fabric buyers regret
 

while organizing my stash.. I found there are things I always put as far away as possible, knowing I will not use the fabric anytime soon. Fabric I bought, but just don't really like.. Or, maybe not have the right use for it.

UFO fabric??? always Under Fabric organizer !! nearly out of site.

no, not fun finds.. just Buyer remorse.

anyone else?

I found some stuff like that too. Sometime I'll put it aside -maybe I'll find a project that I can use it for. If I have done that a few times, then it gets donated--some one can always use it.

Not the same but I found myself with some fabric that I haven't been able to use because I don't have coordinating fabric. I need to remember that when I buy those "different" pieces.

You can always sell it here on the QB; someone is bound to like it. It might even be me!

I have found a couple of pieces like that.. you aren't alone. If you have quilting friends host a fabric exchange.

If it is where you can see it - you might be surprised and find a use for it. I had several and once I had it out where I could see it I was surprised at how easy it was to use. Backs/bindings/borders/sashing

This is why I only buy for projects. I'm just afraid my tastes will change over time and then I'd be really upset about spending the $$ on something I'm not very likely to use. Plus I have a storage issue.

Those pieces look fine on quilt backs.

I get buyer's remorse, sometimes frequently. Some days I get addicted to fabric, and create in my mind awesome quilts, and buy yards of fabric only to get home and life gets in the way, and the bag goes into the closet. Here I am years later, with a good size stash of wonderful fabric, and I still go on a fabric binge. But, it gives me joy also, to open my closet and see all those beautiful pieces, patiently waiting for me to take them out into the sunshine and put them to use. I have joined the fabric moratorium, and this week I fell off the wagon big time. But hey, I am worth it!!

Nope, never..

Only if Ive spent WAAAAAAY too much on per yard ( and I hardly ever !!) but I never regret adding to my stash.. One day that one will be the perfect fab needed for that one particular project.. I love having a stash. And as a scrapper quilter, uglies are my favorite right.

If you belong to a sewing group or have a sewing group at your church etc., donate the UFO fabric to them. Someone will love it!

Do a fabric swap at local quilt guild or even here on the board.

if I have something I REALLY know I won't use? I either give it to a friend who quilts at her church for charity...or I use it on a scrappy back. You can get rid of REALLY ugly fabric on backings! lolol I always feel like a weight has been lifted off me when it finds its way OUT my door....aHHHHH!

Fabric that has gone out of favor with me I cut into 2 1/2" strips. I use it for bindings, strip piecing, log cabin blocks, hexes, yo yos. I never have buyers remorse over fabric.

No matter how how hard I try, I always end up with fabric that looked better in the sotr than it does in my stash. I alwyays get my self in trouble when I go to a local outlet that has sales for buy one yard get two free. Its a great deal and I always end up with 3 yards of something ugly hideous(to me) fabric plus lots of really nice fabric. The regret fabrics usually make their way into swaps.

really like the idea of binding ! thanks !!

Luckily I was able to plunder my mom's stash of buyer's remorse fabrics and made a bunch of charity pillow cases. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they can't be combined with another fabric to make a fun pillowcase.

Not really. I look at a fabric stash like money in the bank, only it's credit towards future projects--if I don't have any money to spend on fabric I will be able to make quilts for a lot time anyway.

A stash evens out the cash flow problem--sort of like having a cupboard full of food items--if we have a low month financially I can still cook because my pantry is full. If the economy totally tanks and we really have a hard time, I can still sew for a while.

Yes, I have plenty of those fabrics. Most of them bought several years ago and on sale. I am currently using up a lot of them putting together quilts for our NICU and also lap size for donating to our guild to give away.

Thankfully, I never tire of the fabric I hand select; however, there will inadvertently be some pieces I wouldn't have chosen myself but they're part of a large collection of fabric I buy (say on ebay). Any piece of fabric can be cut small enough and look lovely in a scrappy quilt. That's the beauty of it.

I do a quilt exchange with a sewing club, and one year I got a yard of fabric that I personally would not have bought. When I picked out what I wanted to make and started cutting the fabric and connecting it with other fabrics, it did not look at all bad. Smaller pieces takes away many times from a dislike of a fabric.

My daughter received an accuquilt for Christmas and we have been cutting up the fabric we wished we hadn't bought.
Lots of scrappy patterns on Quiltville. I have made the scrappy Bargello with scraps and it's amazing how nice they come out even though I would have gotten rid of the ugly ones.

