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Kits vs Stash

Kits vs Stash

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Old 11-12-2020, 04:41 AM
  #11  
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I have a healthy stash so I rarely buy a large quilt kit but I have a lot of kits for small quilts and when I see a pattern I really want I make a kit from my stash so I will be good to go when I want to start a new project. It works for me😁
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Old 11-12-2020, 04:52 AM
  #12  
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I did buy one block of the month, then began to panic when I saw such tiny dabs of fabric that was sent, so I bit on the half yard of each to make sure I could finish it. Well, an extra half yard was way too much in all but one of the colors. I think there are at least 4 finished tops plus a huge tub of scraps. In quilting, every cut you make makes more scraps. And I've used this board to unload several boxes of my precious scraps.

My LA mentor moved and gifted me her extra stash. I just parked it in the closet and am amazed when I actually go through it, what a nice stash that is.
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Old 11-12-2020, 04:59 AM
  #13  
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I've been given a couple kits over the years, and one just sits on the edge of my cutting/ sewing /everything table saying "Sew me!" It's done that all summer, too. I do a lot of scrap quilts and I agree with a previous post that it sure makes a mess in the sewing room.
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Old 11-12-2020, 05:11 AM
  #14  
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I have a modest stash and hope to keep it that way. I did purchase a kit when I first started quilting ... it was on display at a quilt show but haven’t since. BTW, I did finish and gift it...

I love Amanda Jean’s book “No Scrap Left Behind” and try to do one or two a year just to get rid of leftover pieces from other projects.
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Old 11-12-2020, 05:24 AM
  #15  
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I have a very large stash, but just this year at our local Humane Society thrift store, there was a bed sized kit, unopened, for $14.00, so I did buy it, I mean, how could you go wrong? LOL As of right now, it's still a top, but I don't think I would buy another, they're too matchy matchy.
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Old 11-12-2020, 05:32 AM
  #16  
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I've bought a few kits over the years but I don't like them all that much. I buy a lot of FQ bundles and use them mostly. I have yardage too but don't really need any more. (until I can't find what I need of course haha) I use it mostly for backings and also to go with my bundles. FQ bundles really speak to me!
I get so excited when I get one. I love the way they all coordinate.
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Old 11-12-2020, 06:14 AM
  #17  
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Playing with color is how I got into quilting in the first place, so choosing fabric is one of my favorite parts of quilting, so not a kit person. I have helped sew them for a friend, but don't think I ever bought one for myself.
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Old 11-12-2020, 06:14 AM
  #18  
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I typically work in scrap quilts where I have dozens/hundreds of fabrics, but I have a box of "potential projects fabrics" that is groups of fabric that will work well together but don't have a plan yet. When I'm looking for something new to do, I look at that box first to see if anything moves me. I've got some striking black and reds, a juvenile collection, a set of dog fabrics, several others, probably about 10? projects in there just waiting to find the right outlet.

Once I kit them out they become UFOs/WIPs and don't last long because they are officially on my to-do list. Kitted, for me means the fabrics have been gathered, the pattern chosen and drafted and everything is pretty much ready to go, just needing my labor and time to complete.

I've had a lot of troubles motivating myself this year. I usually do about 6 tops per year. Not this year... I haven't done anything this year I had planned to do last year. That's ok, I've done some things and those projects and fabrics will still be there next year, including the kits. It's nice that the only real deadlines I face are ones that I create.

I've been quilting a long time now, some 40 years and I've done a lot. Most of what I've done is completely original, or at least based on traditional blocks. For the last 20 years particularly, I very rarely ever copy someone else's project or buy a pattern, have gotten rid of most of my books as well other than a few reference materials and favorites. Mostly I start with a vision and draft and start cutting/sewing. I do have a style and preferences, but one thing I don't have is problem choosing fabrics. Kits in general (or specifically that just include someone else's choices of fabrics) are not for me -- but if you give me that kit of fabric I can figure out something to make with it.

This year though -- guess I'm getting tired of my style I did the Round Robin with the fervent hope that the center I started would come back not looking like my work.

I'm going to do the Bonnie Hunter Mystery again, just to be pushed into having something to do and keep moving. It's kind of freeing going into a project knowing in advance you probably aren't going to love it 100%, but that you are willing to learn something and see what happens.
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Old 11-12-2020, 06:18 AM
  #19  
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As for kits I've boughten 1 in my life and once I started it the recipent decided she wanted a larger quilt so I added fabrics from my stash that complimented it but then I was left with what to do for the border. Luckily I was able to find a couple fat qtrs. As for pre-cuts and kits I'd rather used from my stash. This way I can make it the colors/fabrics I want and make it my own instead of just like 1,000 others looking the same.
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Old 11-12-2020, 06:57 AM
  #20  
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I have a lot of kits. And I also have a big stash, stored in giant Rubbermaid bins. I’ll still buy and use kits because it’s nice to have the fabrics all pulled together and you just have to start cutting and sewing. Whereas if I use my stash, it’s a lot of effort to pull out all the different fabrics from the individual bins (and then put them all away!). I’ve resigned myself to the fact I’ll never use up my stash anyway.
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