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Please Help!!!
I have been sewing and collecting fabric most of my life now I'm overwelmed with fabric and feel that I won't live long enough to get it worked up I have given a quilt to just about everyone that I know and I still have a large stack of blankets left. My so called home is over take with fabric of many many colors and designs. I have 4 rooms filled with fabric and could not tell you what all of the fabrics that I have I have tried and tried to straighten them out but have soooo much I don't ever get it right. I feel like I am going to die with the one that has the most fabrics. Does anyone have any ideas that could help me get this overwelming down to a reasonable amount that I could handle I have tried to help people on this board when they need a piece to finish something but never get a responce back on what they need.I have been watching people post they have soo much they don't know what to do and I have them all beat.
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How about having a sale. You could contact your local guild and offer some of the fabric to members at a reduced price.
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thanks for the reply I have tried a sale and only sell very little it just really don't make a dent in what I have. I have almost as much as most of the stores in this area
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You do not say where you are
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I would start slow. Go into one room and organize that room in colour families. Once you see what you have in that room decide what you want to do with it. Do you have a giant mound of green and less of other colours? Take what you think you want from each colour pile and call a quilt guild. Tell them that that room will have fabric for $1.00 a meter until it's cleaned out. That will give you hopefully 1 empty room. Once that room is empty, put the fabric you saved onto mini bolts on shelves. Start going into the other rooms and selecting the fabrics to add to the colour shelves. Once you have that room full with your selected fabrics, again have a sale of the remaining fabric, offer for sale on QB or donate to charity shops in your area.I hope you can get it down to a comfortable level and the money you raise from fabric sales can go into the bank or be used to get your tops machine quilted. Good luck and we are pulling for you!
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Sometimes posting fabric lines on here in the classified get great responses, once you have over 20 posts or whatever the rules are. I have bought quite abit off here over the years, one to help fellow board members and two because I can't resist collections, be it colour groupings or specific lines. Good luck, and start posting. When I closed my quilt store four years ago, my stash grew into mountains. I moved about 6 times in 3 years and moving it all was horrendous. I have bought very little in the past four years, except from fellow board members, and believe it or not, I have made a dent it in. I find making lap quilts for the Nursing home where I worked and a homeless shelter (usually about 10 quilts a year) helps alot. Since quilting is my passion, I do it daily and how many quilts can we store to pass on when we are gone?
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It sounds as if you really want to get rid of your fabric. If I had that much fabric and couldn't sell it off, I would be looking for places to donate it.
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Sounds like you need some friends to come help you out. As KSdot wrote, you may need to seek out your local guild. If you get the help to organize it you could rent a merchant booth at a local quilt show. The thing with yard sales is that people expect deep discounts so you will not get what you paid for it. I have gone to some estate sales that were selling quilt shop quality fabric for around $5 per yard (name brand stuff like Hoffman, Kona bay, etc) and Jo Annes/Walmart quality fabric for $2. I felt that was a fair price even though some of the fabrics I knew were several years old and probably bought for $5 per yard or less but in speaking with the people selling many people did not. It was half of what you would pay at a store today so I found it fair and all the fabric was in excellent like new condition. I got some beautiful stuff and was happy with my purchases.
You will only be able to sell the fabric if it is in like new condition and if your home is non smoking and also no pets have been able to get to where you have it stored. While many of us love our furkids, there are just as many who are deathly allergic and can not consider buying fabric that has had cats or dogs near it. If the fabric has been stored a long time and is musty smelling or faded or if mice have gotten into it you will have to sell it at a steep discount like $1 or $2 per yard or even less depending on condition. Additionally it is not easy to get the word out to local quilters without the help of a guild. You could advertise a yard sale on Craigs List and make sure you use words like quilting, sewing, material and fabric in your ad so when people do searches it will come back. Log it in yard sales and in arts and crafts. The items for sale here also need to be yard sale price and you need to be more active on the board, I believe. I never go into that section and since the board changed I don't know the rules. If you go to that section of the board, the rules are posted. You could try selling on E-bay. Many people sell fabric there but you need to be able to post pictures of it and again, you need to get it organized. If you mention where you are located I am sure members of the QB that live nearby will definitely offer to come help you out and even buy some of your fabric. I know I would consider it if you lived close to me. If recouping some of your cost is not a concern you can always donate it. |
in our community, the senior center has a group of quilters that make donation quilts out of donated fabric. you could check on that in your community. are your fabrics cotton? where do you live?
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Thanks for all the replys and ideas. I live in Texas. If anyone needs a special fabric please let me know.
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