When I have that .. I found a person who homeschools her kids- so I give her the fabric to make clothes for the kids or whatever. So far I have given her over 20 yards of fabric; and she is ever so grateful !(as are the kids !LOL)

Funny you should mention this. Around September I went through and inventoried all my fabric. Can't say I have any remorse other than the sheer volume of it, but there was one yard of fabric.......talk about butt-ugly. Wasn't that long ago I purchased it and can remember doing so at Joann's. Must have been deep discounted but it is truly awful and I'm just glad I only have a single yard of it. Maybe we should have an ugly fabric contest.

My fabric regret was as a beginner I made the mistake of buying cheaper fabric from Ben Franklin, Wal-Mart.
I have learned to buy better quality fabric from LQS, or LQS online. I try to buy sale fabric to stay on budget.
I definitily can see the difference in the quality of my finished quilts. :)

I never have buyer's remorse. I do have a few choices that are not my favorites, but I find if I move them where I can easily view them, they frequently become my "why didn't I buy more of that" fabrics. If you have something you do not like, you just haven't found its "coming out" quilt project yet.

Fabric buyer's remorse? What's that??? *blink*

Donna

Well, you liked it once. If you hold on to it long enough, you may like it again!

As others have said, scrappy is the answer. No matter how off beat the fabric they all blend in a scrappy.

Since I am a quilter people give me fabric. Some is so thin you can read through it. I use those for foundation for scrappy quilts instead of using paper to keep it stable. You don't have to take it out later. Sometimes I use some of those odd fabrics for pieced backs. Depending on how you do it it can make the quilt reversible.
Sometimes you just have a fabric that are a "what was I thinking" fabric. If you can't think of how to use it, ask a quilting friend for ideas, trade it, sell it, donate it. It will help get rid of the guilt and give you space.

Three friends and I got together and brought all those fabrics that we didn't like. I had some really horrible stuff that my friend got really excited about because it was just what she needed for a UFO in her stash. And I got a couple of really beautiful graphic prints that my friend said she'd never find a use for. What was left over we donated to the local Goodwill.

I think we have all done that. I have tried to be better. I've used alot of mine as quilt backing for charity quilts instead of going out and buying something else. I've traded with friends and sold at my guilds annual sale we have. Keep a box/bag where you can put these items that you're not crazy about anymore so if your guild does a sale you are ready. I started doing this a few years ago and have gotten rid of alot of stuff I'm not going to use and the ladies bot it all.

When I was reorganizing my stash last year I found several tubs worth of fabric that I no longer loved...so I made a call to the local high school...they still have a "home ec" class offering...the teacher was thrilled to have the fabrics...she said that many of the students cannot afford to buy fabrics for projects...she gladly added my donation to her classroom stash...she called sometime later and said that a couple of the students had completed small quilts....

loved hearing all the comments. Maybe we need to use that hoarded fabric and turn it into a watercolor quilt or garden quilt. Use up all those colors. Just a thought

Yes, put it for sale on the board. Someone amy need it. I use alot of my fabric for the quilt backing instead of buying more. Use what you have!

There is a lady on e-bay liquating her Aunts extensive fabric stash and there are lots of good buys on some pretty quilting/craft fabrics. Saw some I would love but no more room to store it. If anyone is looking for a good buy on some pretty, some are large enough for quilt backs, give her a look.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-25yd-12p...90542349708%26

That's the type of fabric I use for backings. I don't care what's on the back as long as its good quality.

You can always donate those fabrics to your local quilt guild, senior citizens center or church quilt group as they are normally always making donation quilts for local needs.

Quiltvilles Bonnie Hunter
 

[QUOTE=chairjogger;5854631]while organizing my stash.. I found there are things I always put as far away as possible, knowing I will not use the fabric anytime soon. Fabric I bought, but just don't really like.. Or, maybe not have the right use for it.

UFO fabric??? always Under Fabric organizer !! nearly out of site.


Bonnie Hunter says, If your fabric is still ugly when sewn in a quilt, you didn't cut it small enough. I found out beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One of my ugliest fabrics showed up on the cover of a quilting book - talk about shocked!!! And no, it wasn't called the Ugly Quilt Book. lol
Can you imagine???
Judi:o