I've decided to reduce my stash. I've also decided that there is absolutely nothing wrong with collecting fabric, or anything. I know many people with rooms full of fabric who have room for that. It's when the collections that get in your way that you have to question it and I have a small house that goes with my small budget.
No regrets, but I never really spent a lot of money at one time. Sure, $20 here and there and that adds up after a few decades but other people bought lattes or cigarettes or whatever. I would never have done anything sensible or noticeable with the money it was always discretionary funds.
We've talked about it before in other threads, but for me it took a diagnosis of unpreventable progressive vision loss to make me decide what I truly value. I've done the "your house is on fire and you have 5 minutes" test and the fabric and the quilts never made it on the list. The pets go out first, anything after that is gravy and can be replaced. There is another test which is "how long am I willing to carry that?", if you can only have what you can carry how much and how far are you willing to carry it.
I still love my fabric. I still love fabric that isn't mine. I want it and I want it all. And that's ok, I want but I don't need. If I'm going to use it, I buy it. But if I'm not going to use it, well then I want to reduce the amount I have. I want the space more than I want the fabric in there. It used to be hard on me to use up the last little scrap of my godchild's baby blanket or whatever and I felt I had to find the perfect use. Now I realize the perfect use is whatever I am doing that I can use it in, I hold a little memory ceremony and then I use it and move on. Sometimes the perfect use for me is to send it to someone who does want and will use it.
I was ready to let go and I've let go of a lot! I find it comforting that there is still only one piece I regret sending out -- but I also recognize it would still be sitting here unused, it's "perfect"use still not found. Yeah, there has been a twinge here and there but nothing I can't live with. Recently I was filling a collector's request and I had two small pieces left of a really great fabric I had already used. I was really tempted to keep one but then the "therapist" voice in my head went off and asked me what I thought I'd do with it and when, and I put in both pieces. If I regret it later, well, by this point in my life I've learned to live with regret and I've found that there is always more fabric to be found... if not that piece something else.