You are right about the stash being for when times were slim and we didn't have the money to buy when it was needed. I used to go to moms and get pieces out of her stash and thought how neet it was to have fabric stashed for when you really couldn't afford to buy. That was the reasoning behind the start of my stash. But there was a year that I was sick and had been in hosp (no pay for that time) and I didnot have money for school clothes. Praise the Lord for the stash! My kids had new clothes for school. I used my six weeks get well time to sew them. linda