Peckish

This is what I did, but I've actually been making some of the patterns and using some of the techniques I saved.

What really helps me is once I get one area cleared out, I feel a huge weight lifted off, and quite honestly I don't miss anything I tossed out or re-homed. Stuff I liked 5-10 years ago is no longer my style. Just having empty space where there used to be clutter is visually calming and peaceful. Another benefit of this is it helps a LOT with my quilting mojo.

quiltingcandy

I agree with Cash's Mom that no one with the room to store their items should feel compelled to get rid of it. My sewing room was causing me to be claustrophobic. There were bins of crafts I haven't touched in 10 years, I had so much fabric it was overwhelming. It seemed when I needed something either there wasn't enough of it or it was just not the right shade. I had all the NFL fabrics - but no one in the family follows the NFL so why keep it? I gave 10 paper boxes away to my sister's church quilting group. They wanted roll of batting that was taking up space because I have fallen in love with using washable wool. Also, I found that if I send a quilt to a long armer they prefer to use their batting - so it went to a good cause. The LOVED the NFL and MLB fabric - seems I had a lot of hard to find fabric. But I didn't feel bad what I kept. (A book for crafts to make with kids.) But so happy about getting rid of stuff others will use.

Gannyrosie

I don't even think of decluttering until it hits me that my room is a mess, or it's getting out of hand. I then go through everything and because I'm tired of decluttering I get rid of more, just because. I haven't missed anything yet cause as far as books or magazines, the internet has more than what is needed.

quiltsfor

I did a lot of -- cutting down, as I called it. When I moved into my new quilting room, I knew it was time to cut down on a lot of hold over crafts and what nots. I pared away a lot of crafts that I hadn't worked on for ages, and slimmed down on what I was keeping. It felt so good to let go of most of it. Some I passed onto family, some I sold (most of my hard back books -- over 1200 of them), donated yarn, sewing patterns, fabric I couldn't use for quilting, and crafts I no longer had an interest in, etc. etc. taking it to donation sites (Savers/Goodwill) or listing it for free on Craigs List.

My Quilting Room is now pretty much just that, all quilting supplies/fabric etc --- with only a tote on top of my shelves of sewing/mending thread, mask making supplies, a cardigan worth of good yarn w/my knitting needles and pattern, and Brazilian Embroidery supplies. I kept a book case worth of my crime series books from three fav authors, some classic books and one shelf of Quilting Books.

It felt so good to get rid of so much. It was like a breath of fresh air to get rid of things that were just collecting dust for so long.

Synnove

I've been going through quilting and knitting books, made a pile of those I realistically know I will never use again, and offered them to my quilt group. I know that one day my kids will have to empty out my house -- that's a horrific enough task without them also having to wade through extra extraneous stuff. I'm trying to make things as easy as possible for my kids. When my sister and I emptied out our parents' house it was a grueling task, even though my mom was very neat and organized and was not one to keep a lot of stuff.

SuzSLO

What helped for me was using eBay and Amazon as I went through my books. If I could buy it back at a reasonable price, then it was easier to let it go now. I had all my quilt books inventoried and moved everything I donated to a subset, so that when my brain says “You have that book”, I can verify whether it’s still on the shelf or not.

It also helped that I had a goal: get rid of 1 of the 2 bookcases to make room for my new sit down quilting machine. Still, it was an emotional process and I just had to recognize that.

SusieQOH

About 5 years ago I did a major purge of quilt books. I honestly don't miss one single book I got rid of.
When I started quilting there was no internet. Now that we have so much at our fingertips I find books to be annoying, at least that's how I see it. I'm not into keeping things the way I used to.

Onebyone

I bundled up piles of magazines I had been keeping over the years. I really never looked at them twice so why was I keeping them? I donated all to the local charity thrift. I have not missed one single issue. I don't even remember what patterns were in them anyway. I have so many new patterns to make. I purged most of my quilt books when we moved twice in one year. Books are a pain to pack and move. I haven't regretted or missed not having them like I thought I would. One thing I found with the patterns I did keep from pages in some magazines and books is that so far every pattern I have kept I found online now. Most are free tutorials on youtube. LOL

maryb119

I take out the patterns I want to keep and then recycle the rest. I love reading a magazine in the evenings so I subscribe to quite a few.

MeadowMist

Thank you for your responses, so interesting to read everyone's take on this. A couple years ago I tried to clean up my stash of books/magazines and was able to give away a good amount. Somehow the pile has again grown sky high again. I don't have the room for these and live in fear my attic floor will collapse under the weight. Well, it's probably not quite that bad, at least not yet. I also have piles of home decorating type magazines, mostly "Old House Interiors" which I used to love!!! I decided to start with that pile rather than the quilting/craft pile and was able to put 95% of them in the "no longer need" pile which I'm happy about even though I love looking at the pictures of those beautiful old homes and reading about other's restoration stories. I thought was done with that pile when I opened up a cabinet and found a pile about 2'-3' high of magazines I forgot about. A combo of craft and home decorating mags that I must have put away when doing my purging a couple years ago. So the task continues. I know once I've cleared some of this out and have to move around in my quilting area it will feel better but I've always been one to hold on to things.