I belong to a huge charity group that gets more donations than anyone can imagine. We have alot of older quilters in Phoenix who pass away or move to assisted living. I would toss way more than others do as I see things sitting there from ages ago. It is not the depression and we have shelves and shelves of beautiful fabrics.
It is fascinating to see what people have kept. We have fabric from the 80's with that date on the selvedge. Ugly misshapen blocks made with see through fabric-miscut 2 1/2 squares--curtains--icky scratchy yarn-pattern pieces for clothing pinned onto fabric just to name a few. The families just put everything in bags and boxes and take it to the church were we meet. It takes the burden off them and we can find places for some of the odd ball stuff. Sometimes it is dog beds for the shelter.