Do You Buy Fabric Only For Your Current Project or Do You Buy Just Because You Like I
 

For many years, I was "guilty" of buying fabric because I liked it and would say I'd use it someday. Well...I've had to stop this type of buying and let me tell you I miss it! DH and I have had to somewhat downsize and out went 90% of my stash, right into a dumpster! EEEKKKK! Some of my fabric had gotten moth eaten, some had become mouse nests. I stored my fabric in the large Rubbermaid tote boxes in a dry garage, which turned out to not be totally dry (mildew on some fabric). Now, I only buy fabrics for the project I am currently working on. I have less than 5 yards in my stash. Not really a stash now, is it? I guess my question is really this, how do you store your fabrics, so my types of mishaps won't happen (not the DH cleaning it out...LOL) but the bugs, rodents and mildew? I don't have room in my closets, and my sewing room is tiny (8 ft. x 9 ft) and shares space with book shelves and my DH's musical instruments., so neither of these is an option for me. Suggestions? Thanks for listening to my tale of woe...I'm a very sad quilter in New Hampshire! :(

Oh you poor thing! I feel so bad that your stash has gone. I don't have a sewing room, so my own stash is stored flat-folded in the drawers of three Ikea Pax units. Each unit has 4 drawers and at the moment they are stuffed to the top. I've made myself a personal promise not to buy any more fabric until I use some of what I have. This is a promise I probably won't keep, because when I see a fabric I like, I have to buy it. My most recent crush is on a fabric called Folklorico "In The Beginning". Found two yards of it, used it for a quilt I just finished this week and now I discover that it comes in other colorways. Must have.
Again - my sympathies to you and your depleted stash.

This is a very sad story....I am so sorry for your loss!!

I threw my husband out and his dresser is now my stash holder!! That and a hope chest and a few rubbermaid totes..Since I don't have a sewing room all this is on my bedroom, and it does have a cluttered look, but I really don't care!! It's what makes me happy!!! Of course guess where I am going today...Joannes with my coupons to buy more fabric!!!

i only buy for a current project. I do have a stash that comes from "i'll make this someday" and someday has never gotten here. The only thing that I do "collect" is '30-s fabrics. I WILL make something out of them sooner or later.

So sorry your stash had to be thrown away. My stash is so out of control it is all over my sewing room. I made up my mind that if I find something I just have to have I will find a pattern and buy the fabric and all the matching fabrics and make the project as soon as I can.

I have too stopped buying I have so much it overwhelms me and I find I do nothing . Now the fabrics keep getting prettier and I also find my tastes have also changed . I am in the process of gathering and sorting for a few projects and the rest is going in the dump as well I mush have room to sew and currently I do not It is a long and difficult decision but don't you feel better now !

Sorry for your loss :( of fabric. I am lucky that I do have a 'sewing room' that also houses my stash (in the closet, on shelves). I do purchase fabrics that I 'love' for future use (usually from the sale area). But I am running out of room in that closet, so lately I have been shopping/sewing from my stash. But just when I am getting the stash down to a manageable amount, I find more in the sale area that needs to go into my stash.

But I will NOT purchase so much that I would have to store in the garage and or in bins or in other rooms then my sewing room. It would be to easy to forget that it is 'hidden' in other places and not get used.

Please don.t dump fabric. Places need donations. Thrift stores, quilt guilds, Lutheran world relief. We make quilts for others and can always use fabric. Older designs, out of date fabrics are still great. Call a quilt store , they can usually give you the name of a guild nearby, someone will be thrilled.

I feel sad when someone has to take their stash to the dumpster. If you give to local charties then it is not a total waste. I have been trying to buy only what I need to complete a project. It is part of the new years resolution to finish ufos and only buy to finish them. I have been pretty good until yesterday. I gave in and bought a kit for a wall hanging that looks like a flag and also a baby quilt kit that I have had my eye on for some time. It has been hard to resist the BOMs since there are so many cute ones.

When yall are buying fabric becaue you like it, how much are you buying? I saw a fabric I fell in love with & got 1 yard, I was told later that was not enough lol.

I turned our dining room into my sewing space and store my fabric in small clear plastic totes by project, in fabric bins on a bookcase and in an old curio cabinet. I am not buying any more fabric until I use up some of my stash and complete more projects. Sorry about your loss!

Wow - sympathy from a fellow New Hampshire-ite
I live alone so store anywhere I want. Every room in my apartment (my ex-husband and I bought a 2 family house)
has cloth, batts etc.stored in large labeled plastic (Rubbermaid mostly) bins, except kitchen and bathroom. Tom, my ex, used to complain that I'd taken over the entire cellar when 1/2 was supposed to be his. Unlike me, he threw out anything he hadn't used in the last 5 minutes and no need for storage space.

