IT ALL WRONG... ;)
I really, really, really, want to know:
How much space would you give up in YOUR house, to stash more stash?
What is your limit? :mrgreen:

~laffin~ Well....I'm getting rid of the bed in the guest room...does that answer your question? ;)

K.I.S.S. - keep it simple sweety!

Someday you won't be here and then where will it go? Sort it out one bag/box a week if you must. Get rid of what you really know you won't use. There are church organizations, women's shelters, groups in other countries that will take all your craft stuff. Don't keep it around just 'cuz it was mom's. I did that in our basement after mom died and 24 years later and a move clear across lthe country, I am still getting rid of her stuff.

I think it is a sickness called hoarding. I don't want to be a hoarder.

YES, Charlee...I want to know how crazy ppl would let it get??? :lol: :lol: :lol:
we joke about it...but what would you give up first...for real?
I would keep some in shed...but it would ruin out there.
You would be amazed all that I can cram in a 11x15 room!
I'm amazed myself! :wink:

I don't want to get rid of anything. It's nice and neat and so organized.
I'm just thinking of the future...where to put more if DB keeps finding stuff?
I will eventually have shared and made gifts and giftings of some of it...but I won't say no.
It's not crazy yet:wink:

:XD:

I don't want to be a hoarder...I just want choices.
hmmm,...think i'm getting an insight here...psychobabble.:roll:

I have put boards across the top of two stacked shelf units to make another shelf...two actually..., and a third on next shelf down,...and then there's a little space in between on the floor that has a couple very small bins...:mrgreen:

I agree, I don't want to become a hoarder! It would be easy to do with the fabric I have, but, I DO see what I have as over-much..therefore, I have decided NOT to buy like I have been. If I can skip a month, every other month, that would be a boone, or do what I am doing, organizing my fabric so I can SEE what I DO have and then can shop from my stash. THAT is a much better idea..then buying more to become a hoarder. uffda..not a happy thought!

OK, to answer your question, in my house it would never take over more than one room. If I had a room, that is. I could never bring myself to pay for a storage unit. A bus in the backyard is out of the question.

I'd say my limit would be whatever can be neatly stored in a bedroom when one becomes available.

oh, I have no plans to buy any more, right now. I'm going to do like you and shop from my stash!
I just want to hear how ppl stash it?
some just let it get messy. I can't...I'd go crazy...for real, I'd be a babbling idiot...no offense y'all, that's just MY trigger, lol...
if it doesn't bother you and you can still create...I can't.
We all gotta do, what we gotta do, right?:thumbup:

I love you, lisa, wannabequilter! you got me:thumbup:
...and that's not easy to do :wink:
I can't fit anymore in my sewing room, and I really don't want to go looking for it in another room...so I think I am pretty near my limit.
I'm not paying for storage units either...that's out!
A bus? no way...not in Florida...crawlies!
If it's not in an insulated building, with the heat here, it wouldn't make it.
I guess my answer is one streeeetchy, room, LOL! :shock:

I fall into the "one room's worth" category. And not one room crammed so full you can't get in anymore, but accessibly stored. Even that would be too much for me, but then I don't have one room that can be turned into storage for craft/hobby stuff. In my house, if the bins holding stuff can't be stored unobtrusively, then they don't get filled.

My grandfather was a hoarder, and when he died and the house had to be emptied, we actually found a room nobody realized existed because of all the stuff piled in front of the doorway. The trouble with that kind of volume, is that it can overwhelm people trying to go through everything in a limited amount of time and good stuff ends up just being pitched out. For example, we threw out three wringer washing machines in new condition. A shame that shouldn't happen.
Good for you for being willing to take things as they come to you.

