Gemm

So an "off the wagon" story to finish up the year... and a question arising from it.

I had to go to a local strip mall on an errand which proved disappointingly unsuccessful. Frustrated and feeling the need for some retail therapy, I looked left down the mall to the pet store... nope! Our dog's stocking was the largest one at Christmas, so she was definitely not needing anything new. I then looked right and saw the thrift store. Fatal, but fated? I went in to their little crafty corner and there was a bag of 10" squares calling my name. Sometimes these sealed bags can hide disappointments (like a wad of weird bargain-basement polyester folded inside) but this one was the real deal and there are some lovely pieces in there to flesh out my "small bits for scrappy-controlled quilting" collection. I haven't counted exactly how many squares were in there, but there are 31 different fabrics with some being unique and some with up to 6 or 7 squares. As an estimate, I'm thinking there are somewhere between 80 and 100 squares, so I'm feeling pretty good about having got change back from a $10 bill. :-)

I got home and was quite excited to share my thrifted find until the following question was posed about 30 seconds into my enthusiastic narration of my find and its virtues:

"But what are you going to do with it?"

Sigh.

I will admit that I have not created anything functional or useful since the middle of November and was already in a bit of a slump at that point, but I think that since I picked up quilting again at the beginning of Covid I have made about 14 quilts ranging from baby to king sized and a few smaller gifts like potholders and wall hangings along with a few flimsies that will hopefully see completion in 2023. Almost all of these were made with at least partial stash or thrifted/repurposed content. And yet this question was asked.

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who is not surrounded by stash supporters and who has to deal with some of these disappointing responses now and then. So what are some of the "shake my head" moments you've had connected with your stash? Other than, of course, the question, "How did this all get here?" :-D

Also, while I think about it, I know Iceblossom is still pretty wrapped up in non-quilting life events and challenges, and so unless someone else wants to step up and take on the Fabric Moratorium thread for 2023, I will do my best to get it going and keep it active. Just send me a PM if you would like to do it. :-)

Happy New Year, everyone!