I think the woman had to get rid of a lot of it because it mildewed and had become great mouse habitats... :(

Sorry you had to loose so much fabric, that hurts. Years ago my basement got flooded & ended up throwing several trash bags of scraps that were being saved for quilting in my senior years. This year I gave up buying fabric for lent, as of now I have made it, but tomorrow will be another story. We have employee appreciation, yes I will be buying fabric, however this is justified because what I will be getting is for the current WIP.

Think of it as a new beginning - I look thru my stash all the time and discard ( give away) stuff I no longer have any interest in -Raedar63 is right your taste change in a short period of time. I due have a rule that I should not buy any new fabric unless I have a quilt idea-- haha, my "rule" has not been working for me.

I have tried this . The only quilt shop anywhere near me is an hour away , The ladies they knew only want "quilt shop quality" The only thrift store around me tries to sell things for retail price . I have tried to give it away too but the bombardment of "fabric snob" questions sickened me . I felt like screaming IT IS FREAKING FREE!!!!!!!

Please do not throw away in a dumpster. Donate to Salvation Army store or Goodwill or give away here on the QB for the price of postage.

To the OP, I am so sorry you lost so much to mildew, rodents and bugs. I am fortunate that I have plenty of storage in my living area of my house. My guest room has a large chest of drawers that is full of fabric. Then I have 3 under the bed size Rubber made storage containers also full of fabric. The closet of my guest room which is really my sewing room has prepackaged batting. I store my roll of batting under the rack of my LA. I don't have as much stash as many here though.

I go through things often and at the first sign of mouse activity I put out poison. I keep replenishing the poison until it is no longer taken. My cats aren't allowed in these rooms and mice seem to know it! Some years we get more activity than others.

I usually buy for a planned project. I do have fabric for a quilt for my spare room that I have not gotten to. I have scraps from previous fabrics all in plastic containers, in the spare bedroom closet, out of light.

I buy fabric just because I like it. But I don't buy more fabric than I can store properly.

I thought my plastic totes would be mouseproof but your experience has me questioning that. I use "ugly" and "unsuitable-for-quilt" fabrics for quilts that go to dog rescue organizations. They don't seem to mind the type or color combinations or even my mistakes. My sympathies to your for having to put your precious items in the dumpsters.

I'm sorry you lost your stash. Instead of looking at this as a negative, try to see the positive. You can now focus on one project at a time. You are not blowing your budget on something you don't really need (no matter how good it feels). You will stay current on the latest fabric trends. Your space can be much more orderly.

I also store my fabric in the rubbermaid bins but mine are in the house. (I am lucky enough to have a sewing room).

Oh don't throw it in the dump, please..... If it must go give it to a charity. A church or a donation center. There are so many that would love your stash.... Or post on Freecycle. I'm sure there is somebody that can benefit from your stash...

I still sometimes buy because I like, but right now, I'm trying VERY HARD to restrict myself to fabric that I need to finish a project. I have so much fabric and plenty of UFOs to complete. However, I go through ALL my stash twice a year. Most of it is in Rubbermaid containers. I can't understand why 90% would have been damaged - they got into ALL the containers? So sorry that happened.

My suggestion, since living without a stash makes it darn near impossible to do some things, is to either join swaps (where you will get a variety of items) or have a stash, but limit it to ONE Rubbermaid container and make sure it is a foot or more off the floor. It should do fine in the garage provided you actually regularly access the stuff. My Mom did this when we lived in Massachusetts, so I'm even familiar with the climate!

I have a cutting table and am trying to work my stash down to the 12 half boxes that fit on the shelf under it. My sister has a tiny, tiny sewing room, but she has that cutting table as well and stores her fabric underneath.

By the way, for a good laugh, I just finished using up fabric into pillowcases that my Mom bought at Giant in Framingham in the mid-70s.

hmmm a creative place to store fabric..... maybe a small file cabinet? You can cover it with a skirt of fabric to hide it and put a lamp, picture and decorations on top? Under the bed? My fabric room is about 9x8 and the fabric is on bookshelves and wire cubes. Will I see you at Keepsake's tent sale??

piney

Please don't dump the fabrics you are not going to keep. People on this board would love to have them I am sure. Most will pay for the shipping. Please don't dump them. There may be a quilting quild in your area that would take them, or a senior center. There's lots of options besides dumping them so that someone else gets to use what you don't want. Thanks!

