Non-quilters do not understand
07-09-2012, 12:47 PM
#121
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,213
My leftovers in the form of scrappy quilts sure made the folks at the womans shelter happy. but I am of the generation that was taught waste not want not. Never understood the term disposable dollars................. No wonder the USA is 15 trillon in debt up to its ears!! Doesn't matter if it is food or fabric, waste is waste. Guess I worked too hard for my dollars to not stsretch them soooooooooooooo far!
07-09-2012, 02:07 PM
#123
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 946
I'm sure no one who isn't a true fabriholic understands what a comforting feeling it is to see all that beautiful fabric just waiting for us to dream up something wonderful to do with it....sigh...I gaze at my stash and I'm sure I would have to live another 100 years in order to use it all, but wouldn't part with it....
07-09-2012, 03:07 PM
#124
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: So Plymouth, NY
Posts: 2,502
Good one!!! Never mind that "boys can have toys".......
07-09-2012, 03:12 PM
#125
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: PA
Posts: 10,703
One quilting friend buys only the exact amounts of fabric she needs for a project. When she gets into trouble with a wrong cut or shrinkage or a change of plans, I'm closer than the FS. I always seem to have just what she needs. Since I know her so well, and she shows me everything she does, I can be prepared for her. If she knows I make a special stash for her, she is not letting on. 
I on the other hand can't go into or past a shop with out finding fabric I can't live without!
peace
I on the other hand can't go into or past a shop with out finding fabric I can't live without!
peace
07-09-2012, 04:37 PM
#126
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 157
it's not just non-quilters --- there are quilters too who do not save anything beyond what their current project requires.
i have a friend who has been creating beautiful quilts for 30 years---she uses exactly what her pattern requires & (used to) toss anything left over---i about had a heart attack when she first told me this---& told me----'oh- don't become one of THOSE string savers!'....it took me a couple years but i did finally convince her to let me have the contents of her (waste basket) before bagging it to go to the landfill---she just shakes her head & gives it up---sometimes there is 1/2 a yard or more pieces in there---i know she is not alone- lots of people use what is required then get rid of what ever was left over- regardless of amount- and then there are those of us who buy extra on purpose & keep a stash and save every scrap--- not every quilter understands any more than a non-quilter understands.
i have a friend who has been creating beautiful quilts for 30 years---she uses exactly what her pattern requires & (used to) toss anything left over---i about had a heart attack when she first told me this---& told me----'oh- don't become one of THOSE string savers!'....it took me a couple years but i did finally convince her to let me have the contents of her (waste basket) before bagging it to go to the landfill---she just shakes her head & gives it up---sometimes there is 1/2 a yard or more pieces in there---i know she is not alone- lots of people use what is required then get rid of what ever was left over- regardless of amount- and then there are those of us who buy extra on purpose & keep a stash and save every scrap--- not every quilter understands any more than a non-quilter understands.
I'm with you. I save everything, including the selvage. I always buy extra as well. It's like Jello, there's always room for more.
07-09-2012, 04:58 PM
#127
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 13
When we were packing to move to Florida from Michigan I had someone that was not into sewing help me pack. That was a big mistake, she wanted to throw out some small pieces of leather that I use to make doll shoes. I pulled them out of the trash, she does not let me forget it.
07-09-2012, 05:55 PM
#128
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 5,142
If I find fabric on a great sale I usually buy a lot of it---5-10 yds! Sometimes plans change or I use part of it for the and part for that until I'm sick of seeing it. Then I take it to our monthly week long quilting retreat at Threads of Time in Danville, Ill. and give it away. I've even done that with partially finished quilt tops or blocks. There's always someone willing to take the things that I no longer want. Just as sometimes I like their scraps. Scraps are great!!!!!
07-09-2012, 07:41 PM
#130
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Aloha, Oregon
Posts: 421
I look at stash pictures on here and just want to drool. My fabric stash fits in one bookcase. It is all stored by color and anything bigger than a yard is folded and kept on a couple of shelves in the cupboard. I am not working anymore so I am not earning money for my hobby like I used to. I usually only buy fabric if I have a project in mind. I try not to buy books anymore unless I JUST HAVE TO HAVE IT - I probably have almost 200 books and over 900 patterns I have pulled from magazines - not to mention pictures of quilts I have seen and want to make. I will never live long enough to make all the quilts I would love to make ...
I went to a quilt show recently and walked out with four friends who had their arms full - I had purchased a fat quarter! One of them asked me how I could control myself because she had heard me oooh and aaaww over several patterns and/or fabrics. I told her that no fabric came into the house without a specific project in mind, no kits would be purchased unless they would be made in 90 days - she admired my self-control. It's not that I didn't want them. There are just so many hours in a day and with a new longarm in my family room, I have a full plate.
I do save leftover fabrics from projects. I usually cut them into 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 inch squares for scrappy quilts if they are less than a fat quarter. Fat quarters and yardage get saved because they would be enough to do something with. I love making a scrappy quilt and seeing all the memories in them. One of the ladies who used to do my longarm quilting said she always loved doing a scrappy quilt for me because they held memories for her of quilts she had done before.
I don't usually save anything smaller than 1.5 inch squares - I don't have a use for them. I am sure there is someone out there who would use them, it's just not me. I save my leftover binding pieces to use to bind scrappy quilts - there is no reason to make them from yardage, I just pull out my leftovers, sew them together and am ready to go. Someday, I will sit and sew them all together so they are ready to go (then I could just add to them as I go along).
I am the only quilter in my family - my daughter has an appreciation for it and would not just toss all my stuff - she has quite a few of my quilts stashed for use when she moves out.
I went to a quilt show recently and walked out with four friends who had their arms full - I had purchased a fat quarter! One of them asked me how I could control myself because she had heard me oooh and aaaww over several patterns and/or fabrics. I told her that no fabric came into the house without a specific project in mind, no kits would be purchased unless they would be made in 90 days - she admired my self-control. It's not that I didn't want them. There are just so many hours in a day and with a new longarm in my family room, I have a full plate.
I do save leftover fabrics from projects. I usually cut them into 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 inch squares for scrappy quilts if they are less than a fat quarter. Fat quarters and yardage get saved because they would be enough to do something with. I love making a scrappy quilt and seeing all the memories in them. One of the ladies who used to do my longarm quilting said she always loved doing a scrappy quilt for me because they held memories for her of quilts she had done before.
I don't usually save anything smaller than 1.5 inch squares - I don't have a use for them. I am sure there is someone out there who would use them, it's just not me. I save my leftover binding pieces to use to bind scrappy quilts - there is no reason to make them from yardage, I just pull out my leftovers, sew them together and am ready to go. Someday, I will sit and sew them all together so they are ready to go (then I could just add to them as I go along).
I am the only quilter in my family - my daughter has an appreciation for it and would not just toss all my stuff - she has quite a few of my quilts stashed for use when she moves out.
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