salemrabbits

my oldest daughter knows I have a Quilters Will. She can keep the quilts, wall hangings, and quilty projects or distribute to her siblings. I have two sisters whom are quilters-she should offer them first dibs at the stash..then when everybody is ready they should have a party and invite my quilting friends and let them choose things they will use. After that if there is leftovers it can go to charity or however the crew figures is the best way to have it used. I have a sizeable stash of yardage- and now mostly string/crumb quilt. All of that can be used for dog beds because I know none of my family or friends want to deal with that- it's why I have it in the first place! My friends have been generous to me over the years, it's why I have the stash I have. It will outlive me I'm sure.

WMUTeach

"But no matter it is to be put to charity quilting!" I am offering my opinion here. I would suggest not requireing that the fabric be designated for charity quilts. It puts undue pressure to be honest or dishonest with what was donated. reciently a local quilter with a massive stash passed away and one of her friends sorted through her stash and brought some lovely cuts to our guild meetings twice. Both time it came with the requirement that we could take the fabric but only if it was to be used for charity quilting. I and several others walked away from the table of fabric because although the intent is nice, we found it impossible to promise that the fabric would be used only for a charity quilt. Once a piece is in my stash it is there to use for any purpose, any quilt I am making. A small thing but perhaps an unneeded pressure. If you want to gift you stash to your current guild or your past guild, give it to them to use as they choose.

I was the happy recipient of my sister-in-laws stash when she passed away with ALS. She was a master quilter and did marvelous work. That was 20 years ago and I am still using her stash, her tools, her books and yes, I have made all of her grandchildren quilts from her stash. It has been a blessing and I continue to make quilts and give them away in her honor as my "missing mentor".

Yes, make plans for your stash. My plan is to keep diminishing the stash year by year and to then give my one quilting daughter a first go at what she may want and the rest to my guild.

AlvaStitcher

Got a chuckle in looking at Bonnie Hunter’s site and specifically the Quitler’s Will. Just below the Will is an ad about making outdoor furniture covers. Well the picture shows a long rectangular object covered in fabric. Could it be a covered casket? Quite apropos, don’t you think?

sewbizgirl

Good post... gets us thinking! My charity guild has 'inherited' many such a stash from deceased quilters. It's hard to distribute the fabric, even for free in a guild. Every member is very selective on what they will take home, because most are already overloaded with their own stashes and don't have a lot of room to store more. It's hard to find it a new home. I already feel like I need to stop buying and start using up what I have at home in my stash. Permanently.

But... burning fabric and thread??? That seems so hateful. That man must have had some serious resentment against his wife's quilting hobby.

SarahBethie

I read the Swedish death cleaning book and see the difficulties relatives are facing on this issue. My daughter doesn’t sew and I don’t maintain a stash. I’m limiting my machine purchases and getting rid of all excess. Once I started decluttering I grew increasingly uncomfortable with piles and storage bins. Other than a small collection of dinnerware (that she’d keep) the lone remainder would be collectible handbags which she wants. The rest would go to a consignment shop and Goodwill.

Rose_P

Thank you for posting this. I just wrote an email to my three kids (in their 40's) telling them how I want them to deal with my stash, and I included a link to this topic so that they can acquaint themselves with some of the issues and options. As I told them, I plan to get 30 more years of use out of it all, but nothing is guaranteed. (I will be 72 soon!)

JanieH

I am so fortunate that my niece and her daughter are carrying on my quilting tradition and are already accessing my stash. So far as personal items (furniture, jewelry, etc.), I have already told them to keep what they want and sell or donate the rest. I do keep a notebook that has photos of family objects and their histories and also some of my more expensive purchases so that they can give special consideration to those items. I would hate for them to sell something I paid major $$ for at a garage sell for a few dollars. Better to try a consignment shop or antique dealer.

Onebyone

My guild gets so much donated fabric from stashes left that we have no place or no one to take it. We have enough fabric for community service to last for years. No one wants to take it home and we have to donate a lot of it to thrift stores. Our President asked the membership if we should put a hold on taking more donated fabric. No one really knew the answer. We don't like not taking it if someone wanted the stash to come to us. Our supply closet we do have is running over in fabric. The new quilters that join get sent home with bags of fabric. Many get overwhelmed with so much given for free and can't believe it. I do not want my stash if any left to go to guild. They will be like oh no, more fabric. LOL

Peckish

I think a lot of this mindset is generational. My grandparents are in their late 80's and early 90's, and had borderline hoarding tendencies because of their experience with the Great Depression. My mom is 68 and, because she was raised by Depression babies, is also reluctant to part with anything. As a result, when Grandma & Grandpa recently moved into a retirement home, cleaning out their house and taking stuff to the dump fell to me. Mom kept trying to put a value on items that nobody wanted - not family, not neighbors, not garage-salers. My grandparents didn't buy "nice" things; they bought used, cheap things and saved their money. I'm actually thankful for this, because they can now afford the $8000+ a month it's costing them to live in the retirement home. But most of their possessions ended up going to the dump. I did keep a couple of items, and a few knick-knacks that were precious to me because they brought back childhood memories.

Having to go through all the years of stuff my grandparents saved made me realize just how much crap I have that is just that - crap. Clothing I haven't worn since my first baby was born. Sentimental stuff like the extra wedding invitations left over from our wedding, why am I holding on to that?? I framed one and tossed the rest. Then there's all the junk that people give me because they can't bring themselves to throw it out. My mom gave me a recipe box that my great-grandmother had since high school, I think she may have even made it. Well, I had never seen it before, so it meant nothing to me and out it went. It's amazing how liberating it is to have breathable space in my house.

terriamn

I have told family that anything they don’t want is to go to a friend who will share it with others who quilt for charities. They won’t get peanuts trying to sell it and prefer it all to be donated to a good cause. Luckily they still need all the fabric they can get.