I am hoping to move to a different area of the USA within 18 months. I have started thinking about this issue; in fact, I am actively decluttering. I am willing to let furniture, clothing, and many other things go. In fact, I went through my books and gave away 450. There are two categories I am not going to declutter further: books and sewing/quilting stuff.
Regarding sewing stuff, I have several major categories:
1) clothing fabrics, patterns, and tools;
2) My quilting stuff (which I started collecting 15-20 years before retirement, knowing DH would have a tizzy if I bought it during retirement;
3) Stuff for homeless quilts. Frankly, this is the issue right here. I continue to make charity quilts, working on them every week. People keep giving me fabric, faster than I can sew it up. I get a lot of scraps, and have a whole big laundry basket of scraps washed, trimmed, and pressed and ready to go into string quilts. I bought an Accuquilt GO to make cutting faster for homeless scrap quilts. If I could give up this category of quilting, I could donate a ton of stuff to others to use for charity quilts. My house would look a whole lot better. I would have more time. I wouldn't have to pay to have it moved. I know all this, and I know there is very little thanks for all this work, yet somehow, I keep doing it. If anyone has thoughts on the subject, please feel free to post.
A couple years ago, carpet bugs got into my wool and fleece closet and destroyed hundreds of yards of fabric. I do miss it and have often been sorry it's gone when I want to use it. It can't be replaced on a retirement budget. This makes me think I would also miss sewing stuff I let go. I think I would want to use something I just gave away. Plus, tastes change, and I might fall in love with a category again; I'm thinking of the quilter with calicos. I also continue to take quilting classes and generally can find a use for everything; this is handy when filling teachers' supply lists. I welcome any comments.
In short, I say do not give away quilting and sewing stuff unless you are totally sure you will not use it.
Cricket
Last edited by cricket_iscute; 06-12-2014 at 11:39 AM.