My dh and I live in a 3 bedroom house, 1 mbr to sleep, his room and my room. All my fabric is restricted to my room by my choice. My mom collects "things" and the clutter (although spotlessly clean) drives me crazy. Even when my sewing room gets out of sorts I start freaking. And I made a pact to not buy new fabric in 2010 unless I was given a gift card to a fabric store.
So far, 25 days into Jan and I've held true. So my answer to you:
one 10x10 bedroom's worth. :-D :-D :-D

I am trying to work on WIP's this year and pare down. I think mom's stash is about depleted, down there.
Man, I look at some of the prices on the tags:roll:
If it weren't for the fact that she crafted too, I would say she would have had me beat in the fabrics...she did some of everything!
My body won't let me get that far out there, lol!
When I get quilts made, i might have to stack them on this twin bed in here though.
that'll be a laugh. I haven't made a single thing for myself yet... :-D

ahh! a fellow cleaner, purple!:-D
It seems that quilters are either on one end of the spectrum or go way to the other end.:wink:

Well, I now have two empty good sized bedrooms. What the heck, the kids can sleep on the floor when they visit :oops: But seriously, i guess I'm not sure how much I would keep. If it was stuff I really loved, I would try to keep most of it. If it was stuff that I liked, but not loved, I think I would keep some and take some to my quilt group to share. If it started really getting in the way or I got to a point where I knew I wouldn't use it, then I would start sorting and divesting because there is always going to be new stuff that I am just going to have to have. Besides, it would be fun to see what others would make of it and I like to share.

As much as I can fit in my sewing room... Did I mention that I switched my bedroom to the smaller of the two :roll: LMBO

I am terrified of becoming a hoarder...I love to collect, but I don't like it getting past a certain point. We have 1 very large room which we share. Computer and quilting one side and my husband's art stuff on the other. My personal "rule" is nothing stashed in grocery bags or unidentified boxes and carpet must be visible. Before you ask....we don't draw a line down the middle...though if I sneak a box of fabric over his side he puts it firmly back where it should be!

It's great you are the recipient of all these goodies...but selling or passing on the bits you aren't totally in love with would be a great idea. Sad thing about hoarders is, nothing gets used or loved, and after so many years and odd storage methods it all just becomes garbage.

Anyway Mousie have lots of fun with your goodies...

limit? what means that? :mrgreen:

LOL I am thinking about doing the same thing
:oops:

right now i would dump my living room couch and put shelves up for more stash. that is going some in an rv! i am limited by weight restrictions but in a house------come on --------i would certainly have at least one LARGE room filled to the brim.
be careful, be careful, least yea become like my friend who has only enough room to walk thru a room. there are limits.

LOL....just got rid of the bed in one of the spare rooms to make more space for mu "stuff".....now if I start moving DH's things out I figure I have a problem....until then I am just enjoying what I have!

Take it...sort it...use what you can and give the rest away..you will make someone else's day!

I agree totally...A PLAN!
I'm a great planner, lol,...just have to implement:wink:
1-loves and permanently adopts
2-likes and shares
3-definitely finds it a new home

just bc I have family that have went to outrageous means by "my" perspective, (they CAN do what they want as long as they are not breaking the law, lol)...
just bc I am related to them, does not mean I have to:
monkey see, monkey do :lol:
I just thought it would be interesting to know how ppl 'resist the urges'. I thought this would be a lighthearted laugh at ourselves.
I have to laugh at my own creative 'savings', but i do have a limit.
If I come across something this year, that I positively have to have to just 'make', that special project I have planned,...I'll give away something to make room.
That is how I would talk my youngest into keeping down the piles in her room.
"Sweetie if you pick out two things, we can give away, you'll have room to get something new."
It worked somewhat...when she got married and I cleaned out her bedroom, she still had special shiny foil wrappers from kindergarten.
Maybe she'll take up quilting when her wee ones are just a bit older.
She has already shown a small interest in sewing some clothes.
A mother can dream... :wink: and share, if she gets serious :!: :wink:
(I would truly LOVE that!) :-D

lol, good thinking Amma. We only need a bed just a little bigger than we are to sleep, and i hear they make them fold up into the wall:XD:

:mrgreen: above all: laugh...and Bw, you sure do make ppl laugh :wink: :mrgreen:

I'll never let it get to walking space only! I get claustro. that is why i keep cleaning and organizing.
I like to keep it moving, instead of hoarding, but I also love to laugh at it all.
I don't believe there is a quilter alive that wouldn't at least look in a bag of freebies and consider for a moment what was inside? Is there such a creature? not I....:mrgreen:

alright! isn't quilting supposed to be fun?
I think it's fun to get creative with storing:mrgreen:
I also believe its up to the individual how much fun they intend to have :!:
If one person draws the line at a corner... :thumbup: for them.
If another wants a whole room and no more: :thumbup: to them.
And if another can afford and wants: storage units and a bus... :lol: :lol: :lol: