Originally Posted by
mckwilter
You asked how to begin the process of downsizing, and I didn't see any responses that answered that question. Here's what I'd do. (1) Decide how big a stash you want to keep. (2) Make 4 piles -- (a) absolutely love it, so must keep, (b) really like it, so should keep, (c) will I ever use it, so might give away, and (d) what was I thinking, so must give away. If your (a) and (b) piles fall within the amount in step #1, you can begin to decide what to do with (c) and (d) piles. If you still have more than you decided in step #1, you will need to do step #2 again with your (a) and (b) piles and move more fabric into the (c) and (d) piles. Keep repeating until you have the amount of fabric you decided on in step #1. Then, you need to go on to step #3, do I sell it or give it away.
This is not an easy task. I ended up giving away almost 75 yards of fabric to my quilt guild. I laid it out on a table and told everyone to look at it and if they found something they liked, take one piece. That was to prevent anyone from taking it all (every guild has one or two ). At the end of the meeting, the remaining fabric was donated to the guild for charity quilts. I didn't want to go to the hassle of listing it on eBay or having a garage sale, so the only suggestion I have is the "Sew It's For Sale" Yahoo! group.
If you do decide to donate it, here are some suggestions -- quilt guilds; Project Linus, Quilts of Valor, the Girl Scouts.
This seems like one of the most thoughtful, helpful responses for the PROCESS of deciding what to keep and what can be parted with.
It seems like many of the responders assumed that the original poster wanted to give away/donate her 'excess.' Which is fine, IF that's what she wanted to do.
It seems reasonable to me to try to recover some of what one has spent on 'inventory' -
The idea of renting a table at a craft show seems like a good one - depending on how much the table costs.
One could also advertise that one is having a sale - I think the ad should give some indication of asking prices - example: Fabrics: $2 - $8 per yard - Books: $1 - $10
Or whatever you think you might get and/or the market might bear.
I do know that people like to 'score' with a truck load of fabrics for $2.00 - but I also think the original poster had recovering some of her original investment in mind.