Oh, my.....I am so sorry you lost your stash. I have a fairly good amount but I am always making NICU quilts, so my fabric does get used within a reasonable (define reasonable) time. However, I do have some fabric that I just HAD to have, and it has been 'sitting' for about 2 years. I have a used computer armoir, all my fabric is washed and folded, I don't starch/size it till I am ready to use it. My sewing area is in the basement, and using a dehumidifer during the summer takes care of the moisture issue.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss! We moved from a 3 story house to a motorhome with nearly no storage room. The chair I sit in up front, sits in a 4" hover as I stuff bags of stash under it. I don't buy a lot, but my DH tells me to buy when I find some I really like.

Sorry you lost your stash. I tend to buy what I like and try to get some coordinating fabrics at the same time. I store them in Rubbermaid tubs in my bedroom. I have tried to not buy anything new, and have been picking from the stash for new projects, or if I really like a quilt I see, I get the kit. My stash is not arranged by color, something I have been meaning to do!

Lots of churches make lap quilts for the elderly or for childrens hospitals too. They could put that fabric to good use. I know several churches where I am do that.

I buy fabric that I like but I try to have a pattern first (but often don't). I too, live in NH and have a few people who sew at our LQS every other Friday that also raise chickens! I'm sorry you lost your stash.

project only usually, one might sneak in every now and again, but I usually have an idea in mind

I second that! There are dozens of places and people that can use our discards!

have you seen the plastic tots that are thin and long and used for under bed storage.......

Sorry you had to throw out your stash I think I would die. I keep some in the spare BR in one of the bureau's but if I have company come I have to empty it out so they have some drawers. I have the rest in those Rubbermaid locking boxes and some in those plastic drawers which are sitting in my spare BR and also under the table in my sewing area which I have to share with DH as the computer room. I have made up my mind not to go to Joanne's no matter what so I can't buy more. My sister-in-law is coming to visit and I have to take her to Joanne's for some yarn and I'm hoping I don't see anything while I'm there. Why do we have to buy all this fabric and I used to do the same with yarn and still have 3 rubbermaid boxes of yarn which I am also trying to use up and not buy more. I must get busy and can start to use my hand so that will help get things done. I guess it's hopeless to think I won't buy something when I go to Joanne's or WalMart. Good luck ladies and gents. Sue

Sorry to hear about the loss of your stash, it must have been difficult to have to get rid of so much. I only have a small stash but am fortunate to have an extra bedroom to do my sewing and other crafts in, so it is stored in a small bookcase and plastic shoe boxes I purchase at Dollar Tree. I keep telling myself not to buy any more fabric, but then I see something I just have to get for some l project in the future. I am involved with a group at my LQS and we are making a quilt a month. The next project is going to be something to use up the scraps from our previous quilt tops, and I have plenty.

I woud buy and buy then i said to myself you need to stop until you use what you have so for a whole year i didnt buy a thing so now i know i can go without buying i did it for one year. Lol

I store my fabric in a couple of under the bed storage boxes. And my batting in a rubber maid tub. I quilt at the kitchen table. I had to move due to an abusive marriage. So I had to move from my home to my family home which is much smaller and already bursting at the seams. I traded my space for my freedom. And, I've never been happier. I gave away 3/4 of my stash to a group that makes quilts for nursing homes. And so far, I'm working on only buying for a specific project. And I do have a bit to play with and for specific quilts in mind. I do not need it all. It has taken me a long time to come to this. I have a very addictive personality. I still love my small stash and am using what I have saved for myself.

Treat yourself to a little "stash" and carve out a small place for yourself. Enjoy every minute your creating.

Don't forget, a church may want donations of fabric. And, there are a lot of people on this board who will use fabric that is not only quilt store quality. Maybe, more then you think. There is good quality fabric out there. I'm suprised someone hasn't snapped up your offer of FREE. I had no trouble finding people to donate my stash to.

Thanks everyone for the support! Please, rest assured, I did NOT willingly toss my stash. It was bug, rodent and mildew infested - not usable to anyone because of the extensive damage. I would never, ever dumpster good, usable fabric. I am a quilt guild member and I help make charity quilts. If I was going to get rid of my stash, I would donate it to my guild for use in the charity quilts. I didn't want to toss my stash, I had to toss it. Thanks for the storage ideas. I am going to try the under bed boxes and possibly the rolling drawers in my clothes closet. We've put out mouse traps and "pantry pest" traps for moths. Don't know how to keep the garage dry, but I won't be storing anything good in there again. I've learned my lesson! Thanks again for your help! :-)