pab58

You are absolutely correct about the reason I started this post. I was simply curious about what others did regarding choosing to have or not have a stash. I take the humorous comments that have been made as exactly that -- humorous. In my heart I don't believe that ANYONE meant to be cruel or hateful. I think that some comments were simply misunderstood or taken in the wrong way. For that reason I am sorry I started this thread. I hope no one has been offended by what has been written. Since I joined the QB, I have felt a great sense of belonging. This is a group of people who share the same passion as I do about quilting. I rarely have read anything that has made me want to leave this online community. When I start reading a thread and find I don't like what it is about or I strongly disagree with what is being said, I simply go on to the next thread. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, and for that I am thankful. It is what makes us so unique.

My friend makes some really pretty quilts -- nothing elaborate, but quite lovely. She loves making them but really dislikes quilting them. She always sends them out to the LAQ. She very rarely purchases fabric simply because she likes it. She has to have a pattern in hand. I, on the other hand, find it extremely frustrating when I have a design that I'm anxious to start making, but cannot locate just the right fabric when I go to the store. :cry: I always return home so disappointed, and I'll put away my design to perhaps never pick it up again. My moderate stash provides yet another mode of inspiration for me. It makes it so much easier to go shopping at the fabric store for only one or two additonal pieces to complete my fabric selections instead of having to select ALL of the fabrics I need for a quilt. In the first place, I don't like having to go out shopping. When I go, I want to get there without getting run over by the crazies on the road, go in the store and try to deal as best I can with the crowds or limited selection -- they never seem to have just what I'm looking for -- and then return home to get started working on my project. But by the time I return, I'm mentally and physically exhausted. The arthritis in my spine, ankles and knees and my sciatica can often make it painful to shop for long periods of time. All I want to do when I get home is to take some pain medication, sit down and try to get some renewed energy. I'm frustrated, aggrevated, and in too much pain to even want to begin my project. So it gets put aside, and my initial enthusiasm begins to wane. I don't have what I need, or I've had to settle for something I really don't particuarly like, and I begin to question whether or not I even want to continue with it.

My stash lets me take all the time I need to go through it. If the pain starts to be too much, I can sit down and take it easy and then come back to it at my leisure. Because I have a tendency to pick fabrics that aren't the latest "fad" or what I call "wild and crazy", my stash is one that fits many of my designs. I guess you could say it's a "well-rounded" stash. I guess some people would call it "plain" or "boring."

My friend certainly has the financial means to be able to purchase fabric whenever she needs it -- regardless of the cost -- and can send her quilts out to be quilted. The prices she has told me she spends for having them quilted seems pretty high to me so I know that I could never afford to have any of my quilts done. They are simply an all-over design -- nothing that's special ordered so I'm not sure why they are so expensive. As for me, I don't have that luxury. I wanted to have a lap-sized quilt for an upcoming school auction done by her LAQ, but when she told me it would cost about $130, I nearly had a stroke!!! It might not seem like much money to her, but when I calculated how much the materials had cost me and then added in the LAQ cost, there was absolutely no way I could do that!! Thankfully, I had been able to pull everything I needed (except for the batting) from my stash. I know the total I have invested in my stash is significant, but in the long run it has saved me hundreds of dollars. My stash has not cost me thousands and thousands of dollars, but what I have is enough for me. I love looking at pictures that some of you have posted of your stashes. For me, having my fabric available to me has increased my creativity. It's similar to looking through the Hancocks catalog. Seeing the designs starts my mind racing with ideas of how to use them. I know I may never use up all of my fabric, but someone will. I know that my sweetheart knows the value of it so he would never just throw it away. He would find someone who would love to have it. :wink: