Originally Posted by
Notwendy
This can happen to anyone if they don't leave their wishes in writing (preferably in a will or similar). Just telling people isn't enough. There was one story (on this board I believe) recently where a son burned all the fabric instead. Spite, indifference, or ignorance can lead to your spoken wishes not being followed.
I don't know about the details of that particular story, but I have an older friend who is quite concerned about her stash when she passes on. She actually is borderline on having hording disease and the fabric is not saleable. The dogs have gotten to it (use your imagination), pests have gotten in it & it is severely deteriorated. Her illness does not allow her to see how bad the fabric has truly gotten. She says she plans to use it, but every time she starts a new project, she can't get to much of anything in her "stash" so she ends up just buying new fabric. It's very sad to see my friend have such an unhealthy attachment to stuff that is contributing to her own respiratory illness & on more than one occasion, the injury of her animals. The reality is, for health reasons, the only viable options are to throw out or otherwise destroy the fabric.
I've gone the opposite direction with my own fabric. I keep it all in one large plastic tub & find uses for it as quickly as possible -- even if that's charity quilts. I try to buy just a bit more than what I need for each quilt and figure the quilting store is the best home for the many fabrics I love to sort through at the start of each quilt. I can spend hours at my LQS'es almost getting lost in the fabrics because they're all so very beautiful. It's a special treat for me with each new quilt.
