I inherited some of it—Fabrics, flimsies, and UFO’s. When I quit garment sewing, gave away all of the apparel fabric. Still can see those Pendleton wools in my mind’s eye! But kept the cottons. So thrn I had all my aunt Fanny’s cottons, all my aunt Lydia’s cottons, and all my mother’s cottons. Then I bought a bunch—listening to the advice of “if one red fabric looks good in a quilt, 20 reds will look ever so much better. Fortunately, this means I mostly 1/2 yd cuts. Then a friend had to quit sewing and gifted me with 5 Rubbermaid totes of fabric. Gave about 150 yds away and still had to “double bunk” fabric on my storage closet shelves (two layers deep front to back of fabric on boards).
A number years later, the inherited UFO’s are down to one. The quilts in need of repair and/or total remakes are down to two. And there are places where I can see only one layer on a shelf. Not an entire shelf yet, but progress.
It is impossible for me to imagine how much space my stash would consume if we had an average American home instead of under 1000 sq ft. To bring anything new in, something else must go out the door or we would be in “Hoarders”. Makes you think twice. Or three times.