I'm a new quilter on a limited quilting budget. I started my "stash" by purchasing some pretty fabrics on ebay. I buy in bundles, or lots, so I get a better price. The only problem is I also ended up with some fabrics I hated. I found I was so afraid of cutting in to my pretty and/or expensive fabrics (afraid I would do something wrong and ruin my project). To get over that fear, I decided to go to my stash and pick out the two ugliest fabrics I could find......they just had to contrast. Then I made a baby blanket using the ugly fabrics just to try out a pattern I wanted to make. The quilt turned out really cute......much to my surprise!!!!!!! Then I pulled a bunch of ugly fabric from my stash, cut in small pieces, and made a TAW. It is beautiful!!!!!!!!!! These 2 experiments have taught me 2 things 1) 2 or more fabrics that would look hideous together if made in to clothing can look great when part of a quilt design. 2) even hideous fabrics, if cut in to small enough pieces
, can be beautiful. Now I'm ready to take that stash, cut em up, and make some quilts. If I don't like it, I can always give it away. There are some charities that prefer "ugly" quilts, so my experiments won't ever go to wast!