What a great conversation! Below, I have quoted some of the passages from your responses that have most resonated with me - thank you for sharing your thoughts with such candour, wisdom, and insight! We are all in different spaces/stages in our stash reduction journeys and I so appreciate hearing your experiences and perspectives. While, like Joe'smom, my first response to the article was a knee-jerk to the condescending tone I also heard, I found when I had taken the time to let it percolate in my brain I was able to process some of her comments and observations more objectively and I actually had a concrete response when I grabbed one of the piles of fabric I've been "auditioning" (and waffling over for weeks) to clear out of my stash and took it to the sewing table and started to cut. For me, this is huge. I can get really hung up on the idea that I have to love the quilt I'm making and that I need to be making the best use of the fabric I have and so I spend way too long trying to figure out how to do it and how to avoid regretting using a fabric that I might want to use later in a different project. In addition, I often imagine up something I just don't have the skills or materials to accomplish. I dream big! :-) The quilt I am making using the pattern I have committed to (now that I've cut about half the fabric into squares) might not work as well as I'd like, but I still think it will be a pretty quilt and this first step back into the world of actually making instead of just dreaming is an important one.
Thanks again, all!
Originally Posted by
ibex94
It is definitely easier to learn how to quit buying in this board than by yourself reading blogs. But to me, it all boils down to whether or not we feel we have an excessive fabric accumulation and what we want to do about it. My husband thinks I have too much fabric. I don't. At the same time, I want to put more energy into creating, not just accumulating. I'm feeling pretty positive all around and that is because of the great community we have in here. Reading a blog can inspire but sharing ideas with one another makes changes a lot easier to happen. BTW, I've moved a rocking chair into the wagon. I'm pretty comfy. You are all welcome a turn in it!
Originally Posted by
joe'smom
I find her very condescending (unless she really believes she's writing to 5-year olds). My initial reaction is that the author has misidentified the problem she's addressing. What she seems to me to be talking about is addiction, or at least a psychological dependency. But I also think there are lots of quilters who are collecting stash within their means and space and doing it responsibly and joyfully. A stash is necessary to a certain kind of quilting, but perhaps not to this new model of quilting that the author envisions. So in summary, I agree that addiction is bad, but discipline (which this thread has helped me develop) is priceless, and quilting, fabric and manageable stashes are great. But I can see where the old-fashioned concept of quilting might seem outdated to millenials. After all, it was a different world that many of us grew up in. It may be that traditional quilting fades out due to environmental concerns; in that case, thank heavens for our stashes!
Originally Posted by
WMUTeach
I seldom accept large donations from others and I walk past the guild fabric donation table. With my push to use what I have first and only buy what is needed, over time I have developed more personal discipline to not "shop". I go into a LQS and buy what is needed. Often a backing or small cuts of additional colors to compliment what I already have for a specific quilt. I don't over buy unless it is something that I KNOW I will use. That is something that I do not recall being part of the article. Know your tastes, your personal drive to experiment and know what thrills your eyes but what you would not use. I also love this group, we fall off the wagon, we jump off the wagon, we crawl back on the wagon with cool stuff to finish projects or to make new ones and we watch the scenery as the wagon drives down the road from our comfy seat or rocking chair. I feel safe, secure and empowered by this group to catapult myself off to shop when I need to and or want to, but I am stimulated to search my stash first, using what is on hand, or shift my design to use more of what is only a closet away and to enjoy quilting. Thank you, Gemm, for the article and for the rest of you for your comments. We are indeed individuals with perspectives but we are all here together using our creative skills to make use of the blessings of fabric we have at hand. I am enjoying the wagon ride with all of you. A stimulating conversation.
Originally Posted by
Buckeye quilter
If your stash makes you happy and inspired, great! If your stash makes you feel shame, remorse, overwhelmed, paralyzed, or in debt- get rid of it! I think this thread encourages us to re-examine our stashes, and inspires us to be more creative with what we have and more mindful of what we need. And that's an attitude we can bring to other aspects of our lives. Happy quilting, lovely ladies (and gents!)