Hello everyone, I am fairly new to quilting and my BIG problem has been that when I find some fabric I LOVE, I do not want to cut it up !!! :roll: I want to use it but.....
Anyway I just was curious if anyone else had this problem :?:

I have several shelves of fabric that I don't want to cut~ :) but someday there will be a project that just calls to you and to that fabric and there you go running a rotary cutter across it's grain.

Ohhhhhh yeah. Welcome to the board from Kentucky

Thanks...I feel a little better..
I see several people do not like batiks but those are the ones I sometimes don't want to cut...I love batiks!!:)
I have a Halloween project calling for batiks ...It is a wallhanging I saw here, and I ordered the pattern..can't wait to get started...

I'm a scrappy quilter and I am always sad when I use the last of a favorite fabric. Last night I used the last of one piece and went today and bought more! :thumbup:

Hi, welcome to the board. I don't have the problem with my fabric's. I love to cut up my favorites and create a quilt with them. It's the uglies that I don't want to touch or cut up. Lol

I buy more yardage than I need for a project just so I have a piece of it left. I am always sad when a favorite is all used up.

I hate to cut up fabric if I am unsure of the piecing pattern (how the colors are going to turn out).

I found I need to take a picture of the pattern. Print it out. Grab some colored markers (to match color with the main color in the fabrics -tone wise) and color it up.

Do it a couple of ways and you'll see the design you want pop out. Then label which color is what and start cutting.

It really reduces the anxiety level, especially when the cost of the fabric is up there and there isn't enough fabric to make a bunch of mistakes.

Believe me, I've been there!!! One time I purchased enough for a queen quilt for a class at my local LQS - thinking the pattern would work out just fine - got to the first class, got the pattern, and hated it. I spent most of that class just coloring in the pattern until I got what I wanted. I wound up not finishing the quilt and getting rid of most of the material, after making a bunch of mistakes on the cut.

Shoot, I cut it up and buy more to look at.

I do! I collect stuff with animals, its so pretty sometimes, you hate to cut it up!

Yikes! Expensive class.

I have experienced that problem and solved it in two ways:
1. I found the PERFECT pattern for the fabric and just needed to see the finished quilt. One quilt I used up EVERY bit of the fabric and had to be really careful when cutting.
2. I joined a Boomeran swap and cut the fabric up to send to my fellow Boomeran swappers. It was a real liberating experience.

Just remember, a piece of fabric that is folded and stored does not really serve the purpose of the quilt.

I like to use it on real wide borders so I can still enjoy it in large dozes.

To cut or not to cut, that is the question. Been there already and I'm new at this.

I agree totally it's really nerve wreaking and heart-breaking to be cutting up our favourite fabrics. But I guess I would do so if there are suitable projects for those fabrics. I love Japanese fabrics from Lecien. Bought lots of FQs from Lecien last year and wondering what to do with them. Hopefully a suitable project comes along.

I have the same problem, but I have been that fabric lately as a quilt backing. Now some of my quilts are reversable and I love both sides.

Yes, I have some like that too. I just don't want to cut it up!!!

I love the ideas of using the "hard to cut up fabrics" as a border or a backing... I don't why I did not think of that ??!!!

I have trouble cutting any fabric - it is just so much fun to fondle and love it!

There are times you just have to give yourself permission to cut into the fabrics. That's what you bought them for!
I bought a beautiful purple and blue batik that I wanted to make a long sleeved blouse from and after 2 years of it sitting in the drawer; I finally got brave and made the blouse. I'm so glad I did. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it.
Sharon

Oh yes, it's those special fabrics that get me every time. I buy them, wash and iron them, and store them for some perfect project, when my idea and skills are perfect enough to use them. All that perfection - makes you want to gag, yes? LOL

Case in point. I adore hand marbled fabrics. I have a lot of them. Never used even a tiny piece of any of them. It's high time to take a whack at them.

Marquilt, is your avatar part of a quilt/wallhanging ? Love the pattern...

I have the same problem, I always tell DH that no fabric gets cut before their time. :lol:

If I have a fabric (or fabrics) that I just can't cut up, I take it as a sign that I haven't found the right project for it yet.

I once bought a gorgeous purply-with-swirls fabric to make a "When I am Old I shall Wear Purple" quilt for when I turned 50. I fondled that fabric and redesigned "the quilt" many times in my head, but never could cut it up.

Now I'm 65, have been a Red Hatter, am retired, wear shorts and tank-tops in the summer and turtles/warm slacks in the winter, and could care less about a "Wear Purple" quilt!

I ended up selling that fabric when I opened my stash to the local guild for $3 a yard shopping 2 years ago. Made over $1000 during that event and could buy fabric for my "when I'm buried" robe, LOL! Have hardly missed that swirly purple!!

Jan in VA

Yes I have that problem. But, sooner or later it will be the perfect fabric for a project.

polejumper, that is indeed a small wallhanging. The center part is made from Ricky Tims's harmonic convergence quilt instructions in his book of the same name. The crane is fused and machine appliqued on. The rest is my own idea for borders, and the whole thing is hand quilted. The photo is misleading because where I shot it, the background was about the same color as the binding, and I couldn't get a good selection that would include it. I need to redo that. One